Timing was a constraining issue. State and Crisp briefed Ross on the proposed Stavanger meeting with Ivanov. The Ross trip to Russia had to be completed and digested at least ten days before the date of the Norwegian presidential wedding — which was to be preceded by two days by the proposed Stavanger airport meeting.
The wedding was set for June 10; the Ivanov event, therefore, was June 8 and 9, and the date of this meeting with the Secretary of State was May 5. In essence there were twenty-nine or thirty days to complete the research and travelling that Ross needed to do before finalizing with the Secretary and Crisp the ultimatum that Herself would drop ceremoniously upon the unsuspecting Foreign Minister Ivanov.
It was time for the diminutive Secretary to leave.
“Jason and his highly efficient team can work with you. I have another meeting scheduled now, Dr. Ross. If you and he could have a full briefing book — or books — put together for our next meeting...”
“After my Russia trip?”
“Yes, that would be fine.”
The Secretary was gone.
Crisp and Ross plotted what had to be done.
Crisp would make all the diplomatic arrangements: coordination with Ivanov’s people; clearances for the Secretary’s aircraft, permissions and security with the Norwegians — particularly at Stavanger; accommodation at Oslo; the texts of the protocol speeches pre- and post-wedding; and, of course, the selection and presentation of the wedding gift from the people of the United States.
As for Ross, Crisp would see that his bag was the central core of the confrontation — and it would be a confrontation — with the Russians.
The two of them would ultimately draft the text of the ultimatum that the Secretary herself would present to Ivanov.
Ross would be responsible for feeding statistics into that huge brain of the Secretary’s, and for keeping her on top of all of the information needed to formulate the proposal. It was her job to present it to the Russians and finally to persuade Ivanov — with Putin looking over his shoulder — that, tough as it was, America’s proposition was the way to go.
As he had listened to Rob Ross answer the Secretary’s and his queries and explain the facts of the complexity and depth of the Russian nuclear waste dilemma, Crisp’s respect for the young man’s knowledge and judgment rapidly increased. This guy appeared to know what he was talking about. And his ultimatum strategy was brilliant.
Crisp knew that, in spite of their age difference, probably close to twenty years, as with the Secretary, he would be content to work with Rob Ross as a partner — yes, that was a good word — in pulling off this major, clandestine (another good word) American initiative.
CHAPTER 8
The flight across the Atlantic was routine. The Gulfstream was out of Andrews Air Force Base at 8:05 a.m. and arrived in early evening at Biggin Hill, the small but famous wartime Battle of Britain airport just a short distance southeast of London’s west end. Ambassador Rob Ross’s pilot had discovered this gem of an airfield on a recent trip to the U.K. when she couldn’t get her passenger, the Secretary of Defense, into Heathrow, Gatwick, or Stanstead because of a combination of heavy traffic and bad weather.
A waiting Embassy limousine took the newly appointed ambassador and his executive assistant straight to the Stafford, where Terry Moore, the managing director, was waiting to receive them at the front door on the quiet St. James Place, a cul-de-sac just south of the Ritz on Piccadilly.
The only space that Moore had been able to open up was a small suite on the third floor with a king-size bed. Which was highly acceptable to Rob Ross and his aide, Sue Long, who was indeed long — six feet without shoes, almost reaching the height of her boss.
After a quick welcoming glass of champagne with Moore in the Stafford’s American Bar, Rob and his assistant went straight to their third-floor suite, ordered up dinner, tried out the bed, ate dinner, and were back in the bed again just before midnight.
The appointment with the Prime Minister was set for 10:15 the next morning. If nothing else, Ross was prompt. He was out of his taxi at the world-famous door of 10 Downing Street at 10:13 and in the Prime Minister’s office exactly on time. He had met the PM some months before when the British leader was in Washington for a meeting with the President in which the issue of the availability of North Sea oil for the U.S. market was on the agenda. Ross attended that meeting in the cabinet room as the President’s energy advisor and was invited with other staffers to an informal luncheon with the PM and the President. What a tower of strength the British PM had been in the war on terrorism, the hunt for bin Laden and the resolution of the Afghan conflict, and the assault on Iraq and its bloody “democratization.” America had no better ally than Britain.
After warm words of greeting, the PM — perhaps just a bit older than Ross, an aggressive talker, exuding energy, outgoing personality, bushy-haired, big smiling teeth — asked to be fully briefed on the American approach to Russia’s nuclear waste. Ross had been given permission to disclose the general purpose of his trip to Russia, which was nuclear waste inspection and a possible new international nuclear waste disposal initiative that could well be of service to the U.K. and European nations. Nothing more.
The briefing was just that, brief and to the point, with the PM shooting questions at him from time to time.
“That’s it, Prime Minister. That’s where we’re going with our new approach to nuclear waste with the Russians. Your approval in principle is necessary because the President is most anxious to have your support, just as he had your immediate and total support after September eleventh and, most importantly, in Iraq.”
“He stood by me during those July 2005 bomb attacks on London. Yes. Of course. Of course he has my support. We’re a relatively minor player in the nuclear league, be it weapons or waste, but I think his initiative is splendid. Cleaning up the Russian mess is an absolute must.
“Where do you think your project would take place? What country has all the physical, geological requirements and would be considered trustworthy by the Russians?”
“Try Australia or Norway, Prime Minister. Maybe Canada.”
“And it will be the President who decides. Right?”
“Exactly. But I expect after he has consulted with you.”
“So what you’re telling me, Dr. Ross, is that if I want to have input at this early stage then I should deal directly with the President.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And if I want to see Canada involved in some way in the nuclear waste solution, again I should raise it with the President, right?”
“But Canada’s not very high on the President’s ‘like’ list.”
“Because of Canada’s refusal to be part of the Iraq war coalition?”
“Exactly. The Canadians have a left-wing government that has played footsie with Cuba ever since the arrival of Castro. Now they’re refusing to back the President’s missile defence system. The problem is NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defence Command. The Canadians have been nominal but almost full partners in NORAD since its inception — in the fifties, I think.”
The PM nodded. “Correct.”
“The second in command at NORAD is always a Canadian Air Force lieutenant general, and Canadian officers hold responsible positions throughout NORAD. The new MDS would be under NORAD’s control. It follows that if the Canadians don’t support our new limited MDS then the old protocols and agreements will likely be scrapped and Canada will be out of NORAD.”
“That’s rather serious, isn’t it? I can see why the administration would be annoyed, particularly over Iraq. I must confess I was very unhappy when Chrétien, then prime minister, said he wouldn’t send troops.”
Ross