United States | DoD Wire to the United Kingdom

[Odinson]

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OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE​

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ENCRYPTED MESSAGE​

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TO: Jason Green, Secretary of State for Defense of the United Kingdom ( Jamie )

FROM: John Glass, Secretary of Defense of the United States of America

Secretary Green,

Last week the White House ordered my office to create a range of options in the event that the United States were to intercede with the conflict involving Turkey and Israel. I have been directed to ask if your government would like assistance at RAF Akrotiri. At this time we are looking at options for a defense of Cyprus, if you deem it necessary. We have a wide range of options, but to begin I would offer the 9th and 18th Fighter Squadrons. The Air Force could send additional ground assets such as radars and ground security. Also, the Navy could deploy a task force. However, if your government has any interest in this, we first need to know what assets you have at RAF Akrotiri (and what assets you plan to send) and if you have any intelligence that may point to the facility, or Cyprus at large, may be under threat of attack or invasion.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Respectfully,

John Glass
Secretary of Defense
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[Jamie]

Due to the urgency of the growing situation in the Middle East, and other conversations taking place within government, John Glass would be invited to a private and encrypted phone call to discuss his email further. He would be speaking to Jason Green, the Defence Secretary for the United Kingdom who, for the moment, only has one focus which was the territories in Cyprus. Although no threat was made to the island itself, it was a precaution due to the increased military presence. The call would simply allow the conversation to take place real time with no delay.

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Private
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Secretary Glass picked up his secure line at the Pentagon in his private office and answered, “This is Glass, go ahead.”


Jamie

 

[Jamie]

"Pleasure to speak to you, Mr Glass. I am Secretary Green, Defence Secretary for the British Government. How are you today? I thought it was easier to arrange for this call to discuss your email as opposed to having these sent back and forth. I'm sure you are witnessing the growing military presence in the Middle East and our concern is between Israel and Turkey is Cyprus. It's independence is something we value, as well as the oversea territory we have there. Whilst no threats have been made to Cyprus or the United Kingdom, it's not unreasonable to assume an overlap of conflict, or that the increased military presence to cause concern. At the moment the United Kingdom only has a small contingency of aircraft for air policing but the expanding presence is clearly overwhelming. We have also been requested to send additional assets to support Israel, I'm not sure if you may have been contacted by them too?"

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

“As far as I’m aware, they haven’t reached out to us yet,” Secretary Glass said.

“Exactly what assets do you have at and around Cyprus? And what do you plan on sending? As I said in my message, we’re prepared to send two squadrons of aircraft in addition to other assets from the Navy and the Air Force. Are you interested in our assistance?”he asked.

“I was also wondering if the United Kingdom plans in taking a side in the conflict?”

Jamie

 

[Jamie]

"At the moment we have a contingency of four Tornado F3s, an air-to-air fighter, accompanied by an air to air refueller and an E-3D Sentry. They are their under what we name Operation Paladin, an air policing mission at the moment but no doubt going to develop further with the current on goings.

We have a Carrier Strike Group at Gibraltar, consideration is taking place as to whether to move that near Cyprus, or deploy it further out and send it to Diego Garcia. In terms of what else we may be sending, it's more then likely we'll be deploying air defence assets such as Rapiers, and anti-ballistic missile. We are been more cautious in terms of anything bigger, for example, B52 Bombers can reach from UK mainland so deploying them in Cyprus is fruitless, as an example. We are looking to deploy more fast jets to RAF Akrotiri, and launching more Harriers to our carrier in the Med which is currently on a peacetime deployment of 12 jump jets.

On the more discretionary side of things, Special Forces will be getting deployed for reconnaissance missions but in general, a lot of it depends on the next moves from Turkey and Israel. We are very much open and would welcome Navy and Air Force Assets from the US, taking away the circumstances I wonder whether it may be a good option to have a joint exercise in the region.

To be honest, taking a side in the conflict is difficult. We would certainly edge more towards Israel, but we're not going to fight a war for them if they don't seem keen on defending themselves. I cannot rule out military intervention in support of Israel, but a lot of it is subjective to what happens next. May I ask who you would be likely to support, if any?"

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"Israel's government has backed down from wanting to invade Palestine, from what we've seen. They've gone so far as to set aside money to help Arabs in their own country. If Turkey and Saudi Arabia intend to invade Israel in order to destroy the country and possibly commit a genocide, then we would have no choice but to side with Israel. Considering Turkey's financial situation, and Saudi Arabia only being able to get to Israel from the Gulf of Aqaba, I think we may have a favorable defensive position. If we send a fleet of our destroyers and our own carrier strike group, I think our combined forces would be more than capable of putting down the Turkish threat. We could also utilize the... we could utilize certain reconnaissance aircraft that both of our countries may operate. I think that it would be important for us to have forces in the area, as well as reserve forces at Gibraltar in case we have to fall back, or if reinforcements are needed," he said.

Jamie