UK | Dialogue with the United States

[Odinson]

"We have a deal, Mister Ambassador," Price said with a confident nod. "That price is correct. I'll have to pass this on to the White House for the President to authorize, but since DoD is onboard, there shouldn't be any issue... As I said before, I think that our country's special relationship is vital to American national security. We are training a large number of troops and purchasing equipment for them right now, but one they are more organized and battle-ready, I know that the Defense Department and the White House would like to see us participating in some mass-training exercises together. The State Department believes that this would of course benefit our armed forces, but it would also infer to the world that we have a working military relationship. Do you think that's something we could arrange in the future?" he asked.
Jamie

 

[Jamie]

"Ideal, would you like us to send the funds immediately? Or would you like us to wait until the President Authorizes such a transaction? We are happy to send it immediately if construction of the twelve B-52H Bombers can begin as soon as possible. Joint Training Exercises would be a great opportunity for both countries to engage in so we are certainly on board with the idea. Do you have any specific topic in mind and a time frame? We are happy to work around your own plans for such."

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"You can send us the funds immediately," he said. "There wont be any issue with getting the White House to comply with the transaction, but if there is, we can simply have the money sent back," he said.

"This is more of an idea for the future, but I think by 1998 the armed forces will be prepared to participate in armed exercises with the United Kingdom - we are especially interested in smaller exercises using our special forces, and also major exercises to help train the Marines. The Secretary of Defense has made it clear to me that there is a lot that the United States and the United Kingdom could do together in the realm of military cooperation. Because this seems to be in the realm of possibility, I will pass that along to DoD to review.

"I'm not sure if you have anything else to discuss," he said, "but there is one more thing that I wanted to bring up. The Gore Administration is interested in high level talks between the President and your Prime Minister - talks on a topic which I think the two of us would be underqualified to handle. This is to be kept as secret as possible, but the President is interested in discussing the possibility of some kind of Mutual Defense Treaty between Britain and the United States, which would include our armed forces working more closely together. Like I said, this would be something the President would like to discuss with the Prime Minister directly, which is why he is interested in hosting the Prime Minister for a state visit at the White House. Could that be something that we could organize?" he asked.
Jamie

 

[Jamie]

"That is great, thank you so much for your assistance and we have transferred the funds over. We look forward to hopefully committing to further business in the near future." smiled the Ambassador, a deal that he is able to add onto his resume to protect his career in politics. "We would certainly be happy to participate in joint UK and US Exercises that could use a range of resources to maximize any benefit. Of course, based on operational requirements. There is nothing further on my agenda but I could certainly arrange for a discussion regarding a mutual defence treaty. It might be a few days but if President Gore will have a slot in his busy calendar on, lets say the [13th], then it should be all organized. If you're happy with that, I'll get it scheduled in and unless there's anything more you'd like to discuss, I think that would conclude this meet."

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"The [13th] would be an excellent date for the Prime Minister to come to Washington - we will begin making the necessary preparations," he said. He stood up and shook the ambassador's hand, "Thank you for coming, ambassador" he said with a genuine, friendly smile. If there was nothing else to discuss, the Deputy Secretary of State would walk the British ambassador out and see to it that he made it out safely.
Jamie

 

[Jamie]

"I will ensure that this is arranged within the cabinet and we can go from there." smiled the Ambassador, shaking the Secretary's hand as he stood up "Pleasure to have met you and I look forward to many more discussions in the future." With that concluded, the Ambassador would walk out and depart for the embassy to write up his report and arrange everything that had been discussed.