Chapter 186

Sunday morning was laid back and started slow. There were no changes in the morning update from Saturday night’s update from Iran. But I knew big decisions were on tap on Monday. My family left early Monday morning.

I had a busy week - it was planned for me. Monday started with the generals, another hundred miles of Iranian territory had been captured over weekend. We were at a dilemma now with the offensive push.

Hundreds of small towns had surrendered. As soon as tanks and armored troop carriers appeared, someone in the town came out with a white flag of surrender. Usually it was the town’s mayor or some other high ranking politician.

It was a political as well as a military surrender - the two being closely tied together in Iran. In each case a specialized team came to put all the documents together and explain the terms so there could be no mistakes. The team had someone that could read and speak Persian.

First they were told that all guns and weapons had to be turned in to the American soldiers. Then there were a lot of general instructions including all women had to have their faces exposed. They could wear a scarf to hold the hair in place but the face had to be visible at all times; no more hiding. There were a dozen more rules that had to be followed.

Then there was a list of questions. Do you have enough fresh water? What is its source? Is the electric on in the town? If it is off, how long has it been off? Where does the food for the town come from; what is its source? Is there enough food? What do the town’s people do to live and survive? Is there petrol for the automobiles in town and from where was it supplied?

Did the town have a doctor, health clinic or hospital?

All these questions determined what had to be done and how soon. Food and water were immediate concerns. Electricity was the next big concern.

No power plants or electrical sub stations had been targeted by the bombers or Navy planes. Electricity was one of the first things that was needed to return to normalcy.

The Navy Seabees were ashore as were the construction units for the army. They had groups that could restore electricity - if it were out for minor problems.

Several big utility contractors from the US were also on the ground. It had been an afterthought as the war and its aftermath were hashed out in meetings. I had ordered that there be military and civilian committees to prepare and plan all the various pieces that were needed after the war ended.

It was something new that had never been done in advance before. Usually the aftermath resulted in various serious and deadly consequences for both the civilians and military.

It was always weeks or months after the shooting stopped that actions other than mass incarceration slowly came into play. That failure led to vigilantism, the forming of unwanted and uncontrolled political groups, riots and starvation.

The Marshall Plan to help Europe recover from WW2 was three years after the end of the war; by then communism had a strong foothold in Europe. I wanted to prevent the next ISIS or Hamas before they gained a foothold in Iran.

I wanted all of those issues not to be part of the reconstruction process.

The real problem was the bigger cities! So far troops had not entered them, they were on outskirts waiting for orders. Some had been approached by citizens wanting information.

Carts and trucks bringing food and supplies were stopped and inspected for weapons. Many were completely unloaded and reloaded before allowing to continue on. Thermal imagining checked floors and other places for hidden weapons.

We decided that on Tuesday exploratory entry into the cities would begin in earnest by the troops and armor. Attempts would be made to find out who was temporally in charge. There would be plenty of air cover if needed.

I left it to the generals - for the time being - so that I could address other questions and events coming my way.

All the major networks were wanting interviews after the debate. Each one was wanting to be the one with a news scoop - any news scoop. They weren’t getting it. Suddenly a lot of Congressional and Senatorial conservatives wanted access for a photo session to help their reelection campaign. It was due to my aggressive response at the debate and the ratings.

I knew it was normal and some of them needed all the help they could get. I also was wise enough to know control of the House and Senate was very important. It was an inconvenience but I took the time for the handshake and make believe, working to get the pictures they thought they needed for their campaign.

The most popular one was them setting across from me at the presidential desk with the presidential flag and the US flag behind us. I took the opportunity to press them to vote in favor of bills I wanted before the session closed for the election break.

Troy and Connie set up the desk for each photo session saying there had to be some difference for each senator or representative. They had a box of books and folders and papers for props.

The desk was set up with various themes with slight differences. I noticed there was one thing that was always somewhere on my desk in all the photos, a certain book. It some photos it was closed, in others it was open face down, in others it was open face up.

I spent the afternoon in front of the camera. Makeup touched me and them up time and time again. Every ten minutes there was a new representative and a remake of the desk.

My staff was working on campaign stops for me after the convention. Carl Isham was working with them, working out the dates and places. I had to stop and think where all this extra staff came from. I hadn’t expanded any of my presidential staff.

They were people who had worked for former President Thomas before he died. They were his political staff - a necessity in separating official work from campaign work, which otherwise could lead to conflicts of interest for using official staff for political purposes. It was the kind of thing that congress and negative media loved for grandstanding in front of the camera. Politics complicated everything in Washington.

I hadn’t needed them before now but they were still on staff. The party and I were paying for them under the advice of Jenny and Curtis Warren. The decision allowed at least some political cover.

Troy had setup the arrangements with Marcy footing part of the bill. Things that he thought of while I was too busy with the war to be involved in. There were other things going on as well that I would find about much later.