THE TAINTED TRUST (Volume 2 of The King Trilogy)

CHAPTER 73

        Glen Cove.

With tear-filled hugs and kisses Kerri thanked Miles and Andrea for their kindness and consideration during an extremely trying time of her life. After one last emotional wave, she climbed into the front seat of Visconti's Mercedes, anxious to begin a new life with the man she loved, to share the joy of the intensely physical and passionate phase of a new relationship, to experience the endless fun-filled nights and yawn-filled days.

Dark threatening clouds were gathering beyond the horizon. History had lit the fuse.

In 1922, over three years after the First World War, the British convened a conference in Uquair, a Persian Gulf port. They intended to establish permanent boundaries for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. Significantly, Kuwait was not represented at the conference. Kuwait's boundary with Iraq was moved northward to correspond with a line drawn in 1913 by the Turks and the British. In addition, Iraq was left with a narrow twenty-six mile entrance to the Persian gulf through the shallow Shatt al-Arab waterway. By contrast, Kuwait was given five times as much shoreline, including the enormous natural harbor at Kuwait City, and Bubiyan and Warba Islands, which dominated the approach to Umm Qasr, Iraq's only port. By establishing the new boundaries, the British succeeded in protecting their strategic interests, but had simultaneously planted the seeds of jealousy and hatred. Those seeds, fertilized by a desperate need for money, would bear fruit in the form of Iraq's wrath in 1990, sixty-eight years later.

Iraq's need for money had grown to a critical stage. Crude oil prices were falling and world demand for the precious liquid was declining. Saddam Hussein, Iraq's angry president, claimed the decline was the result of a U.S. induced recession. In desperation, he send his deputy prime minister, Saadum Hammadi to each of the Persian Gulf states to press them to cut production. Saddam Hussein understood that the only way to increase prices was to curb production. When Hammadi visited Kuwait he also demanded $27 billion as compensation for oil allegedly stolen by the Kuwaitis from the Rumaila oil field, considered an Iraqi possession.

In rejecting the Iraqi claim, the Kuwaitis gave Saddam the excuse he needed to set forces in motion which could only be stopped by extraordinary means. The forces would trigger a chain reaction of events which would dramatically change many lives, including those of Louis Visconti and others close to him.

The arrival of July, 1990, coincided with the invasion of an intense steamy heat wave in the New York area. As temperatures climbed, so too did the price of crude oil. At an O.P.E.C. planning session in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait finally agreed to abide by its production quota. News of the agreement sent the spot price of crude oil up two dollars a barrel.

July 16, 1990.

Tariq Aziz, Iraq's foreign minister, wrote to the Arab League accusing Kuwait of overproduction and of stealing oil from the Rumaila oil field. A speech delivered by Saddam Hussein contained a thinly veiled threat of military action if the Kuwaitis continued. The wording alarmed the western world. Unable to decide on an appropriate response to Iraq's threat, the Kuwaiti cabinet made a colossal miscalculation by assuming Saddam was bluffing in an effort to extort money.

July 21, 1990.

The American C.I.A. reported the first Iraqi troop movements near the Kuwait northern border. In an effort to mediate the dispute between Iraq and Kuwait, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, King Hussein of Jordan and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia sought and got assurances from Saddam that Iraq would not invade so long as negotiations continued. Not completely appeased by the assurances, investors bid the price of oil up to almost twenty dollars a barrel.

Disturbed and shaken by the unexpected reversal of oil prices, Visconti called Assif Raza at his New York home and quickly dispensed with the pleasantries. "Sorry to bother you, Assif. I need to talk to you about crude oil. Do you mind sparing me a few minutes?" he asked, fidgeting nervously in anticipation of bad news.

"I can give you all the time you need, Louis. Oil is a subject very near and dear to my heart."

"I get a little nervous when I see the price move up four bucks in one week. I can handle movements of a buck or two, but this is beyond my pain threshold. Is this a trend or just an expensive hiccup?"

"I would suggest you relax, Louis," Raza replied. "Even if Kuwait sticks to its production quota, the world will still be swimming in oil. Furthermore, to the extent Kuwait reduces production, Iraq will increase its output to replace it. You must understand that Saddam Hussein is desperate for money. He'll do anything to get it."

"That's what I'm afraid of. What the hell is Saddam doing with his troops on the Kuwaiti border?"

Raza chuckled. "He's a good poker player. He's bluffing. Military action against Kuwait would be lunacy. He knows the United States will protect its interests in the area. They would deal with Iraqi forces like cannon fodder."

"Should I stay short?"

"Most definitely. In fact, you might want to take this opportunity to increase your position."

"Not possible. The FTC is watching me like a hawk. I'm classified as a large trader."

"Then stay where you are and relax. When everyone's finished posturing and all of the hands have been played, you'll be a very wealthy man."

Visconti gazed skyward and breathed a large sigh of relief. "Thanks, Assif. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your advice."

"You're very welcome, Louis. Please call if there's anything else I can do for you."

July 31, 1990, 10:30 A.M.

Miles Dennis's eyes were riveted to the moving electronic tape on the wall outside his office. He read the shocking news with heightened anxiety. "U.S. intelligence sources report a continuing buildup of Iraqi troops on Kuwait's northern border...King Hussein of Jordan visited Sheik Jabir al-Ahmed al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait, to warn him that the meeting of the Arab League, scheduled for tomorrow in Jidda, will be critical." He called Andrew Tarquanian, Iacardi's senior oil and gas research analyst.

"Did you see that news flash?" Dennis asked.

"Yup. Why?"

"What do you think Iraq's going to do?"

"Saddam's playing bullshit poker. That's what I think."

"So you think he'll back off?"

"Yup. He'd be out of his mind to invade. He knows the U.S. would kick the shit out of him if he did."

"Is that just your opinion, or is it a consensus?"

"I talked to the boys in Rotterdam this morning. To a man, they agree with me."

"Do we hold our positions?"

"Stay short, and if crude goes to twenty-five, short the hell out of it."

"Thanks, Andrew," Dennis said, then smiled as he hung up. Tarquanian had an uncanny knack of being right, most of the time.

August 1, 1990.

With another miscalculation of horrendous proportions, the Kuwaiti's underestimated Saddam Hussein's intentions and once again rejected his claim for compensation. After an intense two hour negotiation session in Jidda, talks between the two nations collapsed.

World tensions heightened.