Chapter 187

I slept soundly; it was 0600 before I went to the kitchen for breakfast and 0700 before I settled in the chair behind the oval desk.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I looked through the reports from the Joint Chiefs’ night crew. The casualties numbers were still low and holding steady. Troops and equipment were assembling to take control of the seven other major cities in central Iran. Helicopters would be making fly-overs today before sunset.

The week was going away fast; today was Thursday and the schedule was packed. It was seventeen days to the convention - the pressure was being ramped up on all the delegates. I was to speak on Thursday. Apparently they wanted a long speech from me; I had a two hour slot in prime time.

Troy came in and placed a dozen newspaper clippings on the desk - something that he rarely did. He knew I cared little what all the liberal papers said. The clippings were a collection of the political ads published in papers and magazines around the country from yesterday’s PR shots. A speed read of the clippings left me satisfied that it was the right thing to do.

Today’s office work needed to end early as well. I had a live interview with the number three network today at 1700 and then an appearance on the worldwide Military News Network at 1745. It would be transmitted to all military bases and ships.

I was waiting on the Generals for the update. They finally came in, looking reasonably relaxed.

‘‘Armor covered by helicopters started into the seven remaining cities in west central Iran at daybreak. There were some holdout sections in each of the cities; we took some serious injuries and lost some equipment,’’ General Ingram said.

‘‘Air strikes were called in and the resisting areas leveled as per your instructions. There were considerable causalities in those areas. After the initial operations the general population quickly displayed white flags and surrendered,’’ he said.

‘‘The troops spent most of the daylight hours collecting weapons and picking up prisoners. Big Red One secured a thousand prisoners. The Eighth Army armored support division collected one hundred truckloads of munitions and weapons turned in by the civilians and the local government. The demolition guys are going to be busy for a while,’’ Army General Johnson said.

‘‘All of central Iran will be secured by Monday and then we can prepare for the invasion of the northern sector. The State Department is asking that we help with general issues with the population before moving on the Northern sector,’’ General Ingram said.

‘‘Assisting the State Department will allow time for more logistics to catch up and the Air Force and Navy planes can continue to work over the North sector.’’

‘‘There are lots of hidden military equipment and installations there. We found maps and coordinates; the planes can have a field day,’’ General Ingram said.

‘‘Did the State Department get all of the Persian speaking JBG personnel or are there some still available? We could use a few ourselves in all the sectors,’’ General Johnson said.

‘‘I don’t know; let’s call and ask,’’ I replied. I dialed Jenny’s cell number.

‘‘Hi lover, how are you?’’ I asked.

‘‘Horny while waiting for the weekend and you,’’ she said.

‘‘Same here. Sounds good to me. I should have told you that I had you on speaker,’’ I said.

‘‘Oops!’’

‘‘No harm done, just a little frisky talk among friends and lovers,’’ I said.

‘‘How many Persian speaking security are there left after the State Department request who would want to travel to Iran for a hundred days?’’ I asked.

‘‘The State Department requested five hundred. They are already assigned and on location or should be before the end of the day. There are seven hundred and fifty left according to the computer. You will have to check with Vicky, Ching Lee and Andy to see how many they are comfortable letting go,’’ Jenny said.

‘‘Please add them to the call,’’ I said.

‘‘General Johnson, how many did you want?’’ I asked.

‘‘If the State Department felt they needed five hundred, we could take the same, splitting them between the Army and Marines units,’’ General Ingram answered.

Vicky, Ching Lee and Andy came on the line.

‘‘We need five hundred more of the Persian speaking security people for Iran. How many can you let go immediately?’’ I asked.

‘‘We can do that many, but no more for a while,’’ Andy said.

‘‘Same contract numbers as the State Department? Twelve hundred and fifty a day per man, plus they reimburse travel expenses and supply food and shelter,’’ Vickie said.

‘‘Fair enough. When will they start arriving in Saudi Arabia?’’ General Ingram asked.

‘‘Some will be there tomorrow. The contracts need to be signed today; they will be faxed within the hour, ‘‘ Andy said.

I quickly ran the numbers in my head. Damn, there is going to be one hell of a Congressional investigation when all this is over! I had no idea how many flight hours was being billed for all the C5s, C130s and 747s for freight and people. That many interpreters would run up big numbers every day for one hundred days.

Lunch ran over because of interruptions. It was 1330 before I could sit down with the makeup ladies and begin the picture sessions. I left the rule book on the desk again and went about the tasks I needed to do.

The girls called again with a list of questions. I asked what they were for.

‘‘We are catching up on some corporate paperwork and forms. It seems the more we do, the more we find we have to do,’’ Jenny said.

I let it drop and knew there was going to be a lot more paperwork going forward with so many new contracts and expansions.

At 1700 I was sitting in the green room with camera crew and the reporter from Americas third rated news network. They needed thirty five minutes of film for the hour show. Troy pressured them to make every question newsworthy and worthwhile because there was no time for re-shooting questions and answers.

It was tight but I walked back to the Oval Office in time. While I was answering questions, the crew from the military network had been setting up their equipment and were ready to go live.