The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 719: Good Control
This time when Iraq invaded Kuwait, the Americans played a very important role.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Americans set up a trap and dug a huge pit to embolden Saddam and encourage him to work hard.

If the Americans had taken a very tough stance, warned Saddam from the very beginning, demonstrated the US's tough stance, and mobilized an aircraft carrier fleet to the Persian Gulf, how could Saddam have the audacity to invade Kuwait?

You know, the nature of this is completely different from the Iran-Iraq War.

Saddam launched the Iran-Iraq War because of the thousand-year-old national hatred between the Arab world and Persia. Behind Iraq is the entire Arab world, and Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are very supportive of Iraq.

But when Saddam invaded Kuwait, the nature of the incident changed completely. It was a blatant invasion of his own Arab brothers, which was extremely taboo and was strongly opposed by other Arab countries.

Saddam’s image suddenly changed from a national hero in the Arab world to a tyrant!

Moreover, as soon as the Iraqi army attacked Kuwait, the Americans immediately turned hostile, strongly condemned Iraq, and froze Iraq's assets in the United States.

Liu Tao heard that Iraqi wealthy people, international students, etc. in the United States were terrified. From the current perspective, their property might be lost.

Now Americans are busy forming a coalition, mobilizing supplies and military equipment, seeking more sponsorship for military spending, and persuading Congress to increase the budget. That is not war, it is clearly doing business.

Liu Tao could see that the powerful forces behind the scene, mainly the military-industrial complex, including energy giants, were partying and cheering.

It just so happened that at this time, the Soviet Union encountered such a difficult situation. It was unable to protect itself and had no energy to focus on the outside world. It even reached a deal with the Americans to withdraw its advisory groups and technical experts in Iraq.

If you say there is no foul play here, Liu Tao would not believe it even if you beat him to death.

"Just wait and see, the battle will begin in a few months!" said Liu Tao.

The formation of the coalition and the mobilization of troops by various countries would not happen overnight, and would take almost half a year.

Half a year later, when the coalition forces are ready, they will launch an attack on the Iraqi army.

But now, various measures against Iraq have been launched.

The United States took the lead in freezing Iraq's assets in the United States, and countries such as Europe and Japan are following suit. It is estimated that it will not be long before Iraq's assets in these countries are also frozen.

The Persian Gulf has been blocked and it won't be long before Iraq's oil exports are frozen.

It's not just the Persian Gulf line. Iraq even exports oil through Turkey. Currently, the United States and other countries are forcing Turkey to cut off Iraq's oil exports.

Liu Tao is now acting as a middleman, but he only relies on those oil tankers and his own transportation capacity is limited.

He is also trying to find a balance that is acceptable to both sides. If he transports too much oil, the Americans will probably turn against him.

According to Liu Tao's estimate, transporting about 80 tons of oil a day should be the bottom line for the Americans.

If there are more, the risk will increase.

80 tons of oil can earn about 1.466 million US dollars a day, which is a considerable profit.

Of course, this profit cannot be compared with the profit from going long on oil futures.

Going long on oil futures uses leverage and can yield huge profits in a short period of time.

Now, in terms of long positions in oil futures, they are being quickly converted into money, dispersed, and eventually slowly converged into several banks such as Hong Kong.

"I really don't understand why Americans love war so much!" Zhu Lin shook his head and said, "Isn't it better to do business properly? The world's economic development is weak now, shouldn't we develop the economy properly?"

Liu Ziyu agreed and said, "That's right, fighting is bad. If we're not careful, the S3 season will break out!"

Liu Tao smiled.

War is certainly not a good thing.

But existence is truth.

In the process of human social development, wars have never ceased. Not to mention the countless wars recorded in the thousands of years of Chinese history, even in foreign countries, there are also many wars.

Haven’t there been enough wars since the Age of Discovery?!

Besides, the sluggish development of the world economy is the result of the intersection of multiple factors, not just one.

War, in the final analysis, is an extension of politics and a redistribution of interests.

As for the S3 season, it is not that easy. It is not the same as it was or years ago. The whole world is now in a wonderful state of balance.

The world economic development is relatively weak, but some countries are also developing rapidly.

Everybody's life is just okay, and no one is really having trouble making ends meet or is willing to do anything at all costs.

Unless the United States and the Soviet Union let go of everything, it would be difficult for an outbreak to occur.

When Liu Tao heard the experts' analysis that Iraq would withdraw from Kuwait before the coalition forces launched an attack to avoid the outbreak of war, he couldn't help laughing.

These experts are really professional and can express such opinions.

You know, who is Saddam?

He is a tough guy sent from the sky. Since they have done it, how can they hand over Kuwait without fighting a battle and suffering a great loss?

These people obviously have not studied Saddam.

Late at night, Liu Tao and Zhu Lin returned to the master bedroom.

After closing and locking the door, Liu Tao couldn't help but gently hug Zhu Lin's slender waist from behind.

After a while, Liu Tao picked up Zhu Lin by the waist and walked quickly towards the big bed.

After a long time, Zhu Lin rested her head on Liu Tao's chest and slid her jade fingers lightly.

"You're not going to the Middle East, are you?" Zhu Lin asked with a worried look.

She knew that many people from the Panshan Group’s armed forces had gone to the Middle East, and up to now, personnel were still being transported to the Middle East in a steady stream, some by plane and some by boat.

Various weapons and equipment were loaded onto ships and left for the Middle East.

Even Li Fuguo went to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, in person.

Liu Tao gently stroked Zhu Lin's delicate and smooth skin and soothed her, "What are you thinking about? I'm not a military commander. I don't know how to march and fight. I don't even know military logistics. What am I going to do in the Middle East?"

"Don't think too much, I won't go abroad!" Liu Tao chuckled.

The mercenaries performed so well in the battle of Kuwait that the King of Saudi Arabia and the King of Kuwait came to China jointly to discuss relevant cooperation matters.

For them, as long as the problem can be solved with money, it is not a big deal.

Giving the troops wartime subsidies, rewards and pensions is much higher than hiring mercenaries. The combat effectiveness of the troops is not as high as that of mercenaries, so it is better to hire mercenaries.

It also allows mercenaries to train their troops well.

This time, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other countries have realized the importance of the army and are strengthening their military capabilities.

After all, every country was frightened by Saddam!
Without a strong military force, you can't sleep well at night.

The original number of mercenaries increased again, and the tasks they undertook became heavier.

(End of this chapter)