The pair of Somalia leaders listened quietly. Sharmarke asked, “What is the price for all this? You must want something in return.”
“We want oil rights — a seventy-five twenty-five split for the first five years after production begins and a fifty-fifty split after that on oil fields we discover on your lands. If we find nothing, we walk away empty handed. If we are lucky enough to find anything, the effort of assisting your country will be returned as a formidable profit. Think of it as a business arrangement. It is exactly that, of course. If we find gold and diamond reserves, it will be yours to keep. We want you to have it. Africa has the largest caches in the world and there is no reason not to find it here.”
“We have never had the resources—”
“Until now. Your land has been sitting for millions of years waiting for this very moment. The hidden bounty beneath your lands has yet to be explored.”
Al-Awzai interjected, “You mentioned ‘the winning of hearts and minds.’”
“You may help me if our projections are in error.” Kuznetsov continued, “I imagine the reason for anarchy in Mogadishu and the rest of the country is that your people are driven to this by the extreme poverty. When a man and his children are hungry and he has no means of support, he will steal to feed his family. He is a desperate man, not a criminal. We will begin with Mogadishu as that is the heart of your nation and our understanding where the violence is most intense. The elimination of the Al-Shabaab will be the first task. We will send your citizens stamps that can be redeemed for food and clothing — anything that they wish to purchase. We have found that the more capitalistic Russia had become, the more we flourished. The United States has provided the model for a successful society and that is what we envision for you — and ourselves as well. When a man’s belly has no want, he will seek meaningful activity. Everyone will be employed with the many projects we have in mind.
When everyone has ample food and a meaningful job, anarchy will disappear. Every citizen will assist in rebuilding your country and it will be your own people who provide the manpower to do it. Those who are hardened criminals among you will suffer the consequences. We would turn over the suspected individuals to your court system, of course. No military law — no, nothing like that. For the most part our efforts will be defensive as we meet resistance. Militia leaders, gang thugs and the sort who wish that sort of life most go to prison and many, particularly the Al-Shabaab, will be killed in the streets. We will announce the new program so that everyone understands that anarchy will be crushed and that a new order will prevail.”
Al-Awzai poured himself another cup of tea. “What about handguns?”
“Everyone will be allowed to keep their weapons as the innocent will need them to defend themselves during the transition. Militias will think twice about robbing its citizens if they know they have weapons to defend themselves. Anyone using military weapons will be dealt with by your courts when we arrest them. Violence will drop substantially in a short time as true law and order arrive. We know you have a sanction on weapons being imported to your country. It is best it remains in place.”
Kuznetsov sat back on the cushioned chair and clasped his hands on his chin. “How does this proposal sound to you?”
Sharmarke answered, “It sounds like you have this well thought out and I can assure you it will be given serious consideration. I like it and can take the proposal to our TFC representatives with a recommendation. Of course, there will be many questions….”
Vissarionovich reached into a brief case and brought out the proposal. “We have it all outlined here for you. All it would need is the signatures of your leaders. That would be the two of you and perhaps a few others. Amend it if you wish and we can eventually work this out to our mutual satisfaction. Let’s call it the Somalia Russian Restore Order Initiative.”
Al-Awzai picked up the proposal that he estimated to be several pounds and leafed through it. Salvation at last — Allah has smiled upon us today.
Kuznetsov concluded the summit. “If there are no other questions, let’s plan to meet back here ASAP and we could sign the agreement before the cameras and tell the world what we have done.”
Chapter Six
Landenberger was trying to understand how the CIA had dropped the ball.
How could they not know this was going to happen? Where are they getting their information? This is one mess we are in. My popularity rating dropped five points because of this. I must figure a way to get it back up.
“Exactly how many operatives do we have in Iran?” he asked.
Larry Deshano answered, “Exactly? Well technically we don’t have anyone physically inside the country.”
“None then — we do not have one person inside Iran.” Landenberger tapped a pencil on the desk. The Cabinet members sat silent. Anyone could see the president was visibly upset and doing his best to hold it back.
“We use satellites of course. We have reports sent to us from Iranians willing to sell us information.”
“I see. You can monitor the activity around the buildings and then guess at what is going on. Answer this: How do you know your snitches are reliable and not feeding you false information?”
“We evaluate it as best we can. It is not that simple—”
Landenberger pounded his fist. “YOU TOLD ME THEY WERE YEARS AWAY FROM CONDUCTING A TEST! You sent me reports every week for the last year that we could worry about this sometime in the future. ‘Don’t worry’ you said. Now I look so gullible. We all look like fools. In fact we are fools. Now I know how Bush felt when he found out that there were no WMD’s in Iraq. He coined the term WMD and then found he knew nothing.
He will go down in the history books as an idiot who let some petty dictator outsmart him. I viewed the videos taken by the UNMOVIC when Saddam made the team wait for hours at the gate while he moved trucks out the backside supposedly full of nuclear weapons projects. He always made sure the inspectors could see the trucks. The first time I saw this ploy I fell for it. After I saw a number of repeat performances, I was convinced he was pulling a fast one.”
Melissa Farnsworth added a thought. “You are right, Mr. President. I remember seeing that broadcast on National Geographic with my eight-year-old daughter and asked her what she thought. She said, ‘MOM, THERE AINT NUTT’N IN DA TRUCKS!’.”
Everyone burst in laughter. She had a way of telling a story.
“Perhaps we should put a bunch of eight-year olds in charge.”
“Children cannot be fooled like adults. They spot things that go right by an adult.”
“That is it, Larry. Perhaps we must think like children. Thank you, Melissa for relieving the tension here, however our problems are serious and the future of the world may very well hang in the balance on the decisions I make in the coming weeks and months ahead. You are my team and I need more than information. I need a perspective that includes the possibility that we are being duped.”
“Perhaps the footage shown to us was faked?” suggested Willy Bumgardner.
“The bomb may not exist.”
“Then they would have faked the seismic recordings that were felt around the world.”