Prime Minister Francis Urquhart and 9/11
- Thread starter MarkWhittington
- Start date
“Mr. Prime Minister,” the Saudi Prince said, “I need to discuss with you the urgent situation developing in the Palestinian territories. A humanitarian calamity of epic proportions is threatening to occur.”
“Indeed, Your Highness,” said Sir Francis Urquhart. “It seems to me that the last attempt to bring food and other supplies to the Palestinian territories came to grief.”
“The incident at Jenin was very unfortunate.”
“The ambush of the relief convoy resulted in the deaths of fifteen aid workers and a pitched battle between UN, Israeli, and Palestinian forces that lasted three days. The supplies were looted by Palestinian gangs and did not, by and large, get to the people. A little worse than unfortunate, I dare say.”
“The situation there has been rather chaotic since the death of Arafat.”
“Indeed. At the insistence of the world community, including this government, the Israelis withdraw most of their occupation troops from the West Bank and Gaza. The idea was that the Palestinians would establish sovereign authority in the area while talks leading to a two state solution continued. The results have been less than satisfactory, will you not agree?”
“There is no government authority in the Palestinian territories, except that of armed gangs, who continue to war on one another. It is like Lebanon during the late 70s, only worse.”
“All of it true.”
“I ask. I entreat the British government to help do something about it.”
“And what is it that you are asking us to do?”
“Restore order. Bring in relief supplies.”
Urquhart shook his head sadly. “No, no, no. I will not have British troops involved in a quagmire in the West Bank and Gaza. Especially so long as your government and the Iranians persist in arming rival gangs.”
“I categorically deny—“
“Of course you do. But I do have a counter proposal.”
“Which is?”
“Mt government and others will establish relief centers outside the Palestinian territories, in Jordan and Egypt. All inhabitants of those territories who choose to leave the chaos and who show up at those centers will be provisioned and housed. Your government and the other Gulf States will pay for it.”
“That, that—“
“I know your objections. The Palestinian Authority will be depopulated in short order, leaving the West Bank and the Gaza strip to the Israelis. I propose that, in the fullness of time, the Palestinians be resettled in the Sinai,. Jordan, and perhaps northern Arabia.”
“But—“
“The alternative is that the West Bank and Gaza become the focus of the biggest famine since Ethiopia. But that, I assure you, will be on your head. Think about it long and hard.”
“Yes—Sir Francis. We will think about it. But I must say that you are a ruthless, hard hearted man.”
“You might say that. I couldn’t possibly comment.”
“Indeed, Your Highness,” said Sir Francis Urquhart. “It seems to me that the last attempt to bring food and other supplies to the Palestinian territories came to grief.”
“The incident at Jenin was very unfortunate.”
“The ambush of the relief convoy resulted in the deaths of fifteen aid workers and a pitched battle between UN, Israeli, and Palestinian forces that lasted three days. The supplies were looted by Palestinian gangs and did not, by and large, get to the people. A little worse than unfortunate, I dare say.”
“The situation there has been rather chaotic since the death of Arafat.”
“Indeed. At the insistence of the world community, including this government, the Israelis withdraw most of their occupation troops from the West Bank and Gaza. The idea was that the Palestinians would establish sovereign authority in the area while talks leading to a two state solution continued. The results have been less than satisfactory, will you not agree?”
“There is no government authority in the Palestinian territories, except that of armed gangs, who continue to war on one another. It is like Lebanon during the late 70s, only worse.”
“All of it true.”
“I ask. I entreat the British government to help do something about it.”
“And what is it that you are asking us to do?”
“Restore order. Bring in relief supplies.”
Urquhart shook his head sadly. “No, no, no. I will not have British troops involved in a quagmire in the West Bank and Gaza. Especially so long as your government and the Iranians persist in arming rival gangs.”
“I categorically deny—“
“Of course you do. But I do have a counter proposal.”
“Which is?”
“Mt government and others will establish relief centers outside the Palestinian territories, in Jordan and Egypt. All inhabitants of those territories who choose to leave the chaos and who show up at those centers will be provisioned and housed. Your government and the other Gulf States will pay for it.”
“That, that—“
“I know your objections. The Palestinian Authority will be depopulated in short order, leaving the West Bank and the Gaza strip to the Israelis. I propose that, in the fullness of time, the Palestinians be resettled in the Sinai,. Jordan, and perhaps northern Arabia.”
“But—“
“The alternative is that the West Bank and Gaza become the focus of the biggest famine since Ethiopia. But that, I assure you, will be on your head. Think about it long and hard.”
“Yes—Sir Francis. We will think about it. But I must say that you are a ruthless, hard hearted man.”
“You might say that. I couldn’t possibly comment.”
"We aquired the Soviet warhead as part of our ongoing program, along with the Americans and the Russians, to prevent their falling into the wrong hands," said the Chief of MI6. "It has a one megaton yield."
"Quite enough to ruin the day of anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby if it were to explode," said Urquhart.
"Rather. Anyway, as per Operation Arabela, we installed two slight enhancements. One is a tiny GPS transponder that will tell us where the warhead is, no matter where in the world it happens to be. The other is a remote control detonation device. It is all but imperceptable. Even if it were detected, it could not be removed without detonating the bomb."
Urquhart slapped his hands together, barely able to contain his glee. "Has the team been in contact with the interested buyers?"
"Indeed. Some Chechens, as it turns out."
"How do we know they just won't turn around and try to use the warhead on the Russians."
"The Chechens are trying to raise hard currency for their guerilla war against Moscow. At the same time, they are eager to help out their brother Muslims in Terhan by selling them the nuke."
"Good. Tell the team to proceed to phase two."
"It seems going against the grain to be actively selling the Iranians the bomb."
"Oh, but Mr. Ahmadinejad is so eager to get his hands on one. He sees visions of Tel Aviv or perhaps Washington as a glassy, glowing crater. His vision of a city becoming that may well come true. Not just in the way he imagines, I fancy."
"Yes, Prime Minister."
"Quite enough to ruin the day of anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby if it were to explode," said Urquhart.
"Rather. Anyway, as per Operation Arabela, we installed two slight enhancements. One is a tiny GPS transponder that will tell us where the warhead is, no matter where in the world it happens to be. The other is a remote control detonation device. It is all but imperceptable. Even if it were detected, it could not be removed without detonating the bomb."
Urquhart slapped his hands together, barely able to contain his glee. "Has the team been in contact with the interested buyers?"
"Indeed. Some Chechens, as it turns out."
"How do we know they just won't turn around and try to use the warhead on the Russians."
"The Chechens are trying to raise hard currency for their guerilla war against Moscow. At the same time, they are eager to help out their brother Muslims in Terhan by selling them the nuke."
"Good. Tell the team to proceed to phase two."
"It seems going against the grain to be actively selling the Iranians the bomb."
"Oh, but Mr. Ahmadinejad is so eager to get his hands on one. He sees visions of Tel Aviv or perhaps Washington as a glassy, glowing crater. His vision of a city becoming that may well come true. Not just in the way he imagines, I fancy."
"Yes, Prime Minister."
Damn, this guy scares me. Can't wait for more, and I await his fall.
Any chance the books are on the internet? Or will I have to order cross-Atlantic? Because this touches my dark side.
If a nuke goes off in Washington, and Britain's connected, what happens next?
Any chance the books are on the internet? Or will I have to order cross-Atlantic? Because this touches my dark side.
If a nuke goes off in Washington, and Britain's connected, what happens next?
Dean, try Amazon.Com or Amazon.UK. They should be available on both sites.
This is coming along nicely.
Although F.U.'s methods are unsavoury to say the least, one can't help rooting for him (which is easy to do since this is fictional). In real life it might well be a different story...
Sargon
A Timeline of mine: The Roman Emperor Who Lost His Nose
Although F.U.'s methods are unsavoury to say the least, one can't help rooting for him (which is easy to do since this is fictional). In real life it might well be a different story...
Sargon
A Timeline of mine: The Roman Emperor Who Lost His Nose