Ghost Force by Patrick Robinson

headway, but mostly in Iran. The rest of the Gulf, the principal Arab producers, are always in the hands of the Americans.
    “The Saudis, the Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar are all encompassed by the USA—particularly after the Presidency of George W. Bush. None of them move without an okay from the White House.
    “Indonesia was up for grabs. But the Americans are strong there and the Chinese are getting close. The Brits are running out of North Sea oil altogether. Europe is devoid of all resources except coal. The USA will never relinquish any of the oil from the Alaskan fields, and Mexico and Venezuela prefer to deal with Washington. Thanks again to President Bush.”
    The Russian President rearranged his papers. “Which brings us to two of the biggest strikes of this century so far—the one in South Georgia, which lies deep in the middle of the South Atlantic, about four meters from the Antarctic Circle, and those two huge new oil fields on the Falkland Islands.”
    “The Falkland Islands!” exclaimed Oleg Nalyotov. “That’s more hopeless than all the other places put together. It’s a British Colony that twenty-eight years ago was the scene of one of the most vicious little three-month wars in modern history.
    “I’m sure you all remember. The Argentinian military seized it, claimed it, and occupied it. And before you could say Nyet , the Royal Navy assembled a battle fleet and charged down the Atlantic and did what they said they’d do.
    “Literally, the Brits blew ’em off that island with guided missiles and bombs. They landed a force of ten thousand and fought for the place as if they were defending the coast of Sussex. Some terrible Admiral they had put the big Argentine cruiser, the General Belgrano , on the bottom of the Atlantic, drowned more than three hundred sailors.
    “My general advice would be don’t fool with the Brits. They get very touchy. And I happen to know it’s Exxon and British Petroleum who are going to develop those oil fields. That’s a U.S.-UK alliance. We should be wary of those, especially when there’s a lot of money involved.”
    The President looked up and nodded. “My dear Oleg,” he said patiently, “you do not think for one moment I intend to become involved in a fight with either of them, do you? Frankly I’d rather fight the Siberians, or the Chinese for that matter.
    “But there is one rather hotheaded little nation that might very easily be happy to do our dirty work for us. I believe it’s called Argentina, and they are not afraid of anyone when it comes to those islands. The Malvinas, they believe, belong to them. The very word Malvinas drives them mad in Buenos Aires.
    “Grown men, military officers, beat their breasts and start raving about how proud they would be if their own sons fought and died for the islands. One of the Argentine admirals in the last conflict stated he would die a happy man if the blood of his son, killed in combat, was to seep into the soil of the Malvinas. There is no reason in that country, just passion… Viva las Malvinas! All that nonsense.
    “Their claim is essentially ludicrous, utterly dismissed by London. But with a little clandestine help from us, they might just go at it again. You know, capture the islands, which are scarcely defended, seize the oil, expel the oilmen from Exxon and Shell. And allow us the rights—in return for a generous royalty.
    “We then put in two big Russian oil companies, build them a tanker complex, and sit back and take our cut, in the form of taxes on the oil exported to the Gulf Coast of the United States. Works for everyone, correct?”
    “Sir, it is my duty to warn you that the Americans would be absolutely furious and might use military force against the islands.”
    “Thank you, Prime Minister Kravchenko. But I don’t think you are right. The Americans might be furious, but in the end they would do a deal. The Brits, however, would not. They’d attack the islands, just