“That’s right, sir,” Lifter acknowledged. “The Russians said that their attack was simply a response to Ukrainian aggression, that they plan no other moves into the region unless other factions threaten ethnic Russians in Moldova or the Ukraine.”
“They don’t need to move into Moldova in force, sir,” General Freeman said, “because they already had ten thousand troops stationed in the Dniester region before the attack occurred. The air attacks simply weakened all air defense units in the Ukraine, which gives the Russians free air access over the Ukraine, and they bombarded all the Romanian and Moldovan army positions that could threaten those Russian troops in Dniester.”
“Those weren’t Russian troops in the Dniester region, General,” Secretary of State Harlan Grimm said. “Those troops were former Soviet Red Army personnel who stayed in Moldova after independence and who eventually formed a partisan Russian militia during the uprisings.”
“Mr. Grimm, I don’t believe that for a minute,” General Freeman said. “The Russians living in the Moldavian SSR didn’t want to leave the Soviet Union after Moldova declared its independence, so the Red Army simply disbanded one of its military units in-place and had them form the nucleus of a resistance movement.”
“I’m not surprised you see it that way, General,” Grimm said derisively.
“Sir, the point is, the Russians can pull this trick in every vital former Republic,” General Freeman said. “They can do it in the Baltic states, they can do it in Belarus, they can do it in Armenia and Azerbaijan.”
“I’m not interested in what the Russians might do, General.” The President sighed, wishing like hell he could go jogging around the White House track, escape all this shit. “I’m more concerned with the here and now. In fact, the Russians haven’t appeared to have any desire to move in force against the Ukraine or Moldova.”
“It’s a fait accompli, sir — of course the Russians are going to promise to back off. They’ve killed several thousand people already.” General Freeman spread his hands to emphasize his point. “Sir, the question is, what are we going to do about the Russian aggression? We can do nothing and continue to voice our displeasure or we can take some action to show how displeased we are.”
“I don’t see anything we need to do, and nothing we can do, General,” the President said as if the very idea of aggression was distasteful. “If the Russians don’t make any more moves into the Ukraine or Moldova, the matter is over.”
“The government of Turkey doesn’t think so, sir,” Freeman interjected, thinking, What did I expect from a draft-evader, anyway? “President Dalon appears to be very concerned about Russian reconnaissance flights over the Black Sea. The Russians have repeatedly crossed the twelve-mile territorial boundary in the Black Sea, trying to photograph naval bases near Istanbul and catalog Turkish ships in the Black Sea and in the Bosporus. They’ve been paying a lot of attention on the military-industrial complex near Kocaeli, about fifty miles east of Istanbul on the Marmara Sea, as well as general military and supply traffic in the Bosporus Strait and Dardanelles.”
“Let’s try to stick with one problem at a time here, General.”
“It’s all one big problem, sir,” Freeman argued patiently, feeling he was tutoring some ROTC freshmen. “The nuclear strikes in the Ukraine and Romania occurred less than five hundred miles from Turkey, sir, and now Russian bombers and attack aircraft are swarming over the entire Black Sea region. Turkey is getting upset, and they want a pledge by NATO and assistance in defending its borders.”
“We’ve been sucking up to the Turks for almost twenty years,” Scheer sniffed to the President. “Reagan and Bush gave them everything, and they turned around and kicked us out of their country, made war on Greece, and started ethnic genocide against the Kurds in the southeast. Every time we extend assistance to them, they use it to lash out at an opposition group or neighboring country. They want weapons from NATO, but never offensive forces; then, when they do want modern Western fighters, ships, and missiles, they badger us into agreeing to a license-build contract, and our companies lose thousands of jobs. They wanted protection against Iraq and Iran, but when they got ground troops they promptly used their own army to go after Kurdish and Armenian bases.”
Lifter turned to Scheer and asked, “I suppose now they want military protection against Russia, a powerful showing, perhaps a naval and air presence — but not an offensive presence, anything that might be provocative or make the Turkish people think any foreigners are waging war at their expense.”
“They made their request through NATO channels, not through my office,” Scheer replied as if enough said. “General?”
Freeman nodded. “It’s a similar request as was made during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the Iraqi-Kurdish conflicts in 1993 and 1994,” Freeman said. “Air and naval defense augmentation, fill-ins for the weapon systems they don’t own. They’re requesting more Patriot missile batteries, air defense artillery, strategic and tactical reconnaissance, and suppression of enemy air defense weapon systems. Defensive systems only.”
The President rubbed his eyes wearily, then scratched his head through all that bush of prematurely gray hair, a sign that he didn’t like any of the options or suggestions being placed in front of him at the moment. “I think this Turkish thing will have to wait,” he said. “We start sending any aircraft to Turkey, and the Russians will think we’re trying to surround ’em and make them negotiate from the business end of a Sidewinder missile. As long as Russia doesn’t threaten the United States and our allies, I see no need to commit any forces up front.”
“Sir, Turkey feels threatened, and they feel isolated,” Freeman interjected. “Right now they’re getting more assistance from the Ukraine than from NATO.”
“You mean because Turkey offered asylum to the Ukrainian government, and the Ukraine is flying planes into Turkey, they’re going to just ignore NATO?”
“Sir, the Ukraine is moving an estimated two hundred combat aircraft into Turkey right now,” Freeman said, “and they’ve already got an undetermined amount of Ukrainian weapons and equipment. Actions not words, sir: the Ukrainians might even assist Turkey if the Russians try anything.”
“Now that’s bull,” the President murmured. “And it’s that ‘undetermined’ shit that’s got me hot under the collar, too. Who approved a shipment like that? NATO? It wasn’t us, that’s for sure. Now Turkey won’t tell us how much Ukrainian gear is in their country or where it’s stashed. Whose side are they on, anyway?”
“Mr. President, we have to decide what our next course of action should be,” Freeman insisted, thinking how much he loathed closet pacifists. “I think sending Secretary of State Grimm to Brussels, Moscow, and Ankara is a good idea; you may consider sending him to Belgrade to confer with the Romanian government, and to Istanbul, where the Ukrainian government-in-exile is located.”
“That would make the Russians real happy,” Secretary of Defense Scheer chimed in.
“The Russians started this thing, and they’ve offered nothing but flimsy excuses for initiating hostile actions,” General Freeman said. “The care and feeding of an alliance is just as important as negotiating with the antagonists, sir. We can’t assume our allies will follow our lead or do what we want them to do, especially when the major ally in question is a Muslim nation that shares a border with the major antagonist.”