[War] US/AUS: Mr. Decker Goes to Washington

[John Penta]

"Mr. Decker Goes To Washington"
July.10, 2014
President John Williams
Prime Minister Jack Decker
United States of America/Australia

Decker sat in the back of a limousine as it headed through DC towards
the White House. The PM and his staff had arrived around dinnertime
the previous night, and relaxed in the hotel. Decker had caught up
with the current Australian Ambassador, as well as some other embassy
people. This morning he had a meeting with the President in the Oval
Office.

He watched with interest the Secret Service. As a visiting leader, he
got their protection. It was bizarre the security needed for the US
President, in comparison to Decker's handful of Federal Police
Officers. But it was warranted, with the Kennedy brothers, Ford and
Reagan, who knew what other threats had come and gone that the public
didn't know about.

The small motorcade pulled through the gates of the White House, and
pulled up at the northwest entrance. Once again, there was an aide
waiting for the Prime Minister as he got out. The aide led the Prime
Minister through the West Wing (which wasn't as frantic as the TV show
would have one believe) and into the outer office of the Oval Office.
Decker waited for a moment while the aide told the President he was
there. Decker had come alone, he didn't like having staff trailing
along behind him, the staff were having meetings at the same time with
Cabinet members, and other people around D.C. Lisa had gone up to New
York for the day, but would be back for the State Dinner that evening.

The President, meanwhile, had spent the morning in his usual summer
cycle of briefings, war planning, paperwork...and meetings. Damned
interminable meetings.

That said, he'd cleared his schedule for the Australian PM, and the
schedule of the next few days was dedicated to getting to know the
guy.

"Mr. President, Prime Minister Decker is here to see you," announced
his executive secretary.

Williams stood from behind the Resolute desk as his bodyman made final
checks, then slipped out into the Rose Garden with Luke and the dogs.

Williams opened the door with a smile, then stepped aside to let Decker through.

"Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the Oval Office." *and cue the Theme
to The West Wing! Or maybe not, but y'know...*

After the handshakes and similar pleasantries, Williams gestured
toward a clutch of chairs off to the side.

"Have a seat, wherever looks comfortable. Would you like water,
coffee, anything to drink?" His discreetly pulled out a PDA on which
he could send the orders to the stewards.

"It certainly doesn't look like it does on TV." Decker said with a
smile, shaking the President's hand, and then slowly looking around
the room. It was oddly cluttered, yet still projected that feeling of
awe and power. He saw that the table had a different surface, and he
recognised it as a digital service, like a plot in a modern military
command post. Decker had always had sharp eyesight, and spending his
early days on the bridge of a frigate looking out to sea had helped.
He noticed the faint lines in the walls of the office, he guessed
there were more displays behind that. The wall directly opposite the
Resolute Desk had a series of photos on it, with 'Lest We Forget The
Cost' written above it. Decker had heard about this wall, servicemen
and women, and government personnel, who'd died in combat, or were
MIA.

All Decker could think was just as well there wasn't a wall like this
during the war in Iraq ten years ago, it would have been one cluttered
wall. He wondered how the numbers would swell following the operation
in Azerbaijan.

The President speaking to him brought him back to reality, and he
smiled a little sheepishly and sat on one of the couches. "Coffee's
good." He said with a nod. He saw the President's PDA, and it made
Decker think he should have brought his father along. Despite his
father's age he was absolutely obsessed with technology.

John grinned at the comments. "Navy tries hard." Pause. "Nah, it never
looks like it does on TV." Poor guy got cottonmouth, he realized.

"Heard about your logistical issues with JSF. You want some tankers
lent so you can get em transpac?" Williams decided it was best to just
push on; Decker's brain'll catch up later.

"That'd be fantastic John. Otherwise it's a long island hop from the
States to Australia." Decker said with a smile. "That'd be great."

"Mmmkay. I have Secretary Abbot cutting the orders today; you'll be
picking up the actual gas tab, we'll pick up the rest of the op
costs," Williams outlines. It left Oz with the bulk of the bill, to
the budgeteers' joy.

"That said, are there any issues you wanted to discuss?"

Decker nodded. "The Defence Department is starting to look into future
weaponry. The Anglo-American Rifle sounds promising, from early
reports. Having the ability to switch from 5.56 to 7.62 millimetre
rounds is a great idea, instead of purchasing M-16s and SAWs in your
case, or F88s and Minimis in our case, would save a lot of messing
around."

"I know - my inner infantryman has some concerns as to the tolerances
proposed in the specs, but there's something to be said for the troop
trials the thing is going through. That said, if you're looking into
the AAR, talk to the Pentagon to get pricings; I know nobody around
here would be opposed to a good export order. We need em to make the
system work, price-wise," Williams noted, shrugging.

"I can understand that, the more parts in something there more likely
it is for a little thing to go wrong and stuff the whole thing!"

"On that note," here, even POTUS checked the White Noise Generators.
"You got our brief on ANDA?"

Decker smiled wryly. "Yeah, I did. Funny, power's becoming a recurring
theme on this trip. Australia would certainly support and like to take
part in ANDA. Our own nuclear future is still questionable; it's been
a big domestic policy issue. There are no doubts that it's a cleaner
and more efficient energy, but the argument always comes back to the
waste."

That got a raised eyebrow from Williams, then a smile. "I can imagine
- you do, after all, have one of the few uranium concentrations in
Western hands; our winter supply for when Canada's mines are frozen
over or down. That said: Our best argument out here is geologic
repositories for the high-level stuff - I know, the environmental
cost-benefit analysis on that makes me shake my head, but Yucca
Mountain and places like that are the best solution we've got. That
said, you have your own waste management issues - and the Outback is
arguably a lot more fragile than the Nevada desert," he replied. "So I
was thinking of a project proposal that came across the desk of the
science advisor here - a $50 million project to develop genetically
engineered organisms to process high-level nuclear waste. Lower-level
stuff can be burned or buried on-site - the high-level stuff, not so
much. Can be stored safely, though, but we'd prefer to have ways to
stretch our storage capacity, since we have military *and* civil reactors to
think about. If CSIRO would be interested, I think we can structure
the grant to encourage Australian participation, so long as you help
fund."

"Genetically engineered organisms?" Decker asked rhetorically, and
then smiled. "I'd like to know more about that, that could solve all
the problems, though I have a feeling the Greens would still make a
lot of noise about it. It's certainly something worthy of future
discussion, and if Australia thought we had a place amongst the work,
we'd certainly help foot the bill. We're at a time in our global
community where if you sit back and wait for someone else to do the
work for you, you'll be waiting a while. Have you spoken with the
Canadians about ANDA? Prime Minister McColl and I met on similar
energy issues the other day."

A bitter laugh from Williams at mention of the Canadians. "I ain't
bothered with em. Ottawa's focused most of their rhetoric on being,
well...anti-American. If they want in, they'll be welcome, but they
can ask...And they could do more to help prove they're not just out to
throw rocks at us and help the Chinese.

"Who, well...I will be blunt: I consider China the threat of this next
generation. I've tried to teach myself Mandarin to help on the
analysis, but I don't think the analysis is the issue here. Hong has
done her utmost thus far to shatter Western unity, and I've yet to see
good plans on how to hold the Chinese back."

"China's certainly an interesting one." Decker said with a nod. "Years
back, when I was still in Foreign Affairs, the sentiment was that war
or conflict, between China and the West, was becoming less likely.
Sure, they were still communist, and a rapidly developing military
power, but they had a thriving capitalist economy…" Decker paused,
taking a sip of his coffee. "Once upon a time we thought nuclear
deterrence would do the job. Then Ms. Hong pulled off that operation
over Iran; she's lucky Beijing's still standing. It shows she's
clearly not worried about a nuclear threat."

"I think we can scrap the 'McDonald's Peace' theory, neh?" Williams
laughed. "Hong got *lucky* over Iran, speaking as a former SOF
soldier. It shows the technical skill of *one part* of the PLA. It's
why I get more nervous about technical trades with em, and why I'm not
allowing Chinese observers near AZFOR - something I'm hoping the other
governments involved will agree to, and I've instructed SACEUR to
enforce it with regard to units under his OPCON.

"She isn't worried because she doesn't care much if the world survives
a conflict, in my estimation; just that China dominates whatever is
left. None of that 'irrational because she's a woman' BS; she's just
that way, and would be regardless of gender.

"The question is, how to push back?"

Decker nodded. "That's the hard question. I mean, if we were playing
devil's advocate, I'd say run them into the ground. Cease trading with
them. But…" he smiled wryly at the US President, "we both represent
constituencies, and people who need jobs, and trade, to put food on
their tables. Of course it's not because she's a woman…it's because
it's China. It's an unhelpful analysis, but it's the truth. Normally,
I'd say we reluctantly accept their presence and power, but then they
pushed into North Korea, if we just sit back and accept their power,
what's to stop them pushing into Taiwan? Or Japan?"

That got a grin. "Now, if you could explain the fact of the midterm
elections to our Canadian counterpart, who seems not to get why I am
not at all eager to reopen NAFTA?" Pause. "Seriously, regarding China?
If we don't stand against em, nobody will. Which is why I'd like to
know more about your naval construction plans."

"Well, that's something I can talk about at length." Decker replied.
"Obviously we're excited about the Canberra-class vessels. It's been a
while since the RAN has had vessels like that. We've got two
amphibious assault models, and we're about to sign off on two carrier
models, which would mean a purchase of maybe thirty F-35Bs. We're also
going to put in an order for six Air Warfare Destroyers, based on a
Spanish model. I think the next major Navy question will be the future
of our submarine service. The Collins-class subs will be retiring from
2026, probably, so we need to look into what we're going to do after
that." He smiled. "Future looks bright for the RAN Mr. President."

A nod. "That cackle of glee you hear in the distance is Lockheed upon
hearing about more F35 sales," POTUS notes dryly.

Decker laughed. "Glad we could help, because I'm sure as a major
contractor they'd be running REAL low on money." He said
sarcastically.

The meeting went on for another half an hour, focusing mainly on their
two biggest issues, China and Iran. The President's executive
secretary came in to tell the President that his next appointment was
waiting. Decker rose from the couch. "Well, I better not take up too
much more of your time John. I'll see you at the dinner." He buttoned
up his suit jacket and extended his hand to the President. "It's been
an absolute pleasure, John. Thanks for taking the time."

"Always happy to chat," replied POTUS, shaking the offered hand.

The next meeting was hardly as interesting.
---
Actions:
1. Chatter
2. Research project established to look into the possibility of
nuclear-waste eating genetically engineered bacteria.
3. Australia invited to ANDA.
4. Oz to buy 30 F35Bs for Canberra-class carriers.
5. US tankers to help get Australian F35s across the Pacific.