Chapter 144

It was 2300 before we boarded the flight back to Andrews, midnight when we landed at Andrews, 0100 when I crawled into the big fluffy bed with Marcy and Jenny.

The day started early at 0500. I was awakened by the telephone - it was the CIA desk on the second floor in the basement. Iran had moved a step further. They were placing mines in the Strait of Hormuz right on the edge of the deep water channel.

It was the next step in the play book. If they could not sell any oil, neither was anyone else - if they had their way. The sanctions had been tightened again and again. There had been another round of sanctions just six months ago. They had been under sanctions of one kind or the other now for over twenty years.

That meant that the current or propeller wash could cause them to lose their anchoring. They then became a real hazard as a floating mine in the shipping channel.

Hitting the side of a tanker in the channel carrying gasoline, jet fuel or Naphtha would be disastrous, closing the channel for a very long time.

A national security meeting was the first thing on the schedule after breakfast and seeing my mates off. All of them were going back home to get things ready for our week at Deep Water Cay. They were going to pack for me.

I had just put them on the helicopter for home and was sitting at my desk when the green phone started ringing.

‘‘Good morning Prime Minister Attenborough. How are you today?’’ I answered.

‘‘I am good. I wanted to know what your thoughts are on Iranian’s actions in the strait?’’ he asked.

‘‘It is troublesome but not unexpected from them, given the gradual increase of tensions there. We certainly have the ability to destroy them but we would gain nothing as they would just replace them.’’

‘‘Sanctions are already tight on them. The problem is more countries ignoring the sanctions so they are having less and less affect,’’ I added.

‘‘I’m going to call for an emergency meeting of the Security Council,’’ the Prime Minister said.

‘‘That would be the next orderly step, although it would be worthless. They haven’t complied with any in decades; they won’t start now. This is just another step to force negotiations to reduce the sanctions,’’ I said.

‘‘I will inform our UN Ambassador to be ready to support the meeting and the position they are to take. Just remember, placing mines in or near navigable international waterways violates international law and may be considered an act of war,’’ I said.

‘‘The Russians will not support any action against Iran. Higher oil prices are what they want,’’ he said.

‘‘With the Saudis nearing completion of their long awaited Indian Ocean oil terminals, their output won’t be marginally affected. I think they are in the testing phase now. But that doesn’t help Kuwait and Dubai after the first tanker sinks in the Strait. That’s when things get dicey!’’ I said.

I sent a note to the General asking for the latest satellite photographs of Saudi Arabia and Oman.

I called Dick James and discussed the call and then ordered a transcript of the call sent to him and General Ingram.

‘‘What’s your thought on sending mine sweepers to the area? There are docks at Mirbat to keep them out of the Strait if you like,’’ I sent as a text.

My next was a staff meeting; they needed to decide who was going to the island with me. The meeting lasted an hour.

The party chairman called with the assessments from the last three fundraisers covering the last week. Their coffers had grown by one hundred million. My fundraisers have raised more than three times what the other fundraisers had done.

He was still trying to get me to commit to putting my hat into the ring. It was one thing the girls and I were going to talk about while we were sunning on the beach.

We were just finishing up when I got the reports from Washington State. Things were looking good - arrests had been made. The tents were going up and homeless people were being removed from the streets. There was one note on the arrests - one hundred and ninety had been arrested trying to interfere with the operation. They were trying to block roads and harassing the soldiers picking up the homeless.

To make the day more cluttered, the Secret Service wanted a meeting about the vacation. They could not get things to come together for us to leave tonight, and that was hours away.

‘‘We are leaving tonight, ready or not, what’s your problem?’’ I asked.

‘‘We can’t get the Beast there for one thing,’’ the senior agent said.

‘‘I would hope not - there are no roads. You get there by boat or helicopter; there are no paved roads on the island to use it on. Travel is by walking, ATV, Gator or golf cart and there are plenty there for us to use as there are boats and Skidoos.”

‘‘We need to take sixty people plus equipment,’’ he said.

‘‘Did you send all that to Lorrie? Did you think to tell all those people they could take their wives?’’ I asked.

‘‘Yes, a couple days ago,’’ he said.

‘‘OK, I’m sure Lorrie’s staff planned for all that. What’s the next problem?’’ I asked.

‘‘Will there be enough food for everyone?’’ he asked.

‘‘I’m sure there will be,’’ I replied.