INGRID DOWS - AN ALTERNATE STORY PART 3 - THE SPACE AGE by Michel Poulin - HTML preview

CHAPTER 14 – AN OFFER ONE CAN’T REFUSE

19:56 (Jerusalem Time) / 12:56 (Washington Time) Friday, September 07, 1951 ‘C’

United States General Consulate

Jerusalem, Mandated Palestine

‘’Is this line a secure one, Mister McDonald?’’

‘’Yes, General!’’ answered James McDonald as Ingrid sat behind a desk in the consulate’s communications room, on which sat a telephone connected to a black box. ‘’I regularly use it to communicate with the State Department in Washington. Our experts believe it to be very safe. My communications officer has already established a connection with the White House and will alert you when the President will be online. You will then only need to push the ‘link’ button after picking up your receiver.’’

‘’Thank you!’’

Ingrid then mentally reviewed all that had happened in the last few days in Palestine. She had always been a resolute fighter and problem-solver but she was presently close to discouragement, as all her efforts seem to hit a wall of hatred, intolerance and obtuseness, especially on the Jewish side. Then, the consulate’s communications officer gave her a nod and she picked up her receiver, then pressed the ‘link’ button.

‘’Hello! Can you hear me, Mister President?’’

‘’Yes, I can hear you clearly, General Dows. How are things in Palestine today?’’

‘’I am afraid that our efforts are bogging down, Mister President. Militarily, our intervention, along with the arrival of some British reinforcements, has allowed us to put a stop to the campaigns of intimidation, evictions and ethnic cleansing by both sides. However, politically, the situation is as intractable as when I arrived here some ten days ago.’’

‘’What is the main problem which you have encountered, General?’’

‘’Basically, it is the refusal by the Jewish Agency and by Jewish militants in general to abandon their dream of a Jewish state in Palestine. The big problem is that the actual state they would want to create would necessitate the eviction and dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Arab residents. When I tell them that the Arabs also have a right to live in Palestine, the Jewish Agency replies that quote God promised them this land unquote. As for the partition plan project that was floated this week at the United Nations, I frankly find it both disconnected from reality and a recipe for more violence. Basically, these idiots are ready to repeat the Indian Partition disaster, which cost millions of lives and resulted in untold misery for the Hindus and Muslims who were forced to relocate in the process, losing their homes and their lands. Any partition here in Palestine would result in a similar human tragedy and I refuse to let that happen, Mister President.’’

‘’What about the Arabs, General?’’

‘’I have made some progress with them, particularly with the Jordanian Arab Legion and with Amir Abdallah, who have managed to maintain a fair order in Transjordan, the portion of Palestine which is overwhelmingly Arab. I however see a lot of bad faith on the part of the governments of Egypt, Syria and Lebanon, who either refuse to help improve the situation or support under the table a number of Arab extremist groups who keep attacking Jewish border settlements, especially in the Negev Desert and in the Golan. In the case of Syria, its government is unstable and ineffective and has bee subject to a series of destabilizing military coups. The Syrians have proved to date to be incapable of controlling their own borders, even if they wanted to try. The same can be said of the Lebanese government, where the French basically left the place in a near chaotic state.’’

‘’I see! Do you see a possible solution to this, General?’’

‘’One obvious way to diminish the violence and intimidation would be to confiscate all the firearms we could find on the territory of Palestine not under the control of the Arab Legion, Mister President. However, that would mean at the same time that we would have to disarm and disband the Haganah, the Jewish quasi-official army. That would likely result into large-scale fighting between the Haganah and our security forces and would cause some significant casualties on both sides. The political price to be paid in the United States would also be significant, as American Jews would most likely protest vehemently such an action on our part. Another possible partial solution would be to completely stop the illegal immigration of Jews from Europe and North Africa to Palestine. Right now, the Arabs outnumber the Jews in Palestine by a good margin. However, illegal Jewish immigration would soon tip the balance over and make the actual problem even worse. Just in the last five days, our ships stopped and turned around two ships carrying a total of 2,200 European Jews, most of them from Poland and the Soviet Union. We definitely need to continue to interdict the coast of Palestine to those immigrant ships, Mister President. Also, it would help a lot if the European countries in which ports those illegal immigrants board ships to Palestine would stop turning a blind eye and would crack down on this.’’

‘’I will definitely talk with the State Department over that, so that it could turn the screws on those countries, General. Those same countries should also address the widespread problem of antisemitism they have. To return to the military side of the Palestinian problem, what concrete measures have you taken to date, apart from coordinating your actions with the Arab Legion?’’

‘’I have established a network of observation posts and road checkpoints across Palestine, with their mission being to prevent acts of ethnic cleansing or harassment and to seize any firearms found on vehicles traveling around Palestine. However, I am still severely limited in this by the low number of troops actually at my disposal, Mister President. I easily could use another few thousand troops, ideally light infantry, plus a couple of battalions of heavy artillery and tank units, so that those troops could benefit from quick fire support in case they are attacked. Finally, I really could use some administrative civilian support staff here, in Jerusalem. Right now, the local economy is a dog’s breakfast, with each region or district mostly working separately. The only organized administrations left right now are the remnants of the British administration, which is still in the process of thinning out and returning to Great Britain, the Jordanian administration and the Jewish Agency. Those three administrative machines however too often work at cross-purpose and do not coordinate their efforts, resulting in a lot of wasted energy and resources. One way to remedy this would be to form a single administrative apparatus across Palestine which would work for the benefit of all, instead of favoring only one group or ethnicity. The old British local administration could be used as a basis for such an apparatus, so that legal and fair elections, free from voter intimidation, could take place and name a local, Palestine-wide government which would respect the rights of all the legal residents of Palestine. This would however need a lot of resources and money to arrange, while the fighting will need to seriously subside before such a program could be safely implemented, Mister President.’’ Dewey was silent for a few seconds, probably to think over what Ingrid had just told him, before speaking again.

‘’I will talk to Dwight Eisenhower about your troop needs and will ask him to commit some significant forces to Palestine on a medium-term business and to tell the Navy to continue to block ships loaded with illegal immigrants. I will also tell Secretary Lodge to send to you a team of experts on the Middle East and a few top ranked economists, so that they could unload some of the economic and political burden from your shoulders. As well, I will ask the Speaker of the House, Joseph Martin, for substantial funds which would be earmarked to the formation and support of a unified administration in Palestine. However, the most critical requirement I see right now is the need for a firm but fair hand in charge of that land. Right now, I can see only one possible candidate for the post of Governor of Palestine: you!’’

‘’Me, Mister President? But I have a nine-year-old daughter waiting for me in California. I also am the owner, chief designer and chief executive of Hughes Aircraft, a company which employs over 4,700 employees and which is presently working to provide vital planes, missiles and equipment to our armed forces. I can’t afford to be stuck in Palestine for months and years, Mister President!’’

‘’I promise you that this assignment will be only a temporary one and that someone else will be named governor as quickly as possible. Right now, however, the United States needs you in Palestine, to bring peace and order to it and to give it a viable future, while avoiding another war in the Middle East. So, what do you say, General?’’

The image of little Hien floated in Ingrid’s mind as she debated how to respond to Dewey’s request. However, her sense of duty and her desire to help Palestine to get out of its chaos got the upper hand after a few seconds of agonizing mental debate.

‘’Very well, Mister President: I will continue to do the best I can here for the next few weeks and months. However, I will definitely need more troops and more civilian administrative support in order to do the job.’’

‘’You will get as much as the United States can spare for Palestine, General.’’ promised Dewey. ‘’One last thing: you will need as much authority as possible in order to take and keep control in Palestine. Thus, consider yourself as a full four-star general as of today. That will be a permanent rank, by the way.’’

‘’Uh, thank you, Mister President. However, that may cause many at the Pentagon to howl in protest at what they will see as an arbitrary promotion.’’

‘’Well, if anyone at the Pentagon will protest about this, then that person or persons will find themselves put on the retirement list. That should shut up your detractors. I promise you that you will get some reinforcements and staff backups by next Friday at the latest, General.’’

‘’Those will be mighty appreciated, Mister President. Anything else, Mister President?’’

‘’Not at this time, Ingrid. I will now hang up, so that you could call your cute daughter in California and arrange something for your aircraft company. In the meantime, keep up the good work!’’

‘’Thank you, Mister President! Have a good day, Mister President.’’

‘’And the same to you, Ingrid.’’ said Dewey before hanging up. Ingrid then hung up as well and was left pensive for a long moment as she analyzed all that the President had told her. Next, she asked the consulate’s communications officer to arrange for a link with the Hughes Corporation’s headquarters in Los Angeles, then continued her thinking until the line was established. The one who answered her at the ‘Triumvirate’s office’ was Hedy Lamarr.

‘’Ingrid? Thank God that you are still alive and well in that crazy place! How are you?’’

‘’Both overwhelmed and a bit discouraged, Hedy: President Dewey just asked me to stay on here for possibly a few more months and I accepted, although my heart was not really in it.’’

‘’A few more months in Palestine?! But, what about Hien? What about Hugues Aircraft? You are needed here!’’

‘’I know, believe it, I know. However, my sense of duty got over me...again. I presume that Hien is already at school for the day?’’

‘’She is! She should be back at the mansion by four, at the most.’’

‘’Then, tell her that I will call home at five thirty. You may tell her that I will need to stay in Palestine longer than previously planned but tell her as well that I will try to arrange for us to see each other in a week or two. Now, about Hughes Aircraft: any notable news on that side?’’

‘’Nothing except that your employees there are working hard to produce the few hundreds of aircraft still in your orders books. As for your two ongoing projects, the Fairchild-Hughes XC-152 and the Hughes PEGASUS, design work is still ongoing and will take a few more months before the building of prototypes could start. You may yet be able to return here before that happens.’’

‘’I hope so, Hedy. Is Katharine around?’’

‘’No! She is presently test-flying the latest AIRBUS 2 built at Culver City. Do you have something for her?’’

‘’Yes! Tell her to start studying the setting of a new airline route for Air Fifinella, to link New York to Lydda Airport, near Jerusalem, possibly as an extension of our New York to Rome route. I understand that the present situation in Palestine is a bit too tense to attract tourists to Palestine but religious pilgrimage and tourism to the holy places in Jerusalem would probably make such a destination a most viable one commercially. Maybe the picture of a thriving touristic local economy around Jerusalem could be enough to entice a few of the hot heads here to agree to calm down.’’

‘’Hmmm, that’s a big ‘maybe’, Ingrid, but it could effectively work...if you can bash some sense in the locals. Alright, I will pass your request to Kate when she will return home this evening and will tell Hien to be ready to take your call at five thirty.’’

‘’Thanks, Hedy! Anything on your side?’’

‘’Nothing! Things are just peachy here in L.A. and I am in control of things.’’

‘’I’m sure you are, Hedy. See you soon, I hope.’’

‘’The same here, Ingrid. Take care and be careful.’’

‘’I will, Hedy!’’ replied Ingrid before hanging up. Instead of getting up and leave the communications room, she then stayed in her chair, in deep thoughts about her next moves in Palestine.