[Chapter 545: A Sudden Windfall]
The war began suddenly, but it ended just as quickly. The United States, unable to reach from afar, could only roar helplessly. At that moment, the world leader lost both respect and substance entirely.
The day after the incident, President Bush issued a strong warning. Well, that warning seemed a bit weak; they just hoped the stubborn fool would back down from the cliff without asking for anything else.
At this point, the distant observer could no longer stand by. If action wasn't taken soon, who knew what he might do next.
The so-called Desert Shield operation was launched as scheduled; the U.S.'s little buddy, Saudi Arabia, couldn't hold out any longer. To be precise, they were scared out of their wits.
They were somewhat like Kuwait, with money in their pockets but no military might. What if the neighboring king wanted to unify the Gulf region?
This risk was indeed real, especially after the enormous losses from eight years of war, all settled in just a few hours.
...
Saddam really regretted not taking care of Kuwait first. If he had, he would have been the regional boss.
With his oil weapons, he could threaten those Western bastards; he could demand any weapons he wanted.
Thinking along these lines, he started drooling; this place was incredibly rich, and any bank was stuffed with U.S. dollars and gold.
And those rich folks' palaces were just too extravagant.
No, this kind of lavish behavior couldn't be encouraged; everything had to be packed up and shipped back home.
Wait, why ship it back? Just declare that he was taking over, and then he'd have another province. Everything there would be his!
...
Directly annexing a sovereign nation was a challenge to the world's bottom line. Even the Soviets wouldn't dare support him. They were having enough trouble at home, and what he was doing was simply reckless; it was a foolish move.
The U.S. was also worried about losing control of the situation, so they quickly mobilized troops.
If his little buddy's home got robbed, treasures were lost, and his wife was taken by someone else, along with his house, if he didn't come out to seek justice, nobody would want to follow him anymore.
No country in the world looked at such a reckless fool favorably; it was a clear case of self-sabotage.
At that moment, a timely withdrawal could have been declared by saying the troops had used the wrong maps and couldn't establish radio contact.
Though that excuse was pretty flimsy, there might not be a real war, especially since he had already benefited and wouldn't leave without grabbing more.
What the heck, this was ridiculous! Was he so addicted to bullying the world leader?
The U.S. military's global reach was indeed impressive; within a few days, they had everything in place, and two aircraft carrier groups were dispatched.
Let's not forget, this was always an unstable region and a critical energy export channel. How could it possibly be unguarded?
Even among those with the same beliefs, nobody supported Saddam; they were all worried he might take them out too.
In this situation, the inherently reckless fool showed no signs of backing down; he had truly reached a new level of stupidity.
...
"Master, this time, Saddam is going to strike it rich."
"Is he robbing the common people?"
"Not that I've heard, but military discipline won't be great. Those banks and royal treasury stores hold a ton of wealth."
"That can't be right. Didn't they have time to move those things? If they really didn't have time to transport them, they might as well just dump them on the street."
"Right? They are supplying the enemies; the Soviets won't help, but they don't mind doing a little business."
"Cough, Tanner, do you think Saddam will just ship all that gold and silver back home?"
"Who knows? Our satellites are keeping an eye on it."
"Well, let's keep watching. There's no chance right now; as for later, let's hope they fight a long time."
...
Saddam felt extremely happy; there were simply too many good things next door. Most amusingly, the people there were very docile.
For a moment, he stubbornly believed these people were waiting for his rescue. The U.S. had threatened verbally, and the United Nations had passed relevant resolutions. But he didn't care; no matter how powerful their air and naval forces were, they were useless without an army.
After all these years, the U.S. hadn't engaged in a large-scale ground war. The Gaddafi forces were a nuisance, and all they did was drop a couple of bombs. In fact, they ended up losing two aircraft themselves.
Worldwide, there was a consensus: the U.S. was afraid of casualties in combat. Just losing two pilots made the president very anxious.
Good grief, the Golden Canyon operation had directly decimated Gaddafi's air power. Such a successful military action was widely questioned.
In Saddam's eyes, the U.S. was simply being overly sensitive. In warfare, there are going to be casualties; it was only two people, so why make a big fuss?
In his view, the U.S.'s aggressive military presence was merely intimidation. As long as he could weather the first wave, no one could do anything to him. Gaddafi had never fought a real war; he had no right to compare with him.
Looking at the overflowing treasury, Saddam was overjoyed. All his frustrations over the years vanished without a trace. The evidence he held seemed unreliable. At least when he brought these things out, the representatives from the U.S. looked completely unbothered.
Well, he had come to realize he had probably been set up. His reputation in the desert region was absolutely terrible.
...
In William White's view, Saddam's actions were just stupid. Money that could be spent was true wealth. Did he really think the U.S. was that easy to bully? At least, no country dared to provide him with supplies; even having money wouldn't help.
The oil wells that had just resumed production would likely shut down again. The combined losses would far exceed the things he had stolen.
The soldiers and civilians who received money were, of course, happy. But when they couldn't buy supplies with that money, their happiness would turn to anger.
A country that couldn't be self-sufficient was not a worry for the U.S. Even without ground forces, they could directly squeeze them into submission. The yellow and white goods he had were merely what helped the U.S. seize assets.
[T/N: Gold and silver.]
Regarding the war in the desert, the American public was confused. They only just learned that Kuwait was actually their ally.
But this ally was incredibly weak. In just a few hours, it was wiped out. Come on, couldn't they be a bit more reliable?
As for Bush's Desert Shield initiative, the spectators didn't pay much attention. To them, as long as the situation didn't escalate, that was fine. While appeasement was good, there wasn't a need to keep yielding. The little mustache was encouraged because of their inaction. There was no need for a repeat.
But NBC was a bit ridiculous; why were they so worked up? There are wars happening everywhere in this world, and it didn't need such extensive coverage.
"Praising the military strength of that foolish big guy? They don't have any strength at all; as long as they seal off the Gulf, they've got nowhere to go."
"Mr. White, this is Bush's request, and they're also negotiating."
"Alright, Barry, you'll need to find some military commentators, preferably retired officers. But I think that's a bad idea."
"Ha, Mr. White, they might want to send a message that if we ignore this, Saddam could become the next Hitler."
"We can agree to their request, but we have our own interests to consider. Didn't we send two aircraft carriers? Our battlefield reporters need to be on board; it has to be a whole team."
"Okay, Mr. White, I'll communicate right now."
*****
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