A waisted effort

A waisted effort

His Swan Song

An excerpt

He landed at JFK after a long and exhausting flight, and despite his tiredness the secretary of defense decided to take the connecting flight to Washington; he called the White House and gave the White House Chief of Staff his approximate hour of arrival.

'Is it that urgent, must you see him today? He’s very busy and you’re surely tired after that long flight, so you’d try your luck tomorrow.' The Chief of Staff advised him, with a note of obvious amazement.

'Well yes, it's quite urgent Don.'

'Call him then he's giving a hand to HRC in cleaveland Ohio, and see if he'll be free to meet you.' The Chief of Staff toled him rather dryly.

'When is he expected to be back?'

'Not before next Monday,' was the Chief of Staff brisk answer.

He thanked the Chief of Staff and called his deputy, and told him to meet him next Monday at the White House.

If he's that busy our president, I'd better fly home and spend the weekend with my wife and our kids. He went over to the Delta flight company counter to change his flight destination.

At nine forty five the meeting with the president and the National Security Council took place at the situation room, and after a short prologue the president allowed the secretary of defense to address the noational security council members and the rest of the meeting’s participants..

'In the few days that I've spent there I've met with our men, had a head to head meeting with the Iraqi prime minister and the Kurdish president. The offensive advancement stages are rather slow,

but it will end up successfully in the long run with many casualties to our regret. Our main concern is what the conquest of Mosul will bring in its wake. I've met our ambassador before leaving, and he suggested a summit meeting between the Kurds and the Iraqis. I doubt if it will solve the complicated problem, which would arise after the coalition will defeat ISIS…'

'The ambassador is right we'll fix a summit meeting with the two sides, and Ken will have to reach a satisfactory agreement between the two sides; he has quite an experience in solving problems of this kind.' The president added with a sly smile, and his little audience stern faces lighted up with smiles of solidarity. The only one that did not share that elated feeling, was of course the secretary of state.

'I mean it whether Ken will take care of it, or the next secretary of state who ever he’ll be.' The president remarked after the short break, which followed his first witty remark.

'What about the Turks and their unpredicted interests in northern Iraq sir?' The secretary of state hastened to remind the president a crucial point, which the president did not take into account.

'Well I'll have a few words with their president in case he'll blow his top, and we'll see to settle any dispute between him and the Iraqis.' With these words said the president looked all around his little audience, although he did not expect any comments at this stage.

'Has anyone some other ideas or different views?' He asked the National Security Council members. But no one dared to add anything, or God forbid to contradict the president.

All rights © belong to Haim Kadman �" 2017.

The New York Times 9.27.17: Iraq Orders Kurdistan to Surrender Its Airports

A day after Iraqi Kurds voted on independence, the Iraqi prime minister threatened to shut down flights to the region.

The Washington Post 9.27.17: Kurdish bid for independence from Iraq emerges as regional flash point

Baghdad threatened to stop international flights to the Kurdish region, while Turkey and Iran ramped up pressure.

The thriller “His Swan Song” will be free to download for $0.99, from Oct. 18 up to Oct. 25 2017. This thriller’s plot warns against another regional war in Iraq and Syria, after the total defeat of ISIS. Below is a short excerpt of this thriller, which published with amazon.com on May the 7th 2017.