From dantheman2210 at yahoo.com.au Tue Jul 1 20:27:34 2008 From: dantheman2210 at yahoo.com.au (Daniel Sanderson) Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2008 17:27:34 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [War] Diplomatic Cable Message-ID: <492749.99206.qm@web39103.mail.mud.yahoo.com> "Diplomatic Cable" June 29 2014 Prime Minister Jack Decker Canberra, Australia Decker sat in his office, along with his Foreign Affairs and Defence Ministers. The Army helicopter was a few minutes away, to fly him up to Sydney, but a disturbing new development had emerged. US spy satellites made extensive use of facilities in Australia, especially Pine Gap in the Northern Territory. As a result, most information that came through there was shared. Added to that were intercepts from military communications in China. The Chinese were pissed. Who wasn't? But they were planning retribution. According to the intercepts and the photos, artillery pieces were being moved into border positions, and their land-based cruise missile sites were at high alert. Fighters were armed, being fueled, and waiting on the tarmac. Added to that, Chinese Special Forces troops could be seen on their bases, with helicopters arriving faster then the satellites could count. "Ok. Write this down." Decker said gently to Joanna. TO: PRESIDENT XIA HONG, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA FRM: PRIME MINISTER JACK DECKER, COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA MADAME PRESIDENT, FIRST OF ALL, I OFFER MY CONDOLENCES. THESE ATTACKS WERE UNWARRANTED, AND SURPRISING, AND ARE BEING FELT ACROSS THE WORLD. IN AUSTRALIA, THE USA, ENGLAND, CANADA AND CHINA, OUR PEOPLE LOOK TO US FOR HELP IN THIS TIME OF FEAR AND CONFUSION. WE ARE ALL, UNDERSTANDABLY, VERY EMOTIONAL, AND ANGRY, RIGHT NOW. WITHOUT SEEKING TO JUDGE, NONE OF US ARE THINKING STRAIGHT AT THIS TIME. ACTIONS TAKEN IN THE NEXT 72 HOURS, WHILE CRUCIAL, COULD ALSO HAVE AS RESOUNDING AFFECTS AS THE ATTACKS THEMSELVES HAVE HAD. AS A REGIONAL, AND GLOBAL, ALLY, I BEG OF YOU, PLEASE HOLD OFF ANY RETALIATORY MILITARY ACTIONS UNTIL INVESTIGATIONS ARE COMPLETED, OR BEFORE A UN RESOLUTION IS MADE. THIS WORLD, RIGHT NOW, TETERS DANGEROUSLY ON THE BRINK OF WAR, AND WHAT MIGHT SEEM LIKE A FAIR COURSE OF ACTION COULD TIP THAT BALANCE. I AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE YOUR FRIEND PRIME MINISTER JACK DECKER Jack listened as Joanna read it back. He guessed that the Chinese would be likely to screw up their noses at it, and go ahead anyway. "Send that to a translator at DFAT, and then send it straight to Beijing." Jack said with a firm nod. "You got it boss." Joanna said, and bustled out of the room. Pete King rubbed his eyes. "God help us, Jack." "God help the world, Pete." The Prime Minister said solemnly, as the beating of rotors filled the air. --ACTIONS TAKEN-- 1. A strong, but comforting, diplomatic cable to the PRC asking that they cool their jets and hold off any immediate action. 2. Australia attempts to play a larger part in foreign policy, by stepping up to talk to the Big Kids 3. PM prepares to go to Sydney Get the name you always wanted with the new y7mail email address. www.yahoo7.com.au/mail From Chazenesq2b at aol.com Wed Jul 2 21:51:09 2008 From: Chazenesq2b at aol.com (Chazenesq2b at aol.com) Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2008 21:51:09 EDT Subject: [War] China: "In Response" Message-ID: "In Response" President Xia Hong The People's Republic of China June 28, 2014 Reference Post: "Diplomatic Cable" ========================================= To: Prime Minister Jack Decker, Commonwealth of Australia From: President Xia Hong, The People's Republic of China Re: Response To Previous Cable Enc: Beijing-Canberra Protocol Mister Prime Minister: Please consider this response confirmation that we have received, and reviewed, your previous message. Allow me to take this moment to offer my sincerest condolences to your government and your people, as news has arrived here regarding Australia's own losses. Please know the People of China, and the Republic which represents them, stands in solidarity with your nation. If there is any assistance we may render, however seemingly insignificant, please make your request to the Ambassador. It is now that I must turn my attention to your request regarding military action in Iran. I can only presume that by now your government and/or it's allies have become aware of the operations about to commence which, we hope, will end any war before it begins. I appreciate your desire to follow the traditional trappings of international law in this situation, however the intelligence already available is far more concrete than that which was available to Australia and the United States leading up to a pre-emptive war with Iraq. Precedent has been set for such actions, and it is my sworn duty to defend the people of my republic. A stern and clear statement must be made that butchers will not be permitted to hide behind the shield of faux-national leadership. Those responsible, and those who authorized these attacks, will be dealt with. Finally, it is with a great deal of confusion that I address your comment regarding our alliance. Both Australia and China share the same strategic goals in the Pacific, namely providing the security and stability due to the people's of our region. This being stated, it can not be said that our mutual pursuit of this interest constitutes by any stretch of the imagination an alliance of anything other than mutual convenience. Though we are avid trading partners, a relationship that my government supports whole heartedly, with particular attention to Iran there has been a glaring lack of support. Both the governments of Canada and the United States, key allies of your nation, have rejected any attempts made by this Government to coordinate operations, diplomatic or militarily, with regards to Iran. Repeated attempts have been made, and refused. I am sure you can appreciate then that it is frustrating to hear suddenly that China should change it's policies in the name of good faith towards fair-weather allies. Thank you for your kind words, and let me be clear that this government values it's relationship with your country vehemently. Our primary purpose, the primary purpose for any government however, must be to protect it's people. On these grounds, I must inform you that until better reasons to call off any action are offered, or significant and convincing evidence indicating different attackers is provided, our operation will move forward. Sincerely Grateful, President Xia Hong. ====================================================== ACTIONS 1. Reply to Australia. Thank you for your kind words, but we're obliged to move forward anyway barring exigent circumstances. **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080702/36df2759/attachment.html From dantheman2210 at yahoo.com.au Wed Jul 2 22:43:28 2008 From: dantheman2210 at yahoo.com.au (Daniel Sanderson) Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2008 19:43:28 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [War] Australia: No Dice With The Chinese In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <959572.77523.qm@web39106.mail.mud.yahoo.com> OOC: THought I better reply before I go away. Hopefully someone can clear it up for me (the whole Iran thing) IC: "No Dice With The Chinese" Prime Minister Jack Decker Commonwealth Of Australia June 28, 2014 The Australian Army S-70 Blackhawk touched down on a helicopter pad as close to Circular Quay as they could get. Two New South Wales Police cars were waiting, along with an unmarked sedan. Decker stepped out, ducking from the slowing blades of the chopper. He got into the sedan just as his mobile phone rang. "Decker." "It's Joanna. We had a reply from the Chinese...it's not great." She went on to repeat what the reply stated. Decker sighed. Damn. All it took was the wrong choice of certain words and look what happened. "Ok, try this for a reply. Madame President, thank you for your kind words, and the same applies, if you need any help, ask our Ambassador. The use of the word 'alliance' was perhaps misplaced. I assure you, Madame President, that Australia is highly concerned, and deplores, the Iranian action against Azerbaijan, and it's continued aggression across the board. I have, at this stage, seen intelligence from the United States, Canada, and our own investigation, and I don't doubt that the information is more concrete then that leading up to the 2003 Invasion. I was totally against the invasion myself, and to compare that to today is like blaming your government today for the actions of past governments. Precedent has been set, but it is a dangerous, world-destabilizing precedent that should be thrown out." He paused for a moment. "However, you have made it perfectly clear that I have no position to ask anything of you. After all, our relationship is only one of 'mutual convenience'. I do wonder where the Chinese industrial and manufacturing industries would be without Australian resources..." Decker sighed. "Scratch the last two sentences. Clean that up, and send it off." "Ok." Decker hung up as the police cars rolled to a stop. He climbed out, and looked around. It didn't take long to figure out what had happened. One of the ferries had crossed the harbor, and docked at Circular Quay. As the people got off to head off to work, or to see the tourist attractions of the Quay, and the Opera House, someone had waded into the crowd and blown themselves up. The fifteen dead must have been close, and insulated the rest of the crowd, to a degree. "Jack!" He saw the New South Wales Premier, Brian Chapman, walking over to him. Chapman, a former union leader, government staffer and then New South Wales Parliamentarian. "Brian." Decker said, shaking the man's hand. "How's progress?" "Fine. Everything is being sealed off for evidence, that's the main reason there's still so much activity. All the injured have been taken to hospital, there's some Navy Clearance Divers going through the area before the Police have a look around." The Navy's Clearance Divers were Explosive Ordinance Disposal experts. "Numbers?" "Fifteen dead in the original blast. Three have died in hospital from their wounds, twenty-seven are still being tended to. How are you feeling?" Brian asked. The PM looked drained. "Whole damn world's coming apart at the seams." Decker said as he looked out over Circular Quay. "They hit us, China, the US, UK, and Canada. Attacking China was the worst thing, it's like those responsible crept up behind the Red Dragon and booted it up the arse." "They're going to start spewing flame?" "Yeah." Decker replied. Brian led him towards the Police command post, but Decker's mind was a million miles away. If Australia had a military power like China or the US, would he have followed President Xia's forces into Tehran? He had run on a platform of Australia playing a bigger part in world affairs, but now he felt like the little kid jumping up and down to get attention, and being ignored. But he had the forces in the area. Troops, ships and aircraft forward deployed to bases in Turkey and the Gulf, to support the western mission into Azerbaijan... Could he do it? Could Jack Decker become the Prime Minister who, instead of waiting for the US or UK to act, backed the Chinese move? He took his mobile back out of his pocket, and called Admiral Tom Bains, head of the Australian Defence Force. "Admiral, it's Jack Decker. Listen, I want you to, as quick as you can, punch out a plan for a possible retaliation against Iran using our forces in the area." "Has President Williams contact you sir?" "No Admiral. I've been in touch with President Xia...just get me a plan...for me to mull over." "Aye sir." The Admiral said, a little uneasily. Decker hung up the phone, and stood silently for a moment, until he realized the New South Wales Police Commissioner was waving him over to where the Clearance Divers had just returned. --ACTIONS TAKEN-- 1. Reply to the Chinese cable 2. PM inspects the bomb site 3. PM considers his options Get the name you always wanted with the new y7mail email address. www.yahoo7.com.au/mail From john.penta at gmail.com Thu Jul 3 11:32:10 2008 From: john.penta at gmail.com (John Penta) Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2008 11:32:10 -0400 Subject: [War] US: Message to allies Message-ID: FR: POTUS TO: UK, FR, GER, AUS, JPN, CDN, ALL NATO 29 June 2014 1500 EDT 2000Z FLASH ENCRYPTED - HADRIAN CODE To all: My apologies on the lack of comment from DC as to the day's events. We've been gut-punched by the attack near the Capitol, and they killed at least one member of the Senate, with more of the Legislative Branch wounded, as well as civilians. I've been watching the Chinese response, as well as her traffic with Australia. Given that I just spent the last 6 hours in hospitals, I'm in no mood to be diplomatic. PM Decker: Let it go. Hong is a wounded wife, she's lashing out. It's probably a death trap for her people, but the blood is on her hands. She isn't going to listen to reason, and I'm not sure I can blame her for that. I'd be the same way if Kayleigh were hurt. Either way, keep your eye on the ball. The Mounties get an official hat-tip from this office, PM McColl. Consulate Toronto should be delivering a case of beer to the unit responsible, please let them accept it. And more seriously, I know we weren't the only one hit. You all have my condolences. I think its clear the Iranians are going to make us pay for standing up for the right thing. Thoughts on the situation as it stands: 1. I rate it as probably unlikely that we will see another attack of this nature from the Iranians. 2. That said, break out the MOPP gear. I fully expect Iran to use chemical and biological weapons against deployed forces. 3. No more waiting: If you are going to be in, ante up. You have 24 hours to declare national force contributions to myself and SACEUR. 4. No, I am not going to 'liase' with the Chinese. Sorry, but they're an OPSEC threat. 5. More as it becomes coherent to follow. Williams ---- Actions: 1. Ante up, everybody. 2. Williams shows sympathy for Hong's thinking. But still thinks she's sending her people into a death trap. 3. He is, however, not bothered by that, and says so. 4. Warn Decker off. Gently. From michael.brittain at blueyonder.co.uk Thu Jul 3 17:46:56 2008 From: michael.brittain at blueyonder.co.uk (Michael Brittain) Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2008 22:46:56 +0100 Subject: [War] United Kingdom: "COBRA" Message-ID: <00ba01c8dd56$503fe5f0$6401a8c0@MICHAELB> PM Patricia Young United Kingdom 29 June, 2014 -------------------- [Cabinet Office Briefing Room A] It seemed that no one wanted the Prime Minister to have a quiet first few weeks in office. She was, literally, pulled out of the Home Office select committee to hear the news that two suicide bombers had struck Canary Wharf; at the heart of London. Fortunately, casualties were low, but that did not ease her pain by much. Young sat chairing a meeting of COBRA in the Cabinet Office; a secure, secret coordination facility used at times of national emergency. Sat before her were senior government ministers, members of the Joint Intelligence Committee and senior representatives from the Metropolitan Police. The group had been briefed on the situation in London and around the world. The only breaks the PM would allow herself to have were to receive updated Intel and diplomatic correspondence. "Ladies and gentleman, thank you for your time this afternoon," the PM looked tired; they had been at the meeting for hours. "You have my thanks." Young turned to the commissioner. "Thank you Sir Gordon for the help of the police service, I would very much like to meet your officers at some point today or tomorrow, as well as visit the hospitals and those affected by the bombings." She turned to her cabinet secretary. "Can you see that it is arranged please, Stephen." The PM was acknowledged with a nod. "If we may reconvene tomorrow afternoon," she drew the first part of the meeting to a close. "I wish to speak with the JIC, so I would kindly appreciate it if those not authorised please take a much needed rest," Young smiled politely, watching as half the table emptied. The situation had been discussed and a response put in place, but many at the meeting knew that they were treading water until the PM brought up the discussion on Iran. Once all the members of the police and a few ministers had left, leaving the PM, senior cabinet ministers and the JIC, Young stood up. She walked toward a cabinet in the corner pulling out a bottle of brandy and a few glasses. Placing it down she poured Brandy into the glasses. Although a secure facility, COBRA was still lavishly decorated and furnished like all of the cabinet office - an unnoticeable drinks cabinet representative of the big drinkers that some former PM's had been. "There is no doubt in my mind," she sat back down, drink in hand. "That the Iranians orchestrated this perfectly." She paused taking a sip. "I read the initial intel report from MI6. It is deeply worrying." "Sir Richard," She turned to the head of the Joint Intelligence Committee. "Open up all channels with all countries affected by the attacks. Do what you have to - gather the evidence that we need. MI5 are already investigating the bombings with the Met, but this goes further than a simple terrorist cell. If the Iranians are funding and organising terrorism on British territory I want to know every detail." She griped her pen tapping it on the desk. "I don't wish to put pressure unto your shoulders, but I intend on moving quickly. Present me with the evidence I need." "Of course Prime Minister," Sir Richard replied. "We have already uncovered links with Iranian issued army equipment found at the house of one of the suicide bombers within the past hour - but Iran will make it hard for any connection to be found. Arguably any such equipment could have been picked up on the black market. But we're moving quickly on this one, if Iran is behind this, whomever they hired didn't cover their tracks all too well. Suggests to me it was a rushed job. But alas, no immediate connection." "The Canadians have given us the most useful Intelligence - I'm confident that we will find similar links with the bombings on Canary Wharf." He continued. "I think it important to note that it is only a matter of time before hard evidence comes to light. We're keeping hush hush with the press though, as usual." "Evidence that can be used in the house to support an invasion?" Frances Urquart, the foreign secretary asked. "Yes - essentially, but nothing sensitive could be released to MPs you understand." "Do what you have to do," Young interjected. "I can't fully understand why Iran would do this - a last throw of the dice?" Mr Urquart said, taking a sip of his drink to appease the PM. "They want us to know that they can hit us where it hurts." Young paused in thought for a minute, leaning back in her chair, her legs crossed and hands in her lap cupping her drink. "Killing innocent people. I would be inclined to agree that this was a 'rushed job', the casualties so far have been somewhat low." She hated thinking in terms of numbers, but at a time like this and during a meeting such as this, it was the only way to think. She placed her drink down and looked around the table. "Let us send them a message of our own." Young turned to face Admiral West. "Dispatch the Queen Mary battle group, and place the Prince of Wales on alert. Notify the RAF to increase their presence in the area to cope with an additional 6,000 troops - we're doubling our presence around Iran in preparation for operations." Admiral West nodded. "Understood," the Admiral drew a deep breath. "HMS Vigilant and Vanguard have been deployed to the area, as per standard Admiralty policy in situations such as these." The room took a moments silence. The Vigilant and Vanguard were submarines that were part of Britain's SSBN fleet, or more simply, her nuclear deterrent at sea. The PM nodded, understanding the severity of the situation she now faced. Opinion polls would shoot through the roof in favour of military action after today's events, god knows how but the press had already been batting around the idea of Iranian involvement, but she did not want to appear a callous leader determined for a blood bath. Military action had been on the table for weeks, but today's events accelerated and probably sealed its fate. "The UK will remain on the highest possible alert for the next 72 hours, and I will place Her Majesty's Armed Forces on full alert for deployment immediately. I will make a statement outside Downing Street straight after this meeting." "What of China?" Jonathon Spence, the Home Secretary asked. "What of China indeed," Young took a deep breath. "The Chinese position is giving me a headache. Washington has warned Prime Minister Decker to back off, and it wasn't like the Chinese were going to listen. They tend to have trouble with that." Young looked at her military staff. "Whatever conflict occurs between Iran and China, any operation undertaken by the UK and her allies has to be efficient and coordinated. China can have their own blood bath." "Also, offer any support we can to the Canadians with regard to military transport and infrastructure, and assist the Australians wherever possible as well. If they prefer, they can slot into our forces in the middle east." The military staff nodded and reeled off about the combat readiness of British forces in the Middle East. The PM also received assurances that operational planning was in the fine-tuning stage, even when taking into consideration the Chinese. Young looked around the room at the faces, all of them knowing what was most likely going to happen. Iran had sealed her fate - all Young needed to do now was sit and wait. Iran was very much on borrowed time. Bringing the initial meeting to an end, the Prime Minister paused for a half an hour break to make a statement to the press. After which, the COBRA meeting would reconvene to speak to the leader of the opposition Labour Party, and the Liberal Democrats. Young wasn't prepared to leave them in the dark - this was too big an issue to keep within the government. The UK needed national unity and a national consensus. She couldn't offer them much information at the moment, but for the sake of the government they needed to be kept in the loop, particularly if she asked for their support over military action. Actions: 1. Open up all intelligence channels with all affected countries - let us pull together the evidence we need against Iran. 2. Thank the Canadians for their Intel, most appreciated. 3. Increase UK presence in the Middle East. 4. Offer military support to the Canadians and Australians (transportation etc). 5. Bring in the leaders of the Labour and Liberal Democrat Parties -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.4.3/1525 - Release Date: 29/06/2008 15:09 From michael.brittain at blueyonder.co.uk Thu Jul 3 18:02:21 2008 From: michael.brittain at blueyonder.co.uk (Michael Brittain) Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2008 23:02:21 +0100 Subject: [War] United Kingdom: BBC News Online Message-ID: <00cf01c8dd58$779abfb0$6401a8c0@MICHAELB> PM Patricia Young United Kingdom 29 June, 2014 -------------------- BBC News "Highly likely" Iran involved in attacks. UK Prime Minister Patricia Young said it was "absolutely clear" there had been a series of terrorist attacks around the world, as she spoke from outside Downing Street. "We will not be held to ransom by terrorists, we will find them, we will bring them to justice," she said, after returning from chairing a meeting of Cobra. "I would like to express my profound condolences to those that have lost their lives in this tragic incident. It is, without doubt, the cowardly act of some of the most misguided and brutal people on this planet. My condolences go out also to those that have been effected by the bombings world wide." "I would like to express my gratitude to the emergency services for their diligence and bravery today, and I promise that there will be the most intense police and security service investigation. We will not rest until justice has been done, and those responsible pay for their crimes." When questioned on earlier reports that Iran was behind the attacks, she insisted she could not comment on an ongoing investigation. The Queen said she was "deeply shocked" and sent her sympathy to those affected. Home Secretary Jonathon Spence said the morning rush hour blasts occurred at Canary Wharf and that other attacks were reported in Los Angeles, California, Washington DC, Montreal, Beijing and Sydney. The Canadian Police also foiled a planned terrorist attack. Officials are refusing to comment, but the BBC learns that it is "highly likely" that the attacks were supported by Iran. Paul Greening, of the London Ambulance Service, was outside Canary Wharf. "At the Wharf there is a rescue operation currently underway, the main structure appears to be holding but people are trapped in the basements," he said. "Although fatalities are relatively low, we are dealing with a large number of injuries." Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Padgett said that 20 people had been confirmed dead, and a further 80 confirmed injured. Nicholas Rowe, from BBC News, said an ambulance crew who had been removing people from Canary Wharf said at least 35 people had died. In other developments, mobile phone services across London were jammed with all major networks reporting problems as people tried to contact relatives and friends. British Telecom has said the emergency services were being given priority. Some 40 casualties were taken to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, with 26 people admitted - 13 are in theatre and another three are in intensive care. The city's St Mary's Hospital said it was dealing with 26 injured people, including four with critical injuries and eight in a serious condition. Mr Padgett confirmed police were investigating a terrorist attack, but gave no details on whether the terrorists were of Iranian origin. But he added: "It is our belief after preliminary investigation that it was the work of suicide bombers." London police chief Sir Gordon Kellar urged people to stay where they were and not to call emergency services unless it was a life-threatening situation. London Mayor Ken Purchase said Londoners would not be intimidated or divided by such a "cowardly attack". All London Underground services have been suspended indefinitely and bus services in central London (Zone One) have been halted. All access to Canary Wharf area has been prevented, as it is the target of an intense, ongoing rescue operation. Early reports had suggested a power surge could be to blame for explosions but this was later discounted. Describing the blast, witness Brenda Thomas said she saw an explosion rip through the glass a few floors up. "I was on the ground outside quite far away and heard an incredible bang, I turned round and half the windows had gone and the building was all open and bent along the one side. People were on the floor everywhere, it was horrific," she said. MI5 has released a statement stating that the UK will remain on the highest alert for the next 72 hours. The BBC also understands the Armed Forces have been placed on combat readiness in preparation for 24 deployment notice, and that all British nationals are being ordered out of Iran, including British Embassy staff further fuelling speculation of Iranian involvement. The Prime Minister is expected to be personally visiting local emergency services, casualties, and the families of the deceased tomorrow and next week. Actions 1. Well, whatever the article mentions! :-) -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.4.3/1525 - Release Date: 29/06/2008 15:09 From dylandv at gmail.com Thu Jul 3 19:08:36 2008 From: dylandv at gmail.com (Dylan de Valk) Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2008 16:08:36 -0700 Subject: [War] [WAR]Canada: 'Don't do it' Message-ID: <763946e70807031608x7d9f60cer94e1cb4efaef1f72@mail.gmail.com> 'Don't do it' June.29/2014 PM James McColl Canada ---------------- Private Correspondence To: Prime Minister Decker, Canberra, Australia From: Prime Minister McColl, Ottawa, Canada Re: Your possible forward deployment ENCRYPTED Code 2E#NFKDE*4 Dear Prime Minister Decker, Please allow me to extend my condolences toward your situation regarding the attacks in Sydney. Our situations are not unlike each other. I am writing this letter to ask you a couple of things. First of all, what are the dates of your impending visit to Canada, exactly? My staff are also planning various activities, as there are many things we could do. A get-a-away ranging from the west coast, to the rockies, to the prairies, the north, the maritimes, or even remaining in the Ottawa area are all possible. Please let me know what you wish to do. The other issue I wish to bring up is regarding your possible forward deployment of troops into Iran. Please allow me to be blunt on this one. Iran may be a nation hurting from international pressure and a trade embargo, but do not underestimate its military capability. By deploying Australian forces alone to face Iran you will be risking both your own men and women, and our Allied mission as a whole. Australia does not alone possess the capability to defeat Iran in a straight fight, as does not Canada. Allow your own forces to consolidate with NATO and coordinate tightly, both to reduce casualties, increase efficiency, and reduce the risk to your own personnel. I know we are all emotional, stressed, and exhausted from dealing with recent events. You are not alone in this regard. Please do not attempt foolhardy action. My best regards, James McColl, Prime Minister of Canada --------------- Actions: 1] A big "Nooooooooo!" -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080703/288a594d/attachment.html From dylandv at gmail.com Thu Jul 3 22:45:27 2008 From: dylandv at gmail.com (Dylan de Valk) Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2008 19:45:27 -0700 Subject: [War] [WAR]Canada/US: "The Ultimatum Message-ID: <763946e70807031945wf1fbd02yc81c5668d1bc16c2@mail.gmail.com> "The Ultimatum" June.30/2014 PM James McColl/President of the United States John Williams Canada --------------- After the war declaration vote in parliament, the cabinet had retired to a meeting room to discuss an ultimatum to Iran. Obviously, if the ultimatum wasn't met, war would ensue, but they were all sure it would come to that anyways. The general consensus was two days for the Iranian to begin withdrawing from Azerbaijan, and a one week time frame from the moment the ultimatum was sent to complete the said action. On top of that, Iran would suspend indefinitely and immediately its nuclear program. Iran would also abide by any United Nations resolution regarding its future. If these conditions were met Iran could continue peaceably. McColl himself had drafted this letter to President Williams. ------------- To: President of the United States Williams, Washington D.C., USA From: Prime Minister McColl Re: War with Iran Dear President Williams, My condolences to the losses your people have suffered in the recent terrorist attacks. As you know, war is approaching with Iran quickly. We would like to give peace one last chance in the form of an ultimatum to Iran. My cabinet has drafted an ultimatum which we submit to you, in hopes of a ratification on your behalf. You should find it in the attached document. I know, this is a rather hopeless thing to do, but I fear we must try at least. The Iranians seem hell-bent on war, and we're getting sucked in. My regards, James McColl Prime Minister of Canada ------------- The Ultimatum ------------- To: Supreme Leader Rushid Al-Kalil Malisaj, President Soleimani, Islamic Republic of Iran, Embassy From: Prime Minister James McColl of Canada, President of the United States John Williams, Ottawa/Washington D.C. Re: Ultimatum Our greetings to you, Iran's recent actions have pushed the world to the brink of war. We wish to give peace one last chance. Iran must agree to the following demands, or face total war on several fronts. 1] Iran must begin withdrawing it's military forces occupying Azerbaijan within two days [July.2], and must complete this withdrawal within one week [July.7]. 2] Iran must immediately and indefinitely suspend its nuclear program and submit to United Nations inspections. 3] Iran must comply with any and all United Nations resolutions and votes. 4] Iran must turn over it's entire stockpile of nuclear/chemical/biological weapons to United Nations agencies and inspectors. If these conditions are met, war with Iran will not follow. James McColl Prime Minister of Canada John Williams President of the United States ------------------------- Actions: 1] Ultimatum to Iran -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080703/4617bd4e/attachment.html From Chazenesq2b at aol.com Fri Jul 4 00:07:36 2008 From: Chazenesq2b at aol.com (Chazenesq2b at aol.com) Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2008 00:07:36 EDT Subject: [War] China: "Operation Dragon's Lair" Message-ID: **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080704/7d95a40e/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: Chazenesq2b at aol.com Subject: China: "Operation Dragon's Lair" Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2008 23:49:23 EDT Size: 40351 Url: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080704/7d95a40e/attachment-0001.mht From vampi.digitalwytch at gmail.com Fri Jul 4 00:09:21 2008 From: vampi.digitalwytch at gmail.com (Vampi Digitalwytch) Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2008 22:09:21 -0600 Subject: [War] Romania- "When the Lady Smiles" Message-ID: "When the Lady Smiles" President Antanasia Danesti Prime Minister Simu The elderly Prime Minister headed for the President's office with the latest communique from the States in hand. He was surprised to not see her at desk as she'd more or less camped out in office since the first attacks from Iran began. Law enforcement and the Army had been mobilized fast as a precaution even though it wasn't thought of Romania being a target. After all, never hurt to be cautious. What meagre intelligence discovered was promptly forwarded to the respectives, and the traditional letters of condolences sent. Antanasia was in the small restroom attached, splashing some cold water on her face and still clad in the nightshirt and sleep sweats she'd worn when she was woken with the news of the attacks. "Well, old friend?", she asked as she stepped out, towelling herself off. "The Americans have spoken.", he said as he handed the paper over. Antanasia read it, frowning thoughtfully. While she did agree that tempers were still flared, to not start acting against Iran would be a mistake since it opened up the opportunity for further attacks. Granted Romania was still the little fish in the global scale, this was the chance to show the potential piranah she felt they could be. "Simu, call the Cabinet. We must discuss these turns of events.", she said as she looked for the spare change of clothes she kept as a backup. --Some hours later-- Parliament was in full mutter as Antanasia shared the news from the American communique. She did omit some of the phrasing to get the gist along. "...And in conclusion, I do feel we too must stand against this once again assault from the Middle East as our ancestors once did against the Turks. But as to the contribution, I leave that to your decision.", she said as she finished. It was a rather fast decision considering the usual long windedness of Parliament dealings. Word was sent to NATO that Romania would most certainly contribute what it could to any actions taken against Iran. The location of the country made it well situated for any gathering of forces and refueled deployment against Iran, and the approval was given for a more private communiqued offer. Antanasia composed the latter in private and sent along encrypted protocols to China. To: President Xia Hong, People's Republic of China From: President Antanasia Danesti, Romania Madame President. Word shall soon arrive to NATO that Romania will commit forces and resources towards any actions taken against Iran for these dastardly assaults against the civilized world. However, in light of history towards the actions of that region, Romania offers to you whatever further aid you may require in dealing with these people in the manner they are accustomed to. My nation's history is steeped in having to deal with their depredations over the centuries unlike the others and we have resources that would help your strong nation in accomplishing this goal. Sincerely, President Antanasia Danesti ------------------------------ Actions: 1) Count us in for any official throwdown. 2) Count us in for any sneaky-deaky against Iran as us sisters need to stick together, y'know. :D -- --I know there are no lifeguards in the gene pool, but damn, there ought to be at least a few sharks in the water. From dantheman2210 at yahoo.com.au Sat Jul 5 20:48:31 2008 From: dantheman2210 at yahoo.com.au (Daniel Sanderson) Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2008 17:48:31 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [War] Where We Stand Message-ID: <956947.1927.qm@web39108.mail.mud.yahoo.com> OOC: Phew got it all done. After all the chaos of the past two days, it's all ok now! Well, in the real world anyway... IC: "Where We Stand" Prime Minister Jack Decker Commonwealth Of Australia June 28, 2014 The hours had ticked by, and Decker had been taken across the bay to Kirribilli House, the PM?s Sydney residence, so he could have some secure conversations with various people in Canberra. He read through the diplomatic traffic from the US, Canada and the UK. The US and Canadian traffic rubbed him a little the wrong way. While he knew they?d be watching China?s communications, and that?s where they found this all out from (he hoped they weren?t intercepting Australian communications), he didn?t like their tone. He wasn?t stupid. He had no intention of invading Iran. His call for a plan from the head of the Defence Forces would have matched calls that the other nations would have made. Hell, the Pentagon had plans for everything, why couldn?t Australia? He told the Department of Foreign Affairs to send a simple message to the US, Canada and the UK. AUSTRALIA STANDS BY HER ALLIES. He also asked Admiral Bains to forward Australia?s final numbers to SACEUR, and the National Command Authority in D.C. TO: SACEUR, US NATIONAL COMMAND AUTHORITY FRM: COMMANDER, AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCES RE: TROOP NUMBERS AUSTRALIA?S FINAL CONTRIBUTION STANDS AT; ? 1ST BATALLION (INFANTRY) ROYAL AUSTRALIAN REGIMENT ALONG WITH ADDITIONAL TROOP SUPPORT VEHICLES (ASLAV/BUSHMASTER) ? 2 COMPANIES FROM 4TH BATTALION (COMMANDO), ROYAL AUSTRALIAN REGIMENT ? ?A? SQUADRON, 1ST ARMOURED REGIMENT (M1A1 TANKS) ? DETACHMENT FROM 161ST SQUADRON, 1ST AVIATION REGIMENT (6 ARH TIGER ATTACK HELICOPTERS) ? DETACHMENT FROM THE SPECIAL AIR SERVICE REGIMENT (40 MEN) ? FRIGATES HMAS PERTH AND HMAS NEWCASTLE ALREADY DEPLOYED TO THE PERSIAN GULF ? NO. 1 SQUADRON, RAAF (12 F/A-18E SUPER HORNETS) LOGISTICS WILL INCLUDE SORTIES BY C-17 AND C-130. THE ADF HOPES TO HAVE ALL UNITS IN PLACE WITHIN 7 DAYS, 10 AT THE MOST. ANY OTHER LOGISTICAL SUPPORT WOULD BE APPRECIATED. ADM T BAINS, COMMANDER, ADF Decker signed off on the deployment. It was the largest single deployment, to a single country, in years. Even during the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns the Australians hadn?t deployed that many troops. He also asked DFAT to send to more message, one to Canada, and the other to the United States. PRIME MINISTER JACK DECKER LOOKS FORWARD TO VISITING BOTH CANADA, AND THE UNITED STATES. HE PLANS TO BE IN CANADA FROM MONDAY JULY 7 UNTIL THE AFTERNOON OF WEDNESDAY JULY 9, AND IN DC FROM THE EVENING OF JULY 9 UNTIL THE MORNING OF SATURDAY JULY 12. He walked away from his desk and picked up the cordless phone, dialling his wife?s mobile phone number. ?Jack?? ?Hey you.? He said with a soft smile that she could feel through the phone. ?You?re in Sydney?? ?Yeah.? ?How is it?? Jack sat down on a couch. ?It?s?it?s ok. The dead is steady at eighteen. I?m at Kirribilli House at the moment, had a lot of diplomatic stuff to sort through. The world?s going to hell in a hand basket.? ?What else is new?? Lisa asked with a soft chuckle. ?Yeah. What are you up to?? ?I?m just in the staff room having some lunch.? When Lisa said that, Decker looked at the clock. The day had escaped from him. ?Was it Iran?? ?Yeah?I just ordered a big deployment to Georgia. The Chinese are going for the throat though?? he heard shrill tone of the secure phone. ?I?ve got to go?? ?Are you staying in Sydney?? ?No, I?ll come home, and come back up here in a few days for a memorial service.? ?Ok, see you soon.? ?I love you Lisa?kiss the kids for me when you see them.? ?Ok honey. Bye.? Jack put the phone down and picked up the other one. ?Decker.? ?It?s Pete. We?re receiving unconfirmed reports of a massive operation in Iran.? ?The Chinese?? ?Yes sir. But I tell you, it?s scary. This operation, it looked like a US one. Co-ordinated, tactical, devastating.? ?So they?re not rolling in with tanks anymore?? ?No sir.? Pete said. ?Our embassy in Tehran is reporting that the President, and several members of the Guardian Council, were swooped up in the raid?? ?Ballsy. Any sign of retaliation?? ?We?re waiting on satellite coverage, but it looks like there were secondary attacks outside of Tehran. The Chinese might have gone for any rumoured WMD sites.? ?Couldn?t make this stuff up Pete.? The Prime Minister said with a sigh. ?Unless you were Tom Clancy.? ?Start sharing any information we get with the US, Canadians and the Brits. The Yanks don?t have an embassy in Iran, so anything we can give them I?m sure they?ll appreciate. I?ll hold a press conference in Canberra in two hours.? ?Yes sir.? ?Thanks Pete. I?ll see you in an hour or so.? Decker hung up the phone and rubbed his eyes. Great, he thought to himself, now I?ll just be remembered as the PM who first had a major international terrorist attack on Australian soil. --ACTION TAKEN-- 1. A clear show of support with our Western allies, specifically the US, UK and Canada 2. A pretty large (for Australia) commitment of forces to driving Iran out of Azerbaijan 3. Confirmation of dates for the trip to the US and Canada. Hope they work :D Get the name you always wanted with the new y7mail email address. www.yahoo7.com.au/mail From pbuck11 at aol.com Tue Jul 8 23:37:42 2008 From: pbuck11 at aol.com (Patrick B) Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:37:42 -0600 Subject: [War] World Report vol 7 Message-ID: <48743286.7070109@aol.com> WAR: World Report - For all actions since Volume 6, advancing the timeline to 1 July to 15 July 2014 United Nations Security Council (Permanent Members): United States, United Kingdom, France, China, Russia United Nations Security Council (Non-Permanent Members as of 1 June 2014): Until January 2015: Germany, Thailand, Poland, South Africa, Panama Until January 2016: Canada, Japan, Hungary, Algeria, Venezuela Pending UN Security Council Actions: Pending UN General Assembly Actions: None United Nations Secretariat: No news. ============== Welcome back to Lisa who plays Romania, and welcome to Dan who has taken the role of Australia We are still accepting newbies.... =============================================== ACTION RESPONSES ============================= COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA =========================== Population Approval: 55% Government Approval: 55% International Favor: 50% Economic Growth: 3.9% Inflation: 4.1% Unemployment: 4.2% ---------------------------- Prime Minister Decker's quixotic attempts to hold back the Chinese are watched with some amusement in diplomatic circles, but the broader Australian public applauds the efforts. The ADF waits calmly for further orders, and senior officers are privately eager to join "their generation's big war". CHINA (PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF) Population Approval: 65% Government Approval: 60% International Favor: 45% Economic Growth: 9.7%, high Inflation: 3.0% Unemployment: 10.1% === Chinese forces actions have been met with positive reaction, The Dragon lashing out against aggression, and the criminals will be tried with the usual Chinese swiftness and efficient brutality that the regime is known for. From a world standpoint there have been disagreements with arresting the Supreme Ayatollah, and the current acting supreme Ayatollah has declared a Jihad against the 'infidel nation of China' Calling on Muslims the world over to destroy Chinese aggression. CANADA ======= Population Approval:55% Government Approval:50% International Favor: 55% Economic Growth: 2.2% Inflation: 5.0% Unemployment: 6.3% -------------------------------- As the Toronto Stock Exchange falls precipitously in reaction to the Government's anti-takeover legislation, industry is up in arms. Nonetheless, this all somewhat fades into the background as Canada is struck by the spectre of terrorism. The RCMP is being roundly applauded for its major score in Toronto, and the government experiences a limited "Rally to the Colors" effect as it takes a strong stance against the Iranians. Even as members of the Liberal Party cross the floor in reaction to the Government's extreme economic plans and Canadian corporations cut jobs as growth by acquisition becomes difficult, virtually the whole House rallies to the war effort. The opposition proposes a War Cabinet, major military procurement expansions...In short, a Canadian rearmament unlike anything seen since World War II. JAPAN ==== Population Approval: 55% Government Approval: 55% International Favor: 65% Economic Growth: 2.8% Inflation: 0.6% Unemployment: 4% ----- The PM wins plaudits for his forceful defense of Japan's contribution to the Caucasus response. That said, there is a growing divide in Japanese society. About half of the population, mostly younger and with no knowledge of the Second World War or the postwar hardships (Essentially, those under the age of about 50) supports the abolition of Article 9 and Japan's having an ordinary military of some sort. Half, though, defend it doggedly. Thus the divide. The day of decision appears to be coming. But when? FRANCE ==== Population Approval: 57% Government Approval: 65% International Favor: 43% Economic Growth: 2.5% Inflation: 5.6% Unemployment: 6.2% No activity--LOA-- Romania Popular Approval: 58% Government Approval 60% International Favor: 53% Inflation: 7.0% Economic growth: 4.4% Unemployment: 4.9% ================ The Romanian people are supportive of contributing to NATO action in Iran - rumors of support to the Chinese, however, go over rather less well. Though many Romanians still tell stories of the times when Romania was a power and hope they can be again. The new Jobs especially those for major companies are filled with young people educated at the Universities and the beginnings of a thriving middle class, or has been remarked the start of a Romania Geek culture, with the opening of a few gaming shops and a comic shop that imports the latest stuff from the US. But, generally, they're like most people, focused on local issues. Now, things aren't going too badly in Romania, not like they were. But still, there are things to bitch about: Corruption of petty and not-so-petty kinds, the slow growth of infrastructure, and so forth. RUSSIAN FEDERATION ==== Population Approval: 63% Government Approval: 59% International Favor: 61% Economic Growth: 2.5% Inflation: 5.6% Unemployment: 6.2% No activity to report. UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND ==== Population Approval: 60% Government Approval: 58% International Favor: 50% Economic Growth: 2.5% Inflation: 3.0% Unemployment: 5.3% The Attacks on the UK and the diplomatic overatures, resulted in public outcry for warfare, with the British National Party calling for the expulsion of all muslims from the United Kingdom since in their own words they can't be trusted. One such individual attempted to make the point with the Queen's own Ghurka regiment took the Ceremonial guard duties at Buckingham palace. He is expected to be released from London Hospital in time to stand trial for assault on the Queen's soldier in 2 to 4 weeks. The video titled 'Chav PWND' is one of the more popular videos on Youtube.com. Several hate crimes have been reported against Mosques, Indians, and quite a few Siks, the Metropolitan Police Service has reported several dozen arrests. Several Members of Parliment are asking for a declaration of war against Iran and recruiting has picked up as payback is on the minds of several hundred Britons. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ==== Population Approval: 56% Government Approval: 54% International Favor: 66% Economic Growth: 2.9% Inflation: 3.1% Unemployment: 4.2% Just when the Air Force's investigation resulted in the retirement of the Chief of Base Security, the attacks on the US, resulted in an increased security. As the after effects of the attacks are felt, the citys of Chicago and Los Angeles bury their dead, including several Police officers, Fire Fighters, Paramedics and other first responders with full honors. The Los Angeles Explosion had one unexpected victim, as the Motorcycle gang the Mongol Nation gathered to bury several members who had been killed in the blast the Westboro Baptist church decided to picket the funeral, with their usual raft of signs, unfortunately it was the wrong funeral. The resulting melee resulted in 23 injuries to the Westboro Baptist group 18 of which are critical, Pastor Fred Phelps was killed when he was beaten and curbstomped to death for carrying a sign linking a member of the Mongol Nation to gay sex. Senator Bernie Sanders was buried in a private Ceremony in Brattleboro Vermont in a Quaker ceremony. However one unlikely hero in Officer Donald Brandt of the Albuqurque Police Department stepped up and using his duty issued Springfield .45 caliber pistol shot the four assailants in the head with out hesitiating. During interviews he simply said, 'it's what I had to do' Raids coordinated with several law enforcement agencies resulted in several arrests, and evidence which had been coordinated with the CIA, the link is directly to Iran. ============================================= ECONOMIC INDICATORS NOTE: Initial indicators were gleaned from as recent sources as possible, for the most recent term possible (annualized). In some cases, the numbers used are published estimates, but the English- speaking nations' data is more or less right from the source. Depression: Economic forces retracting uncontrollably and at a dangerous pace with little end in sight. Recession: Economic forces retracting, but more shallow than Depression and more controlably. Sometimes necessary and part of regular economic trends, although prelonged. Revision: Economic forces retracting slightly and short term, associated with economic systems refitting to accomodate new industries, concentrations, etc. Zero: No movement one way or the other. Low: Comparatively low Economic growth/activity. (miniscule to about 2%, depending) Good: Average economic activity (ranging from 2%-5% normally) High: Above average performance (Greater than 5%) Sometimes dangerous if in excess of 8% continuously. SITES OF INTEREST WAR Website: http://war.dagarcia.net/ United Nations: http://www.un.org/ Central Intelligence Agency: http://www.cia.gov/ CIA World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ Federation of American Scientists: http://www.fas.org/ GlobalSecurity.org: http://www.globalsecurity.org/ CNN: http://www.cnn.com/ BBC: http://www.bbc.com/ New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/ _______________________________________________ War mailing list War at esteroic.com http://esteroic.com/mailman/listinfo/war_esteroic.com From dantheman2210 at yahoo.com.au Wed Jul 9 06:56:35 2008 From: dantheman2210 at yahoo.com.au (Daniel Sanderson) Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 03:56:35 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [War] BACKPOST: Australia: Holding It Together Message-ID: <44193.19637.qm@web39108.mail.mud.yahoo.com> OOC: Sorry! I was in the middle of writing it, went to work, and came back and the world report had come out :D IC: "Holding It Together" Prime Minister Jack Decker Commonwealth Of Australia June 28, 2014 Decker had returned to Canberra in the afternoon, and spent the time with his senior military and foreign policy advisors, while his political staff arranged the press conference for four p.m. It was late, sure, but this certainly wasn?t your normal day in Australian politics. At ten minutes to four, Decker rose, and picked up his tie and jacket from where he?d draped them across his chair. He put them on slowly, and brushed the sleeves more out of habit then to remove any fluff. The office door opened and Lucas walked in. ?They?re gathered in the pressroom. The Opposition Leader spoke while you were on your way back.? ?And what did the Honourable Mister Tanner have to say?? ?Well, he won?t start complaining until you make some sort of public decision.? Lucas said with a grunt. ?But he won?t get too carried away.? They walked out of the PM?s office, down the hallway to the pressroom. Cameras flashed as Decker made his way to the podium. ?Evening everyone.? He said with a firm nod. ?By now, no one in the nation is unaware of the events that took place in Sydney this morning. For the first time in recent history, Australians have been the victims of a terrorist attack on our own soil. At this time, I publically give my thoughts, prayers and sympathies to those affected not only by this attack, but also those affected in the simultaneous attacks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and China.? He paused for a moment. ?I would also like the praise the work of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who managed to stop an attack, and gather significant intelligence. The information gathered by the RCMP, and later by our own law enforcement and intelligence organizations, has uncovered a global terrorist network supplied, training, financed and backed by Iran. As a result, the timetable revolving around Western intervention in the Azerbaijani crisis has been pushed forward.? He now opened the folder he?d carried in with him to look at the ADF notes. ?The Defence Department, a few hours ago, sent a communiqu? to the US government and the Commander of the forces gathering in Georgia. I have ordered the First Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, elements of the Fourth Battalion, a squadron of armoured vehicles from the First Armoured Regiment, a team of Tiger attack helicopters, an SAS group and twelve F/A-18E Super Hornets to be immediately deployed to Georgia. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a significant contribution from Australia, and shows not only how seriously we take this situation, but also how firm the intelligence is linking Iran with these attacks. To the men and women in uniform who are watching, I send my thoughts and prayers with you.? ?Tonight, please spare a thought for the eighteen families who are without their loved ones. More information will be released as it comes to hand.? He paused for a moment. ?I?ll take a few questions. Chris?? The correspondent from SBS rose. ?Mr. Decker, do you have an exit strategy for Azerbaijan?? ?An exit strategy will be put together in the coming week or two, but I?d imagine that once the Iranians are driven from Azerbaijan, we?ll then re-assess our mission there. Martin?? ?There are rumours of a massive Chinese military operation in Iran, do you support such an operation?? ?The operations had pros and cons, Martin, however I think it may have been a bit too?volatile. My biggest concern here is regional stability.? ?You didn?t really answer the question.? ?I?m yet to get full details on what the operation achieved.? Decker said simply, trying to avoid the topic before he said what he felt inside and got into diplomatic trouble for it. ?But it?s already passed, so there?s no point me saying I support, or don?t support it.? He raised his hands. ?That?s all for now, I?ll talk to you all again tomorrow.? It was the press conference equivalent to making a quick getaway. --ACTIONS TAKEN-- 1. Prime Minister reassures the nations 2. Announces military commitment to driving Iran from Azerbaijan Start at the new Yahoo!7 for a better online experience. www.yahoo7.com.au From john.penta at gmail.com Wed Jul 9 14:57:50 2008 From: john.penta at gmail.com (John Penta) Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 14:57:50 -0400 Subject: [War] US: Smoking Guns Message-ID: "Smoking Guns" 3 July 2014 Pres. John Williams USA ================ Williams looked over at the CIA briefer. "I can read Farsi. I hope you've got the raw emails." "Yes sir, I do. Translations, too." "Hand em over." The headers looked right, but headers could be faked. Still, these looked like what the CIA said it was. Emails coordinating and detailing the attacks. "Hooah," breathed the POTUS. "Have these released to the media. Now." ---- Actions: 1. Release news of the discovery of emails linking the Iranian government to the attacks. 2. Release the emails to the media. 3. Hand the evidence to Interpol for authentication. (All of this is approved by Pat) From martellian at hotmail.com Wed Jul 9 19:33:14 2008 From: martellian at hotmail.com (Ian Martell) Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 16:33:14 -0700 Subject: [War] Japan: "Tough Questions" Message-ID: "Tough Questions" Prime Minister Shunichi Sato Japan 1 July 2014 (Happy Canada Day WARverse) "Welcome to the NHK Morning Hews, here are today's top stories. In an early morning press conference the National Police Agency announced that they have detained four foreigners belonging to a radical Islamic sect for violating the terms of their work visas, these four, Justice Ministry spokesperson Akira Hiroda suggested had connections to the Rising Sun of Islam organization which was responsible for last years failed attack on the Tokyo subway system. While the Ministry refuses to comment on their role in the organization they did confirm that these arrests were part of an ongoing investigation that began after the failed attack. Moving to the international front the Prime Minister is expected to address the departing personnel of the Western Army Infantry Regiment, the first combat ready unit being deployed to the Azerbaijan region." Sato handed Akemi back her phone which could apparently get television now (who could keep up with such things?) and settled back into his chair and looked out the window, they were getting close to Iruma air base now and the departure of the troops. He shuffled his hand written notes in his hand checking them over. "So who did we really arrest?" asked Akemi breaking Sato's concentration. "Hmm?" Sato grunted looking up. "Who did we arrest?" "Some radical Muslims from Indonesia," Sato said. "According to the Justice Ministry they'll be questioned for a while and then deported for their visa violations, or imprisoned under the Subversive Activites Law if they confess to anything." "I really hope that's not our plan to stop terrorism." Sato gave his daughter a raised eyebrow as he looked up from his cards and smiled. "Of course not, what sort of fools do you think run this country? Those men were arrested so the Ministry could show the people we are doing something about terrorism and they really don't care what it is so long as it sounds good on the news." "I really don't think people are quite so. gullible," she said. "Believe me it's not a matter of gullibility they know what we are doing, but they don't care. They are afraid, there are men with bombs out there that hate them and they want to know their government is doing something about it, unfortunately all the really effective things we're doing we can't talk about. So we let the NPA reel in a few guppies on legitimate charges, show them off to the press, and we continue, in the shadows to reel in the sharks." "And how are we doing that?" Akemi asked shifting in her seat. "A number of ways, first, after the attacks we reached out to the Muslim community, we offered them protection and support against any backlash, we also asked them in our shared interest to keep an eye on the radicals in their community and some of them did because they know they'll look bad if their own community spawns more bombers, in fact they fingered our four in Osaka as possible threats. Another thing is overseas we're funding education programs in Muslim countries for the sort of people who have nowhere else to go but the free schools, if you can call them that, that are offered by the extremist sects. Third, it is also part of why we are in the Straight of Malacca right now combating piracy, which is a source of funding for terrorist groups in that region. Unfortunately we can't really talk about any of it, the Muslim community would loose face by admitting they are concerned about their own members, we would offend our international Muslim allies by explaining what that funding is going towards, and well the last we've mentioned in the past, but really, it's old news now." "There is more though, right?" Akemi asked. "Things you aren't telling me about?" Sato nodded. "Yes, there are." That was to say, that in addition to relying on Muslim leaders, the Public Security Intelligence Agency had been quietly recruiting agents within the Muslim community and engaged in a number of classified surveillance operations, but Akemi wasn't cleared for any of that. She nodded. "I understand," she says. "I still don't like it though." Sato snorted. "Nature of politics," he said. "You will find as you go on in things Kemi-chan, there will be many things you don't like but are good for the country all the same." Akemi smiled at Sato's use of her childhood nickname but it wasn't long lived shortly afterwards a look of concern crossed her face again. "What now?" he grumbled without really meaning it. "I do have one other thing that was bothering me," she said. "I really didn't want to bring it up." She paused and looked down at her hands and looked back up. "Actually, forget it," she said. "While I am impressed to see you can do a fair imitation of the traditional obedient Japanese daughter, Akemi, that is not how your mother, or I, raised you. Speak up, it's just us and my driver here." "These attacks by Iran," she said. "The terrorist attacks I mean, not the invasion, they feel wrong." "Wrong?" Sato asked. "Well, it just seems. stupid," she said after a moment. "I mean like they want the West and China to attack." Which they have Sato added, he had watched the Chinese attack live on feed from a Japanese satellite along with the chiefs of the JSDF and Minister Inukai. "What do you suspect?" Sato asked. "I don't really know, but you understand what I am talking about? Why make them more angry? They closed all the windows of negotiation." Sato was about to dismiss that thought out of hand but then thought about it, yes they really had, though it wasn't the stupidest thing anyone has ever done in war, not delivering the declaration of war on time in 41 was one of them. But Akemi had a point, what was the Iranian's strategy? Hit the coalition and hope they folded? Not likely, history showed that terrorism only strengthened a nation's resolve to go to war as the former government of Afghanistan could attest to. He nodded. "I see your point, I don't see what moves they have left either, they should be negotiating right now if they were sane." Not something you could easily accuse the Iranians of really, but still someone over there had to believe they might be in some trouble. "I'll look into it," Sato said. Akemi looked relieved and she lowered her head. "Thank you," and then looked up. "What about today's deployment?" she asked. "If we're not sure what the Iranians are up to?" Sato held up a hand. "This deployment really has already been decided on I can't reverse it, besides, we have carefully calculated the risks involved, we are not willing to send some of Japan's best ground forces into danger without having considered things carefully." Akemi sighed. "Another of those things that is good for the country in the end?" Sato nodded. "Unfortunately so, Japan will need to change, and these men will be part of that." Actions: 1> Highlight arrests made in order give public perception of immediate action against terrorism. All arrests are made for legitimate charges however. 2> Recap the measures taken in an earlier post that lay out how Japan is really dealing with terrorism. 3> Deploy 500 more troops to the mission in Azerbaijan, the men will be drawn from the elite Western Army Infantry Regiment. 4> Quietly send a personal message to President Williams and ask: What's Iran's strategy? Why do they want us to attack them? And if not them, who? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080709/037e800a/attachment-0001.html From Chazenesq2b at aol.com Wed Jul 9 19:43:26 2008 From: Chazenesq2b at aol.com (Chazenesq2b at aol.com) Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 19:43:26 EDT Subject: [War] Japan: "Tough Questions" Message-ID: **************Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music scene in your area - Check out TourTracker.com! (http://www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080709/4c5131ff/attachment.html From dylandv at gmail.com Wed Jul 9 21:10:20 2008 From: dylandv at gmail.com (Dylan de Valk) Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 18:10:20 -0700 Subject: [War] Canada: "Birthday Speech" Message-ID: <763946e70807091810t5b87dd1cu58a4f214e9e889f0@mail.gmail.com> "Birthday Speech" July.1/2014 PM James McColl Canada ------------- CBC Television, Channel 2 6:00pm News The Prime Minister's Address to the Nation "And now, we will be airing the Prime Minister's address to the nation live from his office in Ottawa." announced the News Anchor Peter Mansbridge. McColl's face and shoulders appeared on TV's across the country, his face solemn, sitting behind his desk in the PMO. "My fellow citizens of Canada. Today is our nation's 148th birthday, a day to celebrate, but also to remember, the people and deeds of our country. Let us first remember our great figures: Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir Wilfred Laurier, Alexander Graham Bell, Frederick Banting, Mackenzie King, Lester Pearson, Pierre Trudeau. There are so many, and these are just a few names that echo through the ages. Now let us remember those who have served and possibly died in the service of our nation, from WWI, WWII, Korea, Yugoslavia, Somalia, Rwanda, Afghanistan and many other UN missions around the world. Those hundreds of thousands of men and women sacrificed much, and in some cases all, for the betterment of our world and the protection of our way of life. Now today, we are faced with new threats. We live in the age of terrorism. Many of these terrorists are willing to sacrifice their lives. They are willing to kill innocent and peaceful civilians in order to meet their goals of destruction and carnage. I salute the RCMP and CSIS for their efforts in this regard. Just a few days ago, members of the Toronto RCMP Special Circumstances Unit, paired with the Ontario Provincial Police, successfully raided and captured several members of a fundamentalist Islamic terror cell. These men were supplied and financed by Iran. My sympathies go out to all who lost loved ones in the Montreal terror attack. They will be avenged. Iran's actions at this juncture seem almost suicidal. They are hemmed in on all sides by unfriendly countries and military forces. To attack a defenceless and peaceful country such as Azerbaijan is a most despicable and cowardly act. The Iranians cannot be allowed to get away scot free in this regard. To that end, I have authorized a deployment to Georgia consisting of elements of the Lord Strathcona's Horse Regiment, the Royal Canadian Regiment, the 12e Regiment Blinde du Canada, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and the Royal 22e Regiment. Special Forces in the form of JTF2 and support forces such as combat engineers and artillery are also being sent to the effort. Our earlier contribution of jet aircraft and ships will remain the same. This government has cooperated with the US government to produce an ultimatum to Iran. They have until July.7th to comply or a state of war will exist between us. We feel that all other peaceful means ranging from negotiations to sanctions to the United Nations have all been most unfortunately exhausted. Canada will be working closely with our allies over the coming months. This coming year your government will work towards improving our national health care, decreasing university tuitions, the establishment of our new national parks, and many other new projects. May it be a productive and happy year. Now, let us all enjoy this day as a celebration of our national ideals and culture. I wish you all a happy Canada Day. God bless." -------------- Transmission Ends. -------------- Mansbridge re-appeared on the TV screens. "Well, that was a very solemn and emotional message. Now we go to a panel we have invited..." -------------- Actions: 1] address the country in these dark times 2] announce the deployment of forces 3] wish everyone a happy holiday -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080709/24c755dc/attachment.html From john.penta at gmail.com Thu Jul 10 00:07:22 2008 From: john.penta at gmail.com (John Penta) Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:07:22 -0400 Subject: [War] US: Smoking Guns (take 2) Message-ID: "Smoking Guns" 3 July 2014 Pres. John Williams USA ================ It wasn't every day that the President of the United States had his work interrupted by a dashing, whooping staffer. Today was one of those days. "Sir!" breathed the staffer, a young CIA type attached to the Situation Room. "WE GOT IT!" "Got....what...?" replied the POTUS, as he looked at the staffer oddly, wondering if he needed to call in someone with a Taser. "Smoking gun proof the Iranians were behind the bombings, sir," spoke the staffer quickly. "I'll be down in 5." --- <5 minutes later> The Whie House Situation Toom looked a lot like Mission Control at NASA after the redesigns under the Richardson and Williams administrations. Today, the atmosphere was probabbly a lot like that at JSC after the Moon Landing was a success. Exuberant was really an understattement. "Ladies and gentlemen," POTUS announced as he walked in, "I hate to be the skeptic amidst the celebrations, but how do we know the Iranians did it?" "Headers on the emails, sir. They point to the Iranian Intel Ministry." "Headers can be faked. I do it, spammers do it, the subjects can do it too." "Here are the emails sir, as retrieved by FBI during the warrant searches," handed over a staffer. Williams read them in the raw Farsi. "They feel accurate. That ring of truth is about them, if you will," he concluded. "Okay, release them to the media, and hand the evidence to Interpol for authentication." ---- Actions: 1. Release news of the discovery of emails linking the Iranian government to the attacks. 2. Release the emails to the media. 3. Hand the evidence to Interpol for authentication. (All of this is approved by Pat) From john.penta at gmail.com Sat Jul 12 21:16:53 2008 From: john.penta at gmail.com (John Penta) Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:16:53 -0400 Subject: [War] US: Hostage Day! Message-ID: "Hostage Day!" 6 July 2014 Pres. John Williams USA =============== Long Day, defined: As a test of one's Secret Service guardians, volunteering to be the hostage/target/taser dummy during a training day. Getting shot around, tear-gassed, tasered, and generally abused - all in the name of training. And if John Williams was even remotely correct, his detail was grinning just a bit *too* widely as they did, too. --- First up had come PT. At 6 am, POTUS had joined the latest class of FBI recruits for their morning run. 5 miles, with the addition by his team of an 80-lb pack. Oh, and body armor. Next, range time. Firing every one of the weapons in the Presidential detail's expansive armory. From POTUS's personal SIG P226N up to the M4, the bet was to qualify to Secret Service standards with all of them. Bet won, $50 from the team would go to the CFC. Then, lunch, followed by something for which his team was infinitely more enthusiastic than he was. Taser training! Yes, the President of the United States was tasered by his own detail. Repeatedly. With way too much glee. Of course, then POTUS got to taser them, too. Repeatedly. With a cold, quiet efficiency. But not the same glee. Then came tear gas training. After all, you've never heard singing until you've heard it followed by the effects of tear gas. Unarmed combat training followed - an hour and a half of abuse given and taken. Followed by the highlight of the day - a run-through of the kill house. First, with live ammunition, by everyone including a very pumped up President. Next, with POTUS as the "hostage", by his detail, armed with simunitions. And tear gas. And everybody's favorite, tasers. POTUS made a mental note: The joy his detail got out of tasers was probably not healthy. --- Actions: 1. POTUS acts as hostage/training dummy for Secret Service, FBI, etc. 2. Not a blatant peace offering, but close. From dantheman2210 at yahoo.com.au Sun Jul 13 18:51:28 2008 From: dantheman2210 at yahoo.com.au (Daniel Sanderson) Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:51:28 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [War] Canada/Australia: Kangaroos And Maple Leafs Message-ID: <91276.18920.qm@web39105.mail.mud.yahoo.com> "Kangaroos and Maple Leafs" July.7/2014 Prime Minister Jack Decker Prime Minister James McColl Australia/Canada ---------- McColl's staff had been preparing the accommodations of the Australian PM for some time. The visit was largely a last minute affair, but he wasn't peeved. McColl was glad that Decker had decided to come, and was looking forward to the visit. The Royal Australian Air Force?s modified Boeing 737 began it?s final decent into Canadian Forces Base Upland, the closest military airfield to Ottawa. The modified 737s were the Australian equivalent, to a degree, of Air Force One, flown by Number 34 Squadron. ?Ladies and gentlemen, we are now descending into Canadian Forces Base Upland, where the local time is 1134. Please fasten your seatbelts, as we begin our landing?? ?Just hold them off, James,? Decker said, speaking to the Attorney General back in Australia. ?I?ll get the Legal Attach? here to give me a brief, wiring all the information to him. We?re landing now?ok?bye.? Decker hung up the phone and pinched the bridge of his nose. Another Australian had been busted trying to get into Indonesia with drugs. Just what they needed. Lisa hung up the phone she was using too. She?d taken the week off, and her mother had flown up from Melbourne to look after the kids. ?It?s sunny out.? ?Twenty degrees.? Decker said, holding his wife?s hand. ?I always had this old image of America, Canada, Europe, just being cold, all the time.? ?Too many children?s movies.? The 737 touched down, and taxied over to the arrival area. Decker rose, and grabbed his jacket, pulling it on and straightening up his tie. Decker was travelling with a detachment of ten Federal Police officers, five people from the Department of Foreign Affairs, four from the Defence Department, and six of his personal staff. Small for a foreign leader, but all he really needed. The stairs were rolled into position, and the hatch was opened. Three of the Feds went first, and then Decker and Lisa stepped out, giving a wave to the small media contingent, and then heading down the stairs, smiling, spotting McColl nearby. McColl caught Decker's eye as he edged his way through the media and then proceeded to walk over. "I'm glad we can finally meet Prime Minister Decker! Welcome to Canada." McColl greeted. "I hope you don't find it too chilly, we're having a very mild summer so far." He joked with friendly smile and a handshake. "We'll have you holed up in No.7, Rideau Gate; I hope you don't mind, it is a lovely residence. And coincidentally is right next door to my place." He grinned. Decker shook the man?s hand. ?Are you kidding? My wife wants to buy a house here so she can escape Canberra winters for a Canadian summer.? He stepped back and gestured. ?This is my wife, Lisa.? ?Hello Mr. Prime Minister.? Lisa said with a warm smile of her own, and extended her hand. ?Thank you so much for having us here.? McColl smiled and shook her proffered hand. "My pleasure. My wife and children are at home, they made me come all by myself, the meanies. The limos are just this way, if you'll follow me." They climbed in for the ride into Ottawa. Decker sat next to his wife, across from McColl. ?We would have bought the kids along, but the twins are in their last year of high school, they?re studying hard, or at least we hope they are.? "Mine haven't reached that age yet, thankfully. My little girl is a not so little 12, and my son is 8. So I have a couple years of grace yet I think. Once your kids are done school, you must bring them to see one our winters, I'm sure they would enjoy it. I still do when I have free time." ?Sounds great.? Lisa replied. ?Beats a Canberra winter, where it?s just wet and windy. We get some snow, but not a whole lot. We might have to keep that in mind as a gift idea.? ?I?m sorry it?s taken so long for me to get around to meeting you, James.? Decker said. ?It?s all been a little hectic, hasn?t it?? "Yep. I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes it seems like the world can't function without a crisis to keep it busy. Actually, I heard your old PM, Kevin Rudd, was looking into creating some sort of Disaster Response thing. We'd be happy to provide any help or advice you need. Just ask." By this point, they were getting into the city centre, driving alongside the Rideau Canal. ?Yeah, I would really like to talk to you about DART. Kevin never really got the chance to get it off the ground, but I would like to give it a shot. The Asia Pacific rim is yet another of the world?s favourite disaster zones.? Decker said with a nod. ?Beautiful.? He said, looking at the Canal. ?When I see the other world?s capitals, makes me think we should demolish Canberra and start new.? "We can definitely discuss it tomorrow at the conference. As I remember, BC does have some old, extinct, and dormant volcanoes, heh, wouldn't be surprised if one of them blows and levels Vancouver one of these days..." he trailed off. "You know Jack, I should come see Oz, I've always wanted to go there, but the need to get a visa always peeved me. Perhaps we could fix that too?" ?Well, you wouldn?t need a visa if you came to visit now.? Decker pointed out. ?Our immigration system is something I do want to work on, especially as far as refugees and asylum seekers go. Holiday makers, well, maybe later on.? He said with a smile. They were driving past the National Defence HQ now. McColl looked melancholy as he stared out at it. "That's where it all happens... I wish it were otherwise, but a nation's influence on the international stage still depends on it's ability to project power via it's military primarily. We're actually expanding the facility too as you see there, its too small for our current needs." ?You?d think after the Cold War that would have changed, right? But instead we just had to modify how we fight.? Decker said with a sigh. ?Oh well, I?ve always said, I just hope one day the whole world realises that we need to work together and stop knocking each other off.? "Agreed, but until then, I'm afraid I have little choice but to continue the military expansion policy my government has in place." McColl sighed. Soon after that, they had pulled up to No.7, Rideau Gate. Decker nodded. ?Most issues are too far gone for us to do a complete one-eighty on them.? He looked outside. ?Nice place.? He said with a smile. ?Thanks James, I imagine we?ll see you in a few hours.? Decker had a meeting with some Embassy people, including the Ambassador, followed by a reception. Tomorrow would be a work day. -------------------- Actions: 1] The PM's get to meet. 2] Aussie PM Decker arrives for a visit in Ottawa. Start at the new Yahoo!7 for a better online experience. www.yahoo7.com.au From dylandv at gmail.com Mon Jul 14 19:48:32 2008 From: dylandv at gmail.com (Dylan de Valk) Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:48:32 -0700 Subject: [War] Canada: "Canadian-Australian Relations" Message-ID: <763946e70807141648n238800bbjcf9ee598eecacac3@mail.gmail.com> "Canadian-Australian Relations" July.8/2014 Prime Minister Jack Decker Prime Minister James McColl Australia/Canada Decker had risen early and had a long shower. The previous day had been enjoyable. Jack and Lisa had done a bit of touristy stuff, and called in at the headquarters of the RCMP, where Decker had delivered a slab of Australian beer to the men and women who'd led the investigation prior to the terrorist attacks. Though most of them were stationed in Toronto, the unit head plus three others had happened to be in Ottawa at the time. It was ten in the morning when Decker and his staff arrived at the office of the Canadian Prime Minister. Decker stepped out, and a Prime Ministerial aide met them and led them to McColl's office. "Morning James." Decker said with a smile as he extended his hand once again to his opposite number. "Ah, good morning Jack. Feeling better after a good sleep? Those long flights are gruelling, and I can never sleep either..." McColl smiled. "I manage." Decker said with a smile. "Spent a lot of time on planes when I was working for the Department of Foreign Affairs. It's a toss up, you know? Take a ship and it takes time, but you're not racing across time zones. Take a plane and you get there faster, but it screws you over." They both chuckled. "Yep. So, down to business shall we?" McColl said. "I know that under Rudd oz was looking at its relationship with Asia. How would you like to start expanding trade to Canada? Namely in green technology and research. Would your government be interested in joint research into fusion and tidal sources of energy? I have a lot of scientists in this country anxiously hoping for a way to get in on fusion research. Perhaps we could establish a panel of scientists and expert and work towards building a prototype. What's the situation like for you?" "I'm up for trading and working with any nation. I think we have a lot in common, and we should work on our relationship." Decker said with a nod. "I think cooperation on energies is a good way to start. Tidal power would be of great advantage to us, being an island nation. Fusion energy becomes a tricky issue though. Australia's had a recent history of debate over nuclear energy, I'd have to take the idea away and work on it for a while." "The thing with fusion energy is that it is different from other forms, namely, fission. Right now, it is really in the experimental and research form. If I were to guess when the first fusion energy plant comes online, it would be 20 years. That's if people can get it to work. However, the offer is there if you ever want to take it up. Same with fission. If Australia ever decides it wants to develop nuclear energy, we'd be more than happy to help." "Well, I'm sure there'd be plenty of academics and scientists in Australia who'd love to pop overseas for some R&D opportunities like this one." Decker said with a nod. "I'll be sure to mention it to some people, little in this world is discovered by accident, right?" "That's probably a pretty safe assessment, at least in the modern world." McColl took a slug from his nalgene bottle. "Our respective agencies will be in touch, I'm sure. Was there anything you had on your agenda?" "Well, as I mentioned on the ride into Ottawa yesterday, I'd love to have a few of your senior DART people, or some former DART people, to come over for some advice on our Regional Disaster Co-ordination Authority that we want to put together for the Asia-Pacific." McColl looked thoughtful. "Right, right. Well I'm sure we can arrange that easily. I'll have my staff get a team together to liaise with your government. They could be based in Canberra or wherever your agency is based. As well, get some of your people stationed here so we can coordinate. I think that's an excellent idea." "Sounds great. When the Authority takes off it'll probably be based out of Darwin, I'd imagine, or Townsville. Somewhere up north, closer to the likely disaster areas. It's still a work in progress, Australia doesn't really have anything like DART or FEMA, most of the time it's left to the states, and a lot of the time they're volunteers." Decker said. "Anything Australia can do for Canada?" "You know, not for Canada." McColl frowned. "I had in mind something a little bit different. For many years now, the Commonwealth has become increasingly marginalized. After WWII, the UK pretty much just dumped all of us, as it no longer had the strength or will to maintain its empire. Maybe the Commonwealth needs to go? Or maybe we could keep it? I don't know on that regard. In its stead we could create a new group or forum of the UK and what were the old dominions, and are now Oz, NZ, Canada, South Africa, and India. In my view anyways, the other countries don't really matter that much in the scheme of things. They're all either Chinese or US puppets and/or economically and politically insignificant. Obviously, this is just an idea that can be moulded as needed." "I know what you mean." Decker said firmly. "I mean, we're up for a Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting this year and no one's put their hand up yet to say they'll have it. Getting rid of the Commonwealth isn't our call, that's the Queens. But I disagree about the other nations not really mattering. If we have global groups like the UN, the Commonwealth, the European Union, whatever, surely we should use them to help these 'economically and politically insignificant' countries. Free Trade is well and good for us, but it's screwing Africa and the Third World unless it's curbed the right way." "I do see what you mean. Yes..." McColl mused for a second. "Well, I'll volunteer to have the Commonwealth meeting here if you do next year. You're just as guilty as I am by the way." He chuckled, and then became serious. "Oz has already worked to reform the humanitarian services branch of the Commonwealth have you not? Perhaps we could take leadership roles in other things as well." "Sure, Australia will hold the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in two years, provided there's a point. I don't know what other areas we can lead in, it's not like we need the Commonwealth to be a security relationship, we've got those cropping up left right and centre. I think the most worthwhile thing that the Commonwealth could do right now is work towards bringing it's members up to a more acceptable standard of living. To me, that would be working on a trade arrangement that's fair, and also helping with aid and construction." "Indeed so. Let us begin by publicly pledging more aid to the afflicted countries for food, medical supplies, and construction of basic infrastructure then." McColl smiled. "However, I'm not sure on the free trade. I'll have people look into that, and if I like what I see, we can coordinate on that front. "Soon, I will also be publicly announcing a new research facility dedicated to certain diseases like AIDS and other menaces to people. I think it would be great if scientists from Oz could come on exchanges to work at the facility. Likewise, Canadian scientists could go to Oz for research opportunities. What do you think?" he took another slug from the water bottle. "Yeah, that sounds good to me too." Decker said with a nod. "As to the free trade, well, in an ideal world it would be fair trade, but we're national leaders, we have constituents that we have to represent. In my country, we're thinking of rebates for companies that buy base products from third world nations, things like that." "Mmm' yes. Free trade can be good and bad, and one side will always do better than the other. That's just the nature of the system at this time." They spoke for another fifteen minutes. They spoke only briefly about Iran, their respective military leaders and defence officials were speaking at the same time. The action was just kicking off. Decker finally rose from where he was seated. "Well, thanks James, it's certainly been a fruitful meeting I'd say. Lots of things to follow up." "For sure. I'm really glad you came for the visit Jack; it certainly has been fruitful." McColl smiled as they shook hands again. "We'll keep in touch I hope?" "Of course. What with Iran, and the other things we've spoken about today, I'm sure to be in touch." With that, Decker was guided out of the PM's office, and towards the entrance. --ACTIONS TAKEN? 1. Australia-Canadian cooperation on green research and technology, and AIDS research 2. Canadian assistance on Australia's development of an Asia-Pacific Regional Disaster Coordination Authority 3. Discussions on the future of the Commonwealth of Nations. 4. Canada volunteers to hold the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting later in the year -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080714/9910263b/attachment.html From john.penta at gmail.com Mon Jul 14 20:21:49 2008 From: john.penta at gmail.com (John Penta) Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:21:49 -0400 Subject: [War] US: H-hour Message-ID: "H-Hour" 7 July 2014 Pres. John Williams USA =============== It was 3 PM in Washington, Midnight in Baku, 1900 Zulu. In the darkness, Adil Akhmedov looked over his team of twelve. Most of them were young, boys more than men. All of them were fixated on the transistor radio. Their rifles, new-build Czech AK47s delivered by the Americans, hung at their sides. "Let's go over the mission one more time," said their American Special Forces advisor, 'Bob'. "At the sound of 'Men of Harlech', we blow the SAM site and get the hell out. Just disengage - don't try to be a hero. You want to reach the lay-up point by dawn. Unobserved." "Men of Harlech?" Adil asked. "What does it sound like?" "You'll know it when the radio broadcasts it. I remember you said one of your favorite movies was 'Zulu', Adil? The battle scene." Adil's face brightened in recognition then. "Ohhhhh." "They've said it's going to be a special version that'll be broadcast." Nods came from the Azeris. "Well, come on," Adil called. "Let's be about it. For free Azerbaijan!" "For free Azerbaijan!" came the call in response as the team moved out. All along the border between Georgia and Occupied Azerbaijan, final briefings were being given. Tanks and helos were loaded with their fuel and ammunition. Artillery laid in their fire missions. At airbases in Georgia and Turkey, aircraft were being prepped on the ramps. Tension lay thick across the air. Aboard aircraft carriers, planes launched in rapid succession. Submarines lay waiting in the depths for their orders. In the darkened, chilly war room of the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, SACEUR looked over the incoming reports. All was ready. The plans had been practiced for weeks. SACEUR picked up the phone in front of him. "Sir? The deadline has passed. All assets report readiness and are awaiting orders." Julius Abbot walked into the Oval Office unannounced. "John, SACEUR just called. All units report ready and awaiting orders," he said quietly. In times like this, formality didn't seem called for. Just a deep, somber seriousness. "I understand. Inform him," the President paused for a second, as if wondering whether he could say anything else. "Inform him that the order is given to join battle, and Godspeed." "I understand," Abbot replied. "The order is: Join battle, and Godspeed." "I acknowledge the order, sir. Informing all units now." *** Over shortwave radio, Voice of America's Azeri section broke from normal programming, and with no explanation, began to...play music. The first four bars of "The Matine Hymn", as played by the President's Own, were heard. Then, the music suddenly shifted. Voices, the voices of the chorus groups of DC area schools, began to sing. Young voices, singing in eerie polyphony. "Tongues of fire on Idris flaring, News of foemen near declaring, To heroic deeds of daring, Call you, Harlech men. Groans of wounded peasants dying, Wails of wives and children flying, For the distant succour crying, Call you, Harlech Men. Shall the voice of wailing, Now be an unavailing, You to rouse, who never yet In battle's hour were failing? This our answer, crowds down pouring, Swift as winter torrents roaring. Not in vain the voice imploring Calls on Harlech men." At the end of the song, a somber announcer began to speak. "Arise, warriors of Azerbaijan! The foe has ignored all peaceful entreaties to cease their violations of our lands. Your orders are clear: Warriors of America and the combined allies of Azerbaijan are approaching, and all honorable men and women are called to rise to their assistance against the Persian invader!" --- It was 4 PM in Washington, 1 AM in Baku, and 2000 Zulu. The press release was brief: "On order of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, United States and Allied forces have begun the campaign to free Occupied Azerbaijan and neutralize all Opposition Forces." In the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf, missiles rippled from VLS tubes aboard ships and submarines to strike the Iranian air defense network. Aircraft launched from land and sea to strike targets in Azerbaijan and Iran. Tanks and other ground vehicles rolled across the Georgian-Azeri border. The timings of missile strikes were precise: programmed to within seconds of each other, perhaps stretching the limits of even American targeting capabilities. Operation Caspian Sword had begun in earnest. --- On the first day of war, allied objectives are as follows: The destruction or neutralization of the entirety of Iran's air defense network in Western Iran; by kinetic means where possible, by computer network attack otherwise. Destruction of enemy POL (Petroleum, Oil, Lubricants) storage sites. Begin advance into Occupied Azerbaijan across the front. Destruction of the Iranian Navy in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea, and the Iranian Air Force. Preferably in port and on the ground, respectively. Allied forces are ordered to ensure COMPLETE AND TOTAL ADHERENCE to the Geneva Conventions as regard the capture of prisoners. If at all possible, Iranian units will be given the opportunity to surrender en masse. --- Actions: 1. Attaaaaaaaaaaack! From vampi.digitalwytch at gmail.com Tue Jul 15 14:54:06 2008 From: vampi.digitalwytch at gmail.com (Vampi Digitalwytch) Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:54:06 -0600 Subject: [War] Romania: "But Mom, that's where the fun is" Message-ID: "But Mom, that's where the fun is" President Antanasia Danesti With the offical word given, Antanasia gave her sanction for the committed Romanian troops to join in. Even though she knew this was the right action to take, it still weighed on her in multiple ways. The inevitable loss of lives, the repercussions that would likely follow eventually, the world's eyes on the entire scenario with her peoples taking this first step to show they weren't just some fly over country in Europe. Azerbaijan was dangerously close to Turkey where just the proximity was enough to flare ancient loathing within the troops as well as enough to bring a resurgence in the memories of Vlad Dracul. Questionable bloodthirsty cruelties aside, to her people he was the equivalent of America's Washington from his great battles against the Turks. Antanasia had ensured discreet firm word was passed down that there would be no repeating of any barbarities as they were far better than that. All in all, it did leave the only current worries being with the Roma who'd enlisted with the troops. While they were heartily encouraged to embrace the country they resided in, they did have their own customs of which the gadje tended to be on the receiving end of scams and theft. So far they'd behaved very well with their Romanian soldiers in arms, letting them loose in an area of an old enemy that would be considered gadje in the lowest sense made her think of a pack of foxes turned loose in a henhouse. Hopefully what gypsies resided in the region would help keep their distant kindred in line. Antanasia was willing to turn a blind eye to any military or scientific theft, but not theft from the civilians who were literally lucky to have so much as a pot to piss in. As the initial combat reports came in of Romanian victories, so did the first casualty lists. Antanasia began personally drafting letters of condolence to their families as well as relaying through Prime Minister Simu to Parliament some form of financial aid to those families who had members give the greatest sacrifice of all. The Air Forces were doing well acting in concert with the Allies in taking out the Iranian air defences with currently no casualties though some pilots had been downed and fortunately rescued by ground troop allies. One report had her raise her eyebrow and set her stomach to an uneasy roil as she insisted upon some official confirmation in that a Romanian squadron that had 'acquired' a couple Iranian military vehicles had come across an Iranian convoy. Taking advantage of the ruse, they did capture the soldiers and a payload of questionable tanks they were transporting. The prisoners weren't speaking of the contents of the drums even with the threat of being made to listen to 'decadent' American music, and what command of the Iranian speech the Romanians had wasn't enough to decipher what was stencilled on other than it probably didn't bode well. Locotenant Gavril Prezan, the acting command head as the Capitan had been left behind at a medical post due to bullet wounds didn't' want to take any risks whatsoever and relayed word back to the command posts to have someone else pick them up for analysis while they held the position for the time being. Antanasia hoped it wasn't what she thought it might be, but then, with these madmen they were dealing with, anything was possible. And this was only the beginning.... Actions: 1) Await WAR brass ruling on the drums contents, if it's something juicy, Gavril's getting the Military Virtue medal, gold. 2) Discreetly enforce 'it didn't just fall into your kitbag' ruling on 'acquisitions' 3) Give official press conference on praising Romanian troop victories and expressing heavy condolences to those who've lost family 4) Establish a financial aid fund to grant monies to the families of casualties to help them on some level 5) Set up Antanasia with a bottle of maalox and a straw, she's going to need it. -- --I know there are no lifeguards in the gene pool, but damn, there ought to be at least a few sharks in the water. From Chazenesq2b at aol.com Tue Jul 15 19:43:03 2008 From: Chazenesq2b at aol.com (Chazenesq2b at aol.com) Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:43:03 EDT Subject: [War] JPN/PRC: "The President's Son, and the Prime Minister's Daughter" Part 1 Message-ID: The President's Son, and the Prime Minister's Daughter" Part One 2nd Lieutenant Chan Wen Hong (PCC-Chris) People's Liberation Airforces (PLAF) People's Republic of China Akemi Sato Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Japan ========================================================== (PLA Medical Hospital District- South Pongyang (MHD-SP) Despite the strenuous objection of his father, and the only lukewarm support based on principle he received from his mother, Chan had none the less earned a commission in the PLAF. Standing procedure in the PLAF, as it had been modernized to meet it's increasing technical capability, dictated that in 'addition' to a University degree, an Airman had to complete a tour of at least two years in the Air Force before being given the option to apply for Flight School, and the associated Master of Science degree in Aeronautics that one was expected to earn concurrently during the course of their training. Given the need for security in North Korea, and given that security forces training was relatively short, he figured the easiest way to go would be to spend 2 years as a security guard or air field engineer before applying to flight school. He'd compared the advantages and disadvantages of each job, and although being an air field engineer had more to do with what he eventually wanted to aim for, it was Security Forces that won out because of the much coveted combat experience it would offer. That being said, though the President had pulled no strings on behalf of her son, the Generals weren't about to let the kid run around with regular infantry, patrolling the streets and taking the insurgents on in ambushes. It was his grandfather, a much respected and retired top tier general that had to speak up for him just so that he could be assigned 'here'... as the platoon leader for the security element of a Field Hospital unit. Nobody wanted to have to be the one to report that President Hong's son was killed in action after all. MHD-SP had become a 'show case' example of what an army engaged in occupation could do when it was done 'correctly'. It had taken months of outreach and millions in resources and man hours, but now the people of South-Central Pyongyang came forward willingly when they needed help. In fact they'd attracted so many requests for aid, that the hospital... being run out of one of the 17 'known' palaces formally belonging to Kim Jong Il, had to be extended. The anti-aircraft missile batteries that used to circle the courtyard had been removed, replaced with special wings and temporary office and quartering space to allow for PLAF, PLA, and NGO units and staff to coordinate. It was a security nightmare at times, particularly when an insurgent or two would feel themselves particularly lucky and litter the court yard and building effices with mortar and RPG fire every other week or so. Still, they never got inside the line... hell they never got within 200 meters of the line. Chan made sure of that... And on that note, he caught from the side of his eye one of the most beautiful women he'd probably ever seen. The kind that made you practically 'have' to stare. * * * Akemi Sato walked with a small group of people from the Japanese Red Cross and a mix of Chinese and North Korean guides. ?As you can see the area around Pyongyang at least is relatively safe, this is why we?ve moved many of our most critical cases here.? Akemi supposed one had to have a different idea of ?safe? when you lived in North Korea, she took a look around at the soldiers surrounding this place, and to her surprise found one of the staring at her. She was a little disconcerted at first, until, taking a second look she realized, he was cute, really cute. She smiled back at him and nodded. ?Who?s that?? she asked interrupting her guide nodding towards the young? lieutenant? She had still not gotten a hang of the Chinese rank insignia. Their guide looked over and then smiled back at Akemi. ?That is Lieutenant Chan Wen Hong, head of the security detachment here.? One of the people from the Japanese delegation leaned in and added. ?He is also the son of President Hong.? Akemi blinked. ?Really?? she asked taking another look. Yes now that she was aware of it she could see his mother in him. She leaned into speak with her assigned assistant. ?See if we can invite him to the reception tonight, it would be nice to speak with him.? Her assistant nodded. ?Yes ma?am.? * * * (The Reception) How it was a low Lieutenant managed to get an invitation to one of the most high-class events held in Pyongyang since the pre-war days was anyone's guess. Yet amid the high-ranking officials of the Chinese Stabilization Force, the North Korean Army, the North Korean Government, and invited guests which included the likes of politicians, ambassadors, well connected socialites, and NGO operation chiefs and personnel... yeah he couldn't help but fell a 'little' out of place... at least in so far as it sort of reminded him of being back home in Beijing, not a couple hundred miles away in a war zone at his duty post. It was amazing what well trained and dedicated staff could do with a captured palace and some imagination. The Ballroom was gorgeous, elaborately decorated and laden with food... when it was normally used as an excess storage room for non-perishable medical equipment (temporary moved to a tent in the back courtyard. Ofcourse the surroundings were no where near as stunning as the woman he was fortunate enough to be offered a seat next to. Dead center, front row, was an elaborate, heavy oblong table designed to seat 14. The North Korean President sat at the table's head, the Chinese Ambassador on his right, Akemi as a particularly important VIP on his left, and to the left of Akemi... one Second Lieutenant Chan Wen Hong, PLAF. The opening address was given, followed by a couple of the usual speeches... but Chan wasn't paying too much attention. He didn't know if she spoke Chinese, but he was willing to bet like most of the other NGO heads she spoke passable english. "Is it just me, or is all the hot air around here bad for global warming?" Akemi laughed. "Yes, but then how else would we know who was important?" She turned to the Lieutenant and smiled offering him her hand. "Akemi Sato, I work for the Prime Minister, but don't let that fool you, it?s actually a lot less important than it sounds." Akemi's English was fluent and clear as she absently brushed a couple loose strands of hair behind her ear with her free hand. "I don't think that would be difficult, it sounds pretty important." Chan smiled, having completely lost any connection to the Japanese Prime Minister. The names 'did' sound very familiar, but his attention to her lips was spawned by another intention than interpreting what she was saying. "How did you end up in North Korea?" "The Japanese Red cross, I am a friend of the President of the board, she asked me to go in her place as a good will ambassador to the people of North Korea and to report back on the humanitarian situation here," she said thinking at once it made her sound so boring especially to someone who was going to fly jets for the Chinese airforce. She thought for a moment to mention that the President of the board of the Japanese Red Cross was the Empress of Japan. No, that would be bragging. "So how about you?" she asked lamely. Oh good, she thought, very smooth. He was about to reply when there was the sound of a large explosion, followed by the shattering of glass outside. Instinctively Chan pulled Akemi down to hide her under the heavy table. The more experienced officers did the same. Outside shouting took over, and various security specialists began picking up their charges. "Head to the basement. It's fortified, you'll be safe there." Chan gave Akemi a small smile. "Be careful. I'll see you later, if I'm lucky." He meant it to be a joke, but it probably wasn't as funny as it sounded to him. Akemi nodded dumbly her mind only just catching up to what happened, as it did she grabbed Chan's arm. "Be careful," she warned first in Japanese and then when she realized her mistake, again in English. By the time she had finished the security officer that was assigned to her, had grabbed her up off the floor and said much the same as Chan had, it was time to head to the basement. She nodded and got put down to go there under her own power, as she joined the President of North Korea and the Chinese ambassador in being rushed underground. Chan watched her go for a split second before racing out the door. Already the sound of HC-120 med-evac version helicopters were readying for take off. They didn't carry much in weapons, but the main goal was to get them off the ground for their safety. "Incoming!" One of the guards screamed, the whistling sound of a mortar cut through the air as it pierced through, striking close enough that Chan dropped to his stomach for protection. This wasn't some random terrorist attack... terrorist attacks weren't this coordinated or prolonged. It had all the looks of a North Korean insurgency strike. "Lieutenant!" His platoon's NCO, Staff Sergeant Qing, shouted as best as he could above the sound of assorted small arms fire. Chan pushed himself up and headed over... two wounded Chinese soldiers being placed on stretchers. "Three dead so far, all NKA along the outer perimeter." "Did they make it inside the line?" Qing nodded. "There was about ten of them. We killed six rather quickly, the other four are pinned down. We're still receiving heavy mortar and RPG fire from outside the line. They drove that truck..." The sergeant pointed to a smoldering skeleton of a vehicle that in places was 'still' burning, and bore very little resemblance to the Mitsubishi commercial delivery truck that it was. "Right through the wire. The passenger and NKA exchanged fire at close range. As far as we can tell they were trying to drive the truck right up to the banquet hall and kill as many officials as possible, but the passanger and driver were killed and the truck veered off." "Thank God for small favors." Chan muttered as he peered out over the wall just long enough to make out the puffs from mortar blasts. They were too close for an air strike, and the hospital had no helo gunships being a 'freaking' hospital. They were going to have to do this the old fashioned way. "Leave fourth squad here to man the guard posts. Mount up second and third squads on the BMPs and have them split up to take out those mortar teams. First squad will follow me, we're going to use an armored ambulance for cover and capture those four that are pinned down. Understand?" He nodded and ran off. Chan went to go find himself a weapon and body armor... they couldn't just let those mortars keep shooting, they'd eventually hit 'something'. **************Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music scene in your area - Check out TourTracker.com! (http://www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080715/23bb1b66/attachment-0001.html From lee.tarnow at utoronto.ca Tue Jul 15 23:23:06 2008 From: lee.tarnow at utoronto.ca (lee.tarnow at utoronto.ca) Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:23:06 -0400 Subject: [War] Nigeria 2014 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20080715232306.rdcjmjag848swg8g@webmail.utoronto.ca> Nigeria 2014 Political: Despite a highly controversial campaign, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua won the 2007 presidential election handily with 70% of the vote. Under criticism from international observers, and after having the results rejected by the two primary opposition parties, Yar'Adua proposed a national unity government. In June of 2007, the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP), his main rivals, and the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) agreed to join the People's Democratic Party (PDP) government. He would later declare his assets. This disclosure, which fulfilled a pre-election promise that Yar'Adua made, was intended to set an example for other Nigerian politicians and to discourage corruption. Yar'Adua quickly earned the nickname of 'Baba-go-slow' because of his ineffective, laissez-faire governance. Progress was slow through 2008. Steps were taken to fight corruption, but powerful people in government still interfered with business to benefit their own interests, damaging Nigeria's economy. Yar'Adua tried to negotiate with the MEND militants through 2011, but was ineffective in dealing with them. Attacks in the Niger Delta region continued. As well, Yar'Adua failed to address the issue of the nation's power supply. However, the economy grew by 41% between 2007 and 2011, and the general population recognized this. Though slow, it was progress, and the country was moving forward. In the first fair elections in years, Yar'Adua won a second term with 45% of the vote (the ANPP and PPA split 40% of the vote, the Action Congress (AC) and Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) split 10% of the vote, while the remaining 5% of the vote was split among smaller parties) and 172 of a possible 360 seats, forming a minority government with 9 independants. A similar style of governance was adopted from 2011 to 2014, with slightly better results. Power generation improved to 45 280 MW, about 41% of the Nigeria's target production. In response to escalating MEND attacks in the Niger Delta region, a state of emergency was called, and a brutal yet effective military crackdown occurred in June 2013. MEND violence has since disappeared, however serious human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings; the use of lethal force against suspected criminals and hostage-seizing militants; beatings and even torture of suspects, detainees, and convicts; and extortion of civilians was reported. Yar'Adua's health failed him in late 2013, and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan ascended to the presidency. The government lost a vote of non-confidence in early 2014, and the timid Jonathan seems to indicate a wide open election in 2014. Economic: Oil-rich Nigeria, long hobbled by political instability, corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and poor macroeconomic management, undertook reforms under Yar'Adua. Nigeria's economy grew 75% from 2007 to 2014. The GDP stands at over $500 billion, 15% by agriculture, 55% by industry, and 30% by services. The labor force stands at 57.5 million, with an unemployment rate of 5%. Recent finds in the hydrocarbon rich Niger Delta place proven natural gas reserves at nearly 6 trillion cu m, and proven oil reserves of over 45 billion bbl. The country is listed among the ?Next Eleven? economies, and is one of the fastest growing in the world with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projecting growth of 9.3% in 2014 and 8.7% in 2015. Military: The Military of Nigeria has active duty personnel in three armed services, totalling approximately 98,000 troops and 94,000 paramilitary personnel. Nigeria has continued a strict policy of diversification in military procurement from various countries. Before the lifting of sanctions by many Western nations, Nigeria turned to the People's Republic of China, Russia, North Korea, and India for the purchase of military equipment and training. The end of PDP governance in Nigeria may bring a shift in policy, and therefore, this may not reflect future armament. Foreign: Since independence, Nigerian foreign policy has been characterized by a focus on Africa and by attachment to several fundamental principles: African unity and independence; peaceful settlement of disputes; nonalignment and nonintentional interference in the internal affairs of other nations; and regional economic cooperation and development. In pursuing the goal of regional economic cooperation and development, Nigeria helped create the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which seeks to harmonize trade and investment practices for its 15 West African member countries and ultimately to achieve a full customs union. Over the past decade, Nigeria has played a pivotal role in the support of peace in Africa. It provided the bulk of troops for the UN peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), and the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS). Social: Nigeria's current political parties are pan-national and irreligious in character (though this does not preclude the continuing preeminence of the dominant ethnicities). Nigeria's three largest ethnic groups have maintained historical preeminence in Nigerian politics; competition amongst these three groups, the Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo has fuelled corruption and graft. There are approximately 81 million Muslims in Nigeria, 65 million Christians, and 15 million proponents of other religions. The country should be seen as having a predominantly Muslim north, a mixed Christian and Muslim Southwest and a non-Muslim, primarily Christian South East and South-South, with each as a minority faith in the other's region. There are four distinct systems of law in Nigeria: English law, common law, customary law, and Sharia law. Sharia law is used only in the predominantly Muslim north of the country. From john.penta at gmail.com Wed Jul 16 00:48:59 2008 From: john.penta at gmail.com (John Penta) Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:48:59 -0400 Subject: [War] US/AUS: Mr. Decker Goes to Washington Message-ID: "Mr. Decker Goes To Washington" July.10, 2014 President John Williams Prime Minister Jack Decker United States of America/Australia Decker sat in the back of a limousine as it headed through DC towards the White House. The PM and his staff had arrived around dinnertime the previous night, and relaxed in the hotel. Decker had caught up with the current Australian Ambassador, as well as some other embassy people. This morning he had a meeting with the President in the Oval Office. He watched with interest the Secret Service. As a visiting leader, he got their protection. It was bizarre the security needed for the US President, in comparison to Decker's handful of Federal Police Officers. But it was warranted, with the Kennedy brothers, Ford and Reagan, who knew what other threats had come and gone that the public didn't know about. The small motorcade pulled through the gates of the White House, and pulled up at the northwest entrance. Once again, there was an aide waiting for the Prime Minister as he got out. The aide led the Prime Minister through the West Wing (which wasn't as frantic as the TV show would have one believe) and into the outer office of the Oval Office. Decker waited for a moment while the aide told the President he was there. Decker had come alone, he didn't like having staff trailing along behind him, the staff were having meetings at the same time with Cabinet members, and other people around D.C. Lisa had gone up to New York for the day, but would be back for the State Dinner that evening. The President, meanwhile, had spent the morning in his usual summer cycle of briefings, war planning, paperwork...and meetings. Damned interminable meetings. That said, he'd cleared his schedule for the Australian PM, and the schedule of the next few days was dedicated to getting to know the guy. "Mr. President, Prime Minister Decker is here to see you," announced his executive secretary. Williams stood from behind the Resolute desk as his bodyman made final checks, then slipped out into the Rose Garden with Luke and the dogs. Williams opened the door with a smile, then stepped aside to let Decker through. "Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the Oval Office." *and cue the Theme to The West Wing! Or maybe not, but y'know...* After the handshakes and similar pleasantries, Williams gestured toward a clutch of chairs off to the side. "Have a seat, wherever looks comfortable. Would you like water, coffee, anything to drink?" His discreetly pulled out a PDA on which he could send the orders to the stewards. "It certainly doesn't look like it does on TV." Decker said with a smile, shaking the President's hand, and then slowly looking around the room. It was oddly cluttered, yet still projected that feeling of awe and power. He saw that the table had a different surface, and he recognised it as a digital service, like a plot in a modern military command post. Decker had always had sharp eyesight, and spending his early days on the bridge of a frigate looking out to sea had helped. He noticed the faint lines in the walls of the office, he guessed there were more displays behind that. The wall directly opposite the Resolute Desk had a series of photos on it, with 'Lest We Forget The Cost' written above it. Decker had heard about this wall, servicemen and women, and government personnel, who'd died in combat, or were MIA. All Decker could think was just as well there wasn't a wall like this during the war in Iraq ten years ago, it would have been one cluttered wall. He wondered how the numbers would swell following the operation in Azerbaijan. The President speaking to him brought him back to reality, and he smiled a little sheepishly and sat on one of the couches. "Coffee's good." He said with a nod. He saw the President's PDA, and it made Decker think he should have brought his father along. Despite his father's age he was absolutely obsessed with technology. John grinned at the comments. "Navy tries hard." Pause. "Nah, it never looks like it does on TV." Poor guy got cottonmouth, he realized. "Heard about your logistical issues with JSF. You want some tankers lent so you can get em transpac?" Williams decided it was best to just push on; Decker's brain'll catch up later. "That'd be fantastic John. Otherwise it's a long island hop from the States to Australia." Decker said with a smile. "That'd be great." "Mmmkay. I have Secretary Abbot cutting the orders today; you'll be picking up the actual gas tab, we'll pick up the rest of the op costs," Williams outlines. It left Oz with the bulk of the bill, to the budgeteers' joy. "That said, are there any issues you wanted to discuss?" Decker nodded. "The Defence Department is starting to look into future weaponry. The Anglo-American Rifle sounds promising, from early reports. Having the ability to switch from 5.56 to 7.62 millimetre rounds is a great idea, instead of purchasing M-16s and SAWs in your case, or F88s and Minimis in our case, would save a lot of messing around." "I know - my inner infantryman has some concerns as to the tolerances proposed in the specs, but there's something to be said for the troop trials the thing is going through. That said, if you're looking into the AAR, talk to the Pentagon to get pricings; I know nobody around here would be opposed to a good export order. We need em to make the system work, price-wise," Williams noted, shrugging. "I can understand that, the more parts in something there more likely it is for a little thing to go wrong and stuff the whole thing!" "On that note," here, even POTUS checked the White Noise Generators. "You got our brief on ANDA?" Decker smiled wryly. "Yeah, I did. Funny, power's becoming a recurring theme on this trip. Australia would certainly support and like to take part in ANDA. Our own nuclear future is still questionable; it's been a big domestic policy issue. There are no doubts that it's a cleaner and more efficient energy, but the argument always comes back to the waste." That got a raised eyebrow from Williams, then a smile. "I can imagine - you do, after all, have one of the few uranium concentrations in Western hands; our winter supply for when Canada's mines are frozen over or down. That said: Our best argument out here is geologic repositories for the high-level stuff - I know, the environmental cost-benefit analysis on that makes me shake my head, but Yucca Mountain and places like that are the best solution we've got. That said, you have your own waste management issues - and the Outback is arguably a lot more fragile than the Nevada desert," he replied. "So I was thinking of a project proposal that came across the desk of the science advisor here - a $50 million project to develop genetically engineered organisms to process high-level nuclear waste. Lower-level stuff can be burned or buried on-site - the high-level stuff, not so much. Can be stored safely, though, but we'd prefer to have ways to stretch our storage capacity, since we have military *and* civil reactors to think about. If CSIRO would be interested, I think we can structure the grant to encourage Australian participation, so long as you help fund." "Genetically engineered organisms?" Decker asked rhetorically, and then smiled. "I'd like to know more about that, that could solve all the problems, though I have a feeling the Greens would still make a lot of noise about it. It's certainly something worthy of future discussion, and if Australia thought we had a place amongst the work, we'd certainly help foot the bill. We're at a time in our global community where if you sit back and wait for someone else to do the work for you, you'll be waiting a while. Have you spoken with the Canadians about ANDA? Prime Minister McColl and I met on similar energy issues the other day." A bitter laugh from Williams at mention of the Canadians. "I ain't bothered with em. Ottawa's focused most of their rhetoric on being, well...anti-American. If they want in, they'll be welcome, but they can ask...And they could do more to help prove they're not just out to throw rocks at us and help the Chinese. "Who, well...I will be blunt: I consider China the threat of this next generation. I've tried to teach myself Mandarin to help on the analysis, but I don't think the analysis is the issue here. Hong has done her utmost thus far to shatter Western unity, and I've yet to see good plans on how to hold the Chinese back." "China's certainly an interesting one." Decker said with a nod. "Years back, when I was still in Foreign Affairs, the sentiment was that war or conflict, between China and the West, was becoming less likely. Sure, they were still communist, and a rapidly developing military power, but they had a thriving capitalist economy?" Decker paused, taking a sip of his coffee. "Once upon a time we thought nuclear deterrence would do the job. Then Ms. Hong pulled off that operation over Iran; she's lucky Beijing's still standing. It shows she's clearly not worried about a nuclear threat." "I think we can scrap the 'McDonald's Peace' theory, neh?" Williams laughed. "Hong got *lucky* over Iran, speaking as a former SOF soldier. It shows the technical skill of *one part* of the PLA. It's why I get more nervous about technical trades with em, and why I'm not allowing Chinese observers near AZFOR - something I'm hoping the other governments involved will agree to, and I've instructed SACEUR to enforce it with regard to units under his OPCON. "She isn't worried because she doesn't care much if the world survives a conflict, in my estimation; just that China dominates whatever is left. None of that 'irrational because she's a woman' BS; she's just that way, and would be regardless of gender. "The question is, how to push back?" Decker nodded. "That's the hard question. I mean, if we were playing devil's advocate, I'd say run them into the ground. Cease trading with them. But?" he smiled wryly at the US President, "we both represent constituencies, and people who need jobs, and trade, to put food on their tables. Of course it's not because she's a woman?it's because it's China. It's an unhelpful analysis, but it's the truth. Normally, I'd say we reluctantly accept their presence and power, but then they pushed into North Korea, if we just sit back and accept their power, what's to stop them pushing into Taiwan? Or Japan?" That got a grin. "Now, if you could explain the fact of the midterm elections to our Canadian counterpart, who seems not to get why I am not at all eager to reopen NAFTA?" Pause. "Seriously, regarding China? If we don't stand against em, nobody will. Which is why I'd like to know more about your naval construction plans." "Well, that's something I can talk about at length." Decker replied. "Obviously we're excited about the Canberra-class vessels. It's been a while since the RAN has had vessels like that. We've got two amphibious assault models, and we're about to sign off on two carrier models, which would mean a purchase of maybe thirty F-35Bs. We're also going to put in an order for six Air Warfare Destroyers, based on a Spanish model. I think the next major Navy question will be the future of our submarine service. The Collins-class subs will be retiring from 2026, probably, so we need to look into what we're going to do after that." He smiled. "Future looks bright for the RAN Mr. President." A nod. "That cackle of glee you hear in the distance is Lockheed upon hearing about more F35 sales," POTUS notes dryly. Decker laughed. "Glad we could help, because I'm sure as a major contractor they'd be running REAL low on money." He said sarcastically. The meeting went on for another half an hour, focusing mainly on their two biggest issues, China and Iran. The President's executive secretary came in to tell the President that his next appointment was waiting. Decker rose from the couch. "Well, I better not take up too much more of your time John. I'll see you at the dinner." He buttoned up his suit jacket and extended his hand to the President. "It's been an absolute pleasure, John. Thanks for taking the time." "Always happy to chat," replied POTUS, shaking the offered hand. The next meeting was hardly as interesting. --- Actions: 1. Chatter 2. Research project established to look into the possibility of nuclear-waste eating genetically engineered bacteria. 3. Australia invited to ANDA. 4. Oz to buy 30 F35Bs for Canberra-class carriers. 5. US tankers to help get Australian F35s across the Pacific. From dantheman2210 at yahoo.com.au Wed Jul 16 01:32:24 2008 From: dantheman2210 at yahoo.com.au (Daniel Sanderson) Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:32:24 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [War] Australia: Forward Operating Base Tobruk In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <564144.84518.qm@web39107.mail.mud.yahoo.com> "Forward Operating Base Tobruk" Australian Military Forces Georgia/Azerbaijan/Persian Gulf Captain Vince Willard was standing on the bridge of the HMAS Newcastle. The Newcastle was an Adelaide class guided missile frigate, the Australian copy of the Oliver Hazzard Perry frigate. The Newcastle had been following the Iranian frigate Moudge One for the past twenty-four hours, following her over the horizon. When the word came down that the deadline had passed, Willard looked to his XO. "Ex, sound general quarters for battle stations missile." "Aye Captain." Two minutes later, the first Harpoon missile rocketed off the Mark 13 launcher, which quickly reloaded and fired another one. "Time to target, ten seconds." the PWO reported. "Nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one...hit. Looks like a hit Captain. "All ahead, nav, plot us a course for the ship's last recorded position. Prepare to deploy the boats for rescue operations." First Battalion (Infantry) of the Royal Australian Regiment had been camped out at Forward Operating Base Tobruk for a week. FOB Tobruk was located close to the Azerbaijani/Georgian border in north eastern Georgia. For the first time since Vietnam, Australian troops were literally on the front line. The Australian troops, along with a few other allied troops, had been given the task of rolling over the border and heading for Zaqatala. At midnight, the small village where FOB Tobruk was located was woken by the roar as Abrams tanks, Bushmaster Infantry Mobility Vehicles and ASLAVs started up. The infantry troops, who'd been awake most of the night with briefings and so on, all headed for vehicles. At ten minutes past midnight, the snake of vehicles headed out, led by an Abrams tank. Overhead, the F/A-18Es of the Royal Australian Air Force headed for Azerbaijan, laden down with AGM-88 HARMs and AGM-65 Maverick missiles. The Super Hornets first launched on Iranian outposts along the border, and then went in search of any other Iranian emplacements in and around Zaqatala. At the same time, SAS and 4th Commando troops painted targets and called in airstrikes in Zaqatala, and Saki. --ACTIONS TAKEN-- 1. Royal Australian Navy sinks an Iranian frigate in the Gulf, and conducts rescue operations. 2. Australian Combined Arms Task Force heads for the border with orders to capture and secure the town of Zaqatala. OOC: Actually posted this two days ago and it took long enough to spit it back out at me! Start at the new Yahoo!7 for a better online experience. www.yahoo7.com.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080715/5e8e8b72/attachment.html From john.penta at gmail.com Wed Jul 16 13:01:10 2008 From: john.penta at gmail.com (John Penta) Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:01:10 -0400 Subject: [War] US/CAN: Blue and Crimson Message-ID: "Blue and Crimson" 15 July 2014 Pres. John Williams, USA PM James McColl, Canada ======================= Today was not a day for ceremony, John Williams had decided. Temperatures, even in the mountain retreat that was a perk of the Presidency, were well over 38 degrees Celsius, and the shade didn't help much. Nonetheless, it would be impolite not to greet the Canadian PM when he arrived. That said, he'd made sure Aspen was on the chilly side today. So he was outside at Aspen's helipad, waiting for the Marine helo carrying his guest for the next few days. As the helicopter landed, McColl could see POTUS waiting in the shade, dripping with sweat. Indeed, in the helo as well, it was pretty toasty. The flight south had been marked with the pilot's nervous chatter as he watched the temperature guage keep rising. Eventually, they had stopped and let the helo cool down for awhile on some airfield way out in the boonies of Pennsylvania. Even memories of worse - Baghdad at this time of year, anyone? - didn't keep the sweat from POTUS's face. Which is why, after the helo touched down, his military aide - yes, the guy with the Football - conducted everyone inside quickly. Introductions went all round, and everyone was aqcuainted with each other. Soon enough, they were alone. Except, that is, for Luke, who'd crawled onto dad's preselected chair and gone to sleep while the grownups were busy. That just got a grin from dad, who put the 8-month-old in his bassinet/car seat and shook his head. "I shoulda known he'd try that." POTUS's bodyman - otherwise known as his personal assistant - took the bassinet, bringing Luke to someplace cool where he wouldn't disturb the grownups. With that, the leaders of Canada and the United States were really alone, as the door clicked shut. "Well they certainly have minds of their own at any age. My two were both were independent." McColl said, just to break the awkward silence. "But I am glad that you have it nice and cool in here, very pleasant change from that helo, I must say." Williams laughed. "The AC is usually pretty good on the helos, but today's been brutal." He looked across at the PM. "Coffee? Water?" "Water, please; do you have ice by chance? Those bottles of water that warm up before you have time to drink them just don't cut it on a day like this." "This place was designed for people to get out of the hellhole that is DC," Williams replied with a grin, pouring ice, then water, into a glass for the PM. "It'd be wrong of us not to." John set the glass by the PM, then grinned, pouring a glass for himself. He would let the PM choose where to begin the conversation. McColl drank deeply, sighed, and then looked at his feet while gathering his words. "Ah, that's much better, thank you. May I presume to call you John?" "Go ahead." "Alright. So I would like start with the issue of Iran if you don't mind. We seem to have been very successful in getting a war started. But we need to be planning for Iran's future once this mess is done. The massive Chinese presence will be problematic at best, and quite possibly dangerous. I am aware that if we continue to advance into Iran from Azerbaijan, we may just end up fighting the Chinese too if NATO isn't careful. It is also possible that Iran might end up divided into two armed camps. What are your thoughts?" "I've been pondering that myself. My current mode of thinking is that we go in, *keep the government structures of Iran intact*, but focus our PsyOps on turning them against the 'Godless hordes' of the Chinese...Or however the Psych War guys choose to term the Chinese. All we really care about is that they get out of Azerbaijan. Whether that means a military junta or just a less-repressive Islamic sort of democracy - they have all the structures of one after all - or even a revival of the Shah, I could care less. I just don't want Chinese influence in Iran. Because, yeah, I don't trust Hong." McColl nodded thoughfully. "Mmhmm, Nor do I. China must be denied, but at what cost? At any rate, I've no doubt your intelligence picked up that letter sent to me from Hong. I was shocked at how fast she got that done. As I'm sure you're aware, any letter from her is a two-edged sword. It was a given that she wanted the economic opportunity, but really, she had nerve asking for those military concessions." "Not really. She sees you wanting to renegotiate NAFTA - which I'm putting off even thinking on til December because of the midterms; Crass politics but I have the rest of my agenda to think about - and presumes the alliance that produced an undefended border and, hi, *NAFTA* has gone byebye," John replied. "That was very nearly the guess here too, until I told people to calm down. "No offense, but it gets hard to do that when I can't be sure whether my credibility is going to be shot by you pandering to your base. Which it really has felt like. I *get* your objections to NAFTA, but I also hear the same cries from every town where a plant has closed down. I have sympathy, but at some level, you're either in the free market, or not. After that...Really, you want me to renegotiate NAFTA...To what benefit to my country? Because it'd better be *really good*, for something which would take all my political capital to even open a discussion on." "I can understand that you are frustrated John. You and I are both national leaders, and we must each look out for the interests of our respective nation. Those interests between us include maintaining our alliance, military cooperation, and trade." McColl paused, took a sip of water, and smiled sadly. "Sometimes I wonder if NAFTA was really such a good idea after all. Sure, our respective industries have prospered mightily, but at what cost? Lost jobs to Mexico, foreign takeovers, et cetera. Don't take this as a sign that I'm getting Canada out of NAFTA, because we're not. We are willing to open negotiations to change certain things in the agreement, namely, a control on foreign takeovers, agricultural tariffs, and a total ban on exporting bulk water. "The fact of the matter is, the United States has an economy that is just so much larger than Canada's we can't compete. Really, the only way we can maintain some degree of control is to impose legislation like the recent anti-takeover bill. I am really sorry that this has been a drag for you, but the way I see things, this is the only way. Because right now, they way things are going, your northern ally has basically become your economic storehouse. "I'm sure the United States hasn't been without issue either. Like you said, there are many lost manufacturing jobs in this country too. We can't rush this. But neither can we afford to ignore it any longer. Are there not things the United States would like to see changed in the agreement?" "There are, but I'd need to consult with the Senate for their advice as to specifics. That can't happen until at least December." "I understand. Perhaps we can start cooperating on attracting industry of all sorts back to our respective countries? I believe that would be beneficial to both our nations." Williams looked thoughtful. "In principle, yes. In practical terms, did you have any ideas?" McColl smiled warmly. "I'm glad that has you interested. Well to start with we could establish a joint committee of experts from various public and private companies as well as our respective governmental departments which would conduct research on that subject. It would then table a report to our governments on the findings of their research. We could then coordinate together on implementing any necessary policies. I see this as essential because Canada's and America's patterns of production and economic growth so closely mirror each other." "Report in 90 days, budget of $50M?" "90 days, sure. Evenly split the $50M between us?" "Yes." "Very well, consider it done Mr. President." McColl grinned a big grin, and then stood and stretched. "Time for a swim with the families?" "My thought exactly." Changing rooms were provided for all, and in 15 minutes, POTUS was in the pool along with a gleeful Luke, who was in a floaty-thingy for babies over his swim diaper. Mom preferred to sit and watch from alongside. The President of the United States was in excellent physical condition, with extremely-well-developed musculature. On his chest was one of his distinguishing marks - a scar just below the right shoulder, with another one along his right arm. Meanwhile, McColl's children, Erik [8] and Anna [12] were playing in the shallow end of the pool. He and his wife, Jennifer, were chatting while sprawled on the lawn chairs at the pool's edge, dressed in their bathing suits. Soon enough, McColl and Williams would be discussing other matters, but for now, why not some fun and relaxation? ------------------ Actions: 1) Getting to know you chatter 2) Establish a joint policy on Iran's future. 3) Commission 90-day, $50M (costs shared 50/50) report to conduct research on attracting industry to the US and Canada. 4) Relax From john.penta at gmail.com Wed Jul 16 13:02:23 2008 From: john.penta at gmail.com (John Penta) Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:02:23 -0400 Subject: [War] US/CAN: Blue and Crimson 2 Message-ID: "Blue and Crimson 2" 15 July 2014 Pres. John Williams, USA PM James McColl, Canada ===================== After their swim, it was dad's job to feed Luke. Or try to, anyway. Luke was looking around at all the people, and babbling like a sheep. "Bababababababababababababaaaaa!" "Yes, little sheep. But now's time to eat," Dad cajoled. Spotting his Canadian counterpart, he looked over with eyes that seemed to beg for help. "He eats now or gets horrible later...Except he doesn't want to pay attention to the food." The McColls chuckled. They knew exactly what Williams was talking about. Jennifer went over and started talking to Luke, who seemed to calm down a little and eat some food. John smiled with gratitude as he fed Luke. Soon enough, after a bit of a mess included, Luke was fed, burped, and playing with Erik and Anna under John's watchful eye. McColl sauntered over to Williams and said, "Do you have a few minutes maybe now or later, so we can walk and discuss some ideas?" "Sure, if I can coerce your kids into watching Luke while we're out?" The POTUS asked with a grin. "Yea, that's fine. They've had lots of practise on their younger cousins." Within a few minutes, then, the leaders were walking on Camp David's trails. "What'd you have in mind?" Williams asked. "I've thought on the water issue. But I wanted to hear what you're thinking on it as well." They were walking slowly, almost sauntering down the path. "I'm thinking 'there's a good reason why they didn't touch it in NAFTA, now that I think about it'. It's a messy issue, and the idea that first came to mind, of domestic law to limit it like you have, wouldn't pass muster with the courts," Williams replied. Above the two, a bald eagle (Camp David had a few pairs nearby) watched from his perch in the trees. "Indeed, it could be messy. However, there might be a way around that. I know in many arid parts of the world desalinization is used to support population in otherwise inhospitable areas. Perhaps the southwest should look into that for at least part of a solution." McColl paused. "We both know, I think, that Ottawa won't allow the bulk transfer of water to those states." "I think you'll have to tell the Governors that - they'd kill me if we blocked it. I'm not sure desalination is currently a solution - environmental issues for one; That said, I'm in favor of the idea, if the power issues can be conquered." "Well we could start a research project to improve the efficiency of the process; involve private industry to reduce costs and make it marketable once finished." "Good," Williams ventured. "A thought: Does Canadian law allow the Crown to share patents? What might be best is if we share ownership of the patents, -then- get private industry involved. If not, we could set up a jointly-owned corporation, 50% Canadian Government 50% US government, and use that to hold the IP involved." "I'll have my people look into it because I don't know off the top of my head. If there is a problem, we should be able to find a way around it." McColl looked up and saw the eagle take off. "Yeah. On the US side, I know the Government doesn't copyright, but we do a pretty heavy patent business." Williams smiled as the eagle glide into the sky, then laughed as he saw Akela, his German Shepherd, chasing a deer. It took a bit, but Akela was swiftly saved from being gored by antlers. Namely, by John making deer calls and confusing dog and deer alike. "Akela! Get over here! No harassing the wildlife!" He called. As the dog scampered over, John reached down and scratched the pup's ears. "Heel, boy. No harassing the wildlife." The two finished their stroll through the forest and returned to the lodge, where Erik and Anna were still having fun with Luke under the mom's watchful eye. Later on, dinner was excellent and the day finished with a beautiful deep red sunset. --- Actions: 1) Discuss water issues. 2) Some character development. From dylandv at gmail.com Wed Jul 16 16:29:03 2008 From: dylandv at gmail.com (Dylan de Valk) Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:29:03 -0700 Subject: [War] Canada: "War-time Journalism" Message-ID: <763946e70807161329h6f53b108uc0f84bb634b5a582@mail.gmail.com> "War-time Journalism" July. 8 CBC Special Report from Azerbaijan Canada ----------------- "And now, we'll be airing live footage and a detailed look at the Canadian war effort in Azerbaijan. We go to Adrian Arsenault, our War Correspondent. Adrian?" Peter Mansbridge was of course hosting the late night news. In Azerbaijan however, it was early morning. "Thank you Peter. I'm here in the northern part of Azerbaijan, just south of the Georgian border. Yesterday, NATO and Australian troops crossed the border and swept into Azerbaijan from the northwest. Many towns like this one, as you can see behind me, are in ruins, after NATO missile strikes and bombing runs destroyed Iranian defences. Iranian forces in this area are in full retreat, as Canadian troops sweep in, spearheaded by armoured columns and followed up by infantry, mechanized, and artillery forces. "At zero hour, yesterday, armoured battalions from Lord Strathcona's Horse and the 12e Regiment Blinde du Canada struck a decisive blow to Iranian forces following a fierce air, missile, and artillery bombardment by Canadian and Allied forces. Soon after, infantry from several regiments, including the Royal Canadian Regiment, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and the Royal 22e Regiment moved in for close fighting in the towns across Canada's sector of the front. Casualties were reported, although the number is currently unknown. Iranian forces sustained heavy casualties have withdrawn several kilometres. "So far this morning, I've seen several CF-18 jets fly overhead on ground support missions. Ah, here's two now." Arsenault was reduced to shouting because of the dual sonic boom that shook the area. After the noise faded, she started again. "It appears that the jets have been bombing ground targets in an effort to soften up Iranian resistance. From what I've been told they have set up a second defence line further back from the front as a second resort." Four distant thuds were heard in the background, presumably the bombs dropped from the CF-18's. "Enemy troops are just on the other side of that mountain," she gestured in direction. "Peter, back to you." The screen switched back to the newsroom, where Mansbridge wrapped up that segment of the news. McColl turned off the tv. The reality of it was that more than ten thousand Canadian troops were overseas, fighting against Iran. Whole battalions had been sent, alongside a not insignificant force of about two thousand reserve troops who had volunteered for the war. Four frigates and two destroyers were also integrated into NATO naval forces in the Persian gulf, while a squadron of CF-18 jets provided air cover for ground forces. This was the largest operation the CAF had mounted in years, and so far, was going fairly well too. ------------------- Actions: 1] talk about the military commitment to the Iran War -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080716/a9744378/attachment.html From martellian at hotmail.com Wed Jul 16 21:29:51 2008 From: martellian at hotmail.com (Ian Martell) Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:29:51 -0700 Subject: [War] Japan: "Opening Shot" Message-ID: "Opening Shot" Japan July 7 2014 ----- The bridge of Japan's largest missile frigate was in complete silence as they waited for the final order to come in. Her captain Shinjiro Terada stood quietly in the center of the silent bridge hands clasped behind his back and eyes closed waiting. Then it came, the sound of Ensign Hiroto speaking a confirmation in English into his headset, then he turned to the XO and reported. "Order to fire, one minute sir." "One minute," replied the XO and turned to the Captain. Terada opened his eyes and nodded to his XO. "Proceed." The bridge was suddenly alive and eager as the order was passed to weapons control to prepare to fire and the time to launch marked on the bridge clock, everyone knew that they were about to make history. The word came up from weapons control: target acquired awaiting orders. The bridge fell quiet again as the final seconds ticked away. Then as it hit zero, Terada barked. "Fire." The XO passed the word and in the next second the deck of the Natsukaze was bathed in smoke lit in the bright yellow glow of the Japanese missile leaving their pods and streaking off into the night sky towards the distant lights of the shore, beside them other ships in their battle group from half a dozen countries opened fire adding new streaks to the ones made by the Japanese missiles. Then suddenly, there were twin flashes from the shore amidst the tracer rounds and exploding flak shells fired by the Iranian defenders. Everything fell silent again. Then the XO spoke quietly into his mic before turning to the Captain. "Captain, hit confirmed." The bridge crew smiled broadly and clapped each other on the shoulder and Captain Terada smiled. "XO inform the crew, and prepare for our next shot," he said and made his way to the phone at the communications station. Tokyo would want to hear of their success. * * * "Sir," Mura said as he entered Sato's office, it was early morning and the Prime Minister hadn't slept, but still he paced nervously in his office. "We have a report from the Natsukaze," Mura continued as the Prime Minister stopped to look at him. "Her first volley was successful." Sato stood there for a moment not sure if he should cheer, smile, or perhaps cry, all would be appropriate depending who you asked. In the end he chose to smile. "Excellent," he said. "I assume Inukai is pleased." "The Defense Minister is very happy, yes sir." Sato nodded. "See that the press release is out for the morning news, and we'll meet with Inukai first thing to discuss how the rest of this went." "Yes sir," Mura said and departed leaving Sato to ponder the fact that at least his name would be in the history books after tonight and that Japan had just taken its first shot in anger in sixty-nine years. * * * It was a half-hour later when a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense addressed a drowsy group of reporters from the defense ministry press pool, who at the sight of the spokesperson perked up at once. "Good morning," Shinji Nakai said bowing slightly to the group. "At 00:00 local time the Natsukaze fired two Japanese Tengu long range surface-to-surface missiles as part of the initial stages of Operation Caspian Sword, both missiles hit their target, an Iranian naval fuel depot near the Straight of Hormuz, resulting in the depot's destruction." The defense department aides who had come in with him began circulating a print outs from the latest satellite pass over the area showing the depot in flames. "The government applauds the efforts of the crew of the Natsukaze and the entire Japanese contribution to the international force and asks the people of Japan join with us in wishing them good fortune in the days to come." Actions: 1> Detail the first Japanese shot in Caspian Sword. 2> Offer details to the press, and begin the debate on Article 9 (pun intended) with a bang. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080716/b387ddff/attachment-0001.html From john.penta at gmail.com Wed Jul 16 22:11:00 2008 From: john.penta at gmail.com (John Penta) Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:11:00 -0400 Subject: [War] US: Ride to the sounds Message-ID: "Ride to the sounds" 8 July 2014 Assorted people USA ================ Major Quinn Armedine couldn't help it. He was trying not to show it, but he was quietly worrying himself sick over his battalion's mission. Sure, on paper, it was a mission they'd done dozens of times. In training, anyway. In training. It was a fairly simple mission - night jump of 1 BN, 504th PIR outside the town of Yevlax. Assemble, advance on the town, capture it and the outlying airfield. Simple in concept, anyway. "10 minutes to jump!" came the call. ---- <20 km outside of Yevlax> Slowly, the Azeri partisans creeped through the forests, rifles held close to them. Never had they thought they'd be attacking their own hometown, but such was war. Unlike some of the other sectors of the front, the American sector looked largely untouched by war; for what reason, nobody dared to guess, but the fact that the town wasn't a bombed-out wreck was a good thing. Mostly. They were mostly young, some actually teenage boys who had fled Iranian roundups, and they were eager for battle. The eagerness of those who had never seen death. Their mission, as communicated by their commander, was simple enough in concept: Take the bridge on the road to the airport, and hold it until the Americans arrived. Half of the twenty, half of those boys, would be dead by the time the Americans arrived to relieve them. None would ever be the same. --- "30 seconds!" The soldiers stood up as one. Soon enough, one after another, American soldiers jumped into the night sky over Azerbaijan - the largest combat jump of American forces since Panama in 1989. --- Actions: 1. US forces, in cooperation with Azeri forces, to capture the towns of Mingechaur and Yevlax. 2. Detailed orders: This is primarily an airborne and infantry assault - the idea being to minimize collateral damage and civilian casaulties. In truth, much of the work is being done by Azeri partisans, who are also securing DZs for US airborne forces. Followup upon the capture of airfields will be the arrival by airlift of heavier infantry forces to actually take the towns and secure FAARPs for helicopter forces. From Chazenesq2b at aol.com Wed Jul 16 23:09:47 2008 From: Chazenesq2b at aol.com (Chazenesq2b at aol.com) Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:09:47 EDT Subject: [War] China: "Usual American Propoganda" Message-ID: "Usual American Propoganda" President Xia Hong The People's Republic of China July 8, 2014 ================================================= (The Executive Residence, Beijing) Xia and Bing couldn't help but laugh, at least on the inside, when news had reached them that the Americans and their NATO allies began their assault into Azerbaijan. Where as the western allies only found out about the Chinese assault as it took place from high orbit... Chinese agents had reported the NATO lead assault several hours before it took place. How did they accomplish such a task? In the most expensive case, a pair of binnoculars, a two-way radio, and an old displaced New York City 'checkerboard' cab parked about two miles from an American airfield. The skills of HumInt weren't as absent in the East as they were in the West. Granted, China had it's own spy sattelites, it's own methods of high-tech SigInt and the like, but when you wanted to know what 'will' happen versus what 'could' or what 'would' happen, the only way was in person. "I can't believe Williams 'has' allies at this point. He and Bush Junior have a lot of commiserating to do!" Bing chuckled. It was tough to believe that given the level of intelligence the world leaders involved had, that they didn't see what it was for what it 'really' was... an American effort to protect American economic interests. Azerbaijan's oil fields had been discovered by American companies, would be exploited 'by' American companies... And Canadians, Australians, and French would likely lose their lives for America's cheap gas. "You know I'm sure they must have thought the same about our Iranian 'invasion'." Xia smirked. "Don't these people know what the definition of a 'Raid' is?" And that in turn got another moment of barely contained silence. How could you 'not' want to laugh when the world super power, and her allies, believed you'd occupied a country? Granted, the PLA had gotten 'extremely' good at camouflage, deception, and covert moving... but for Christ's sakes it was easy to see how WMDs could go missing in the middle of the damn desert when the largest army on Earth could hide from the 'all knowing' American intelligence community. "I blame Williams' Iraq experience. He learned how to fight wars incorrectly and now he's ordering them fought, incorrectly." Bing smirked. "The only Chinese soldiers 'still' operating in Iran are the Special Forces training up the Iranian Liberation Army. Plans are already being drawn up for a post war election in Iran, once the fighting is over. Hopefully our democratists will prevail, and an Iranian democracy will take route." Xia nodded. Contrary to American lead belief, she had no problems at all with democracy. She'd done a 'considerable' amount to advance democracy in China, with the PNC's elections coming up that ought to be obvious, but in this case Iran, unlike China, had a fully mobilized (if underground) Civil Society that could concretely support a lively democracy. China was still building those traditions and practices, and had to make a much more smooth transition than Iran would have to. "They've earned the right to try at least." She poured a cup of Green Tea. "It should be criminal... NATO troops bombing targets we've already hit, fighting armies that don't exist... it's like President Williams has gone Don Quixote on us." Bing shook his head. "No windmills in Azerbaijan." "None yet!" Xia said in mock indignation. "Just wait until the infamous American rebuilding projects get underway!" With that Bing couldn't help but laugh. That 'was' the way things seemed to pan out with most American reconstruction projects. Need a power grid? We'll build you a park! Want a hospital or school? Howabout a nice strip-mall for the runners up... It was a sad irony. But you had to love the American President... like the global 'special' child, no matter how tough or pointless the going got, he still kept at it. Xia folded her hands together. "Let's take the high-road publicly though, shall we? Congratulate the NATO allies and the Azerbaijanis on their liberation of Azerbaijan. Kindly remind them that we 'do' have forces operating within the Iranian border, so if they broaden their war we'd prefer they did 'not' bomb our forces or the forces of the Free Iranian Movement or the Iranian Liberation Army. Let's advertise to the Iranians that this is their chance, as a people, to finally vindicate Islam and their history in the eyes of the world and create a new prosperity for their nation. Ask them for their help in locating the murderers that have sullied the name of Allah's religion... let them know we stand ready to assist them whatever the outcome. Likewise let's ask the NATO allies to discuss plans for the post war situation, and let's set the situation straight in the media." ================================================ ACTIONS 1. Point out to John that I 'do' read posts, and that his nice diplomatic 'let's hope Chris doesn't see the China bashing' technique doesn't work. Especially when you obviously didn't read the post in question carefully enough. 2. Have a good laugh at all the 'Chinaphobia' apparently going around. 3. Set the record straight. China supported the US offered proposal in the UNSC about Iran, even though the US actively sought the murder of Chinese soldiers in North Korea, 'because' it was the right thing to do. China offered to allow her forces to be integrated into a western command structure for the sake of unity in the face of the enemy, and it was the rest of ya'll that pretty much said go to hell. China acted following the terrorist attacks to protect ALL of the world's people, why the rest of you sat on your asses and bitched about us doing something. Despite this, China 'still' supports the liberation of Azerbaijan, even if it is a pre-tense for American exploitation of the resources in the region. Azerbaijan deserves to be free. 4. Invite all the leaders of the NATO allies to discussions regarding a mutually beneficial plan for the post war Iran situation. Continue to support independent democratic movements in Iran with training, material, organization, and joint operations. Let the Iranians lead the way in their own revolution. 5. Make it known to NATO that, despite their worries, only small groups of Chinese soldiers are actually 'in' Iran. We have given you their IFF sigs, we've given you the knowledge they're there... God help you if you bomb them 'accidentally'. **************Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music scene in your area - Check out TourTracker.com! (http://www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080716/c4a7b4d2/attachment.html From dantheman2210 at yahoo.com.au Wed Jul 16 23:44:48 2008 From: dantheman2210 at yahoo.com.au (Daniel Sanderson) Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:44:48 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [War] Australia: Action Message-ID: <331385.22957.qm@web39103.mail.mud.yahoo.com> "Action" 8 July 2014 Australian Military Forces In Azerbaijan Australia The Australian forces had had a hard road to get to Zaqatala. The Iranian Quds force had left many nasty surprises along the way, the occasional landmine or a suspiciously parked vehicle which, when approached by engineers, turned out to be laden down with explosives. It was a long ride for the troops. Some were on foot; some were inside Bushmasters, ASLAVs or trucks. Others like Staff Sergeant Gary McKinley were riding on the Abrams tanks that led the way. The convoy of vehicles slowed as they approached the Zaqatala city limits. They slowed to a stop, while engineers probed ahead along the road. A few bombed out buildings was all they could see at the moment. Second Lieutenant William Christianson wandered forward, a pair of binoculars in his hand. McKinley wondered why on Earth Christianson had been given command of an infantry platoon instead of a cushy headquarters assignment. Christianson was square, graduate of Scotch College where he?d served in their Cadet unit. Quite a few of the troops under his command thought he belonged in supply, or intelligence or something else. ?Check out the Field Marshal.? A Corporal seated next to McKinley on the Abrams said with a laugh. ?What the fuck is he doing?? McKinley asked, standing up on the turret of the Abrams. ?Lieutenant! I don?t think you should be standing out there!? CRACK! Christianson crumpled to the ground. ?Sniper!? McKinley yelled. ?Shit! Iranian armour! Ten o?clock!? Another soldier yelled. McKinley turned and saw a clump of moving foliage, an Iranian tank camouflaged. The Abrams roared into action, the soldiers leaping clear as its turret traversed to the left. The Australian troops took cover as two machine guns in the bombed out buildings opened fire. McKinley waited for the .50 calibre machine gun on the Abrams to open up on the Iranian positions before he and another soldier raced down the road, grabbing Lieutenant Christianson by the webbing and dragging him back to cover. ?Medic up!? He looked at Christianson. The round had hit where his shoulder met his neck. ?Hang in there Lieutenant.? The sky was filled with the roar of gunfire as the infantry troops opened fire with their Minimi light machine guns and F88 assault rifles. A second Abrams rolled up to the front as the lead Abrams put a HEAT round through the Iranian tank. Aside from the small skirmish, taking Zaqatala wasn?t too hard. Again, the occasional present of an IED, a few brief gunfights, but that was all. The Australian force, along with some additional troops, swept through Zaqatala quickly, but there was no sign of any additional Iranian troops. It was declared secure not long after lunch. ?Iranians must be fighting a retreating action.? Sergeant McKinley said to Captain Bailey when they cleared out the city centre. There were a few old Georgian churches in the city, and troops were dispatched not only to clear them of possible snipers, but to set up observation posts. --ACTIONS TAKEN-- 1. Australian troops run into a little resistance heading for Zaqatala, but little else. 2. Zaqatala secured, enabling additional allied units to roll into Azerbaijan via Zaqatala. Start at the new Yahoo!7 for a better online experience. www.yahoo7.com.au From lee.tarnow at utoronto.ca Thu Jul 17 03:24:42 2008 From: lee.tarnow at utoronto.ca (lee.tarnow at utoronto.ca) Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:24:42 -0400 Subject: [War] Nigeria: An Informal Introduction/Business as Usual In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20080717032442.852cjpozk40gwg80@webmail.utoronto.ca> "An Informal Introduction/Business as Usual" Nigeria --- There is no summer or winter in Nigeria; instead, what you have is a dry season and a rainy season - and then in between you have an interesting type of weather called harmattan. --- 11:03 PM 28 June 2013 Uyo, Akwa Ibom (Nigeria) --- Paul Babatunde wrapped his arms around his darling, Mary. He whispered in her ear, "Can you hear the rain, love?" Paul was a professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Uyo. Recently 30, recently tenured, Paul had his whole life ahead of him. He pulled Mary close - rested her head on his shoulder. She sighed her approval, turned to face him. They kissed. That's when the room filled with smoke. Paul heard a crash... a scream. He felt Mary being taken away from him. He tried pulling her back, but instead found the cold end of a Chinese Type 03 assault rifle. The butt landed flush against his temple, and he felt his legs wobble. The room swam around him - all he could make out were the muffled screams. He reached out for Mary, but was met by steel toe boots for the effort. He tasted some blood - spat out some teeth. A sharp kick to his side rolled him over. "Good evening, Professor Babatunde." A baritone voice, dark sunglasses. He had no reflection in the moonlight. A cold, heartless man in a cold, heartless SSS (State Security Service) uniform. He sat on the bed and shook out some cigarettes. Paul made out Mary's face in the new found order. She was crying. A cold sweat had covered her soft skin, an exposed breast had found its way out of her white cotton nightie. An SSS soldier held a knife at her throat. She wimpered as he clutched her breast. Tears streamed down Paul's face. The reflectionless man lit a smoke. ""So tell me about your friends, Paul." "Huh?" Kick. Paul was lifted into the air. He crashed against the wall, and coughed deeply. His mouth was full of blood, it hurt to breathe. He could barely see. There were two Type 03s pointed at his face. The steel toe boot pinned his neck against the wall. Paul's chest heaved. "I do love games, Paul. So tell me, do you love your wife?" More tears. Paul nodded. "We're going to play a game with your wife, Paul, and the sooner you tell us what we want to know, the sooner we'll leave you alone..." --- 15 July 2014 Abuja, FCT (Nigeria) HH Eheneden Erediauwa, 39th Oba of Benin, Edaiken of Uselu, Member of the Uzama, 3rd President of the Nigerian Fourth Republic (and others) --- Whether it was coincidence, or divine circumstance, Eheneden was thankful for what he had been given. His father, Erediauwa I, the 38th Oba of Benin, and President Yar'Adua had died around the same time. Vice President Jonathan had proven unlikeable, and with his name in the media, the ANPP had thrust Eheneden into the political limelight. He was the logical choice, really. Crown Prince Eheneden Erediauwa, born 1953, Nigerian Ambassador to Norway, Nigerian Ambassador to Angola. B.A. in economics and sociology from the University of Wales. Member of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs. Since 1987 he had been active in leading positions within the Nigerian business community, especially the gas and oil industries. 6' tall (like his father), well liked, handsome. He was the perfect man for the job. The phone rang. "?b'?nw?n?, Eheneden." It was a cold baritone. An evil, yet important man. It was him who had dealt with MEND; him who had dealt with the OPC. He was an important friend, and an incredibly dangerous enemy. "No ngoola daa, Muhammadu. How are you enjoying Lagos?" "It is Lagos, highness. How are you finding Abuja?" "It's not Edo, that's for sure," Eheneden laughed. He already missed the imperial city, Benin City, "When will you be back in Abuja?" "I am already done," Eheneden shuddered. It was important that Muhammadu carry out his despicable business, for no man with a soul could do the things necessary to ensure the freedom of Nigeria. At the same time, no man with a sould could be comfortable with these deeds, and Eheneden reflected this. "I will see you soon, Muhammadu." "Goodbye, highness." Click. Eheneden placed the cordless on the table. He rubbed his face in his hands, and thought of his family. He had married his wife, Rebecca (b. 1962), at 34 and soon had 3 sons, Clipper Oro-Biru (1988), Shaggy Ogi-Suo (1994), and Goose Ore-Oghene (1996) and 1 daughter, Misty Evbu (1992). Oro-Biru had become a successful investment banker with Goldman Sachs, and Ogi-Suo and Evbu were finishing up college. Ore-Oghene (or Goose, as his American friends called him) was a different story. Like his brothers and sisters, Goose had gone to boarding school in the United States; unlike his brothers and sisters, he was quiet and reserved, and found solace in individual sports, such as judo, and wrestling. This was fine, but when Goose chose to accept an athletic scholarship to a public university instead of attending a private university as per his father's wishes, there was a definite falling out of sorts. That, and his latest obsession with jiu jitsu. Judo, and wrestling Eheneden could accept, but jiu jitsu seemed a little too homosexual for Eheneden's tastes. Perhaps it was a phase the Ore-Oghene would grow out of. That, and with Ore-Oghene back in Nigeria for the summer, perhaps there would be an opportunity for the two to talk... Eheneden's train of thought was interupted by a knock at the door. "Come in." It was Adamu Ogwu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He had completely forgotten that this was the entire purpose of his morning. "?b'?nw?n?, Mr. President. How goes your morning?" "Its alright, Adamu," Eheneden responded, standing behind the dark mahogany desk in the presidential office. He outstretched his hand, which Ogwu shook, and gestured to a chair, "Please sit down." Ogwu took a seat, he noticed President Erediauwa shuffling with the papers on his desk, looking for Ogwu's proposal. "I'll just get down to brass tacks," Ogwu announced, "The Algerian government would like to license some of our unused OPEC quota, since their capacity far overextends their quota," he cleared his throat, "After discussing the proposed licensure, the Ministers of Energy and Finance, and I have-" "Give it to them for free." Ogwu's jaw dropped, "Mr. President I would strongly recommend against-" "Free. I'm in no interest in charging our friends for favors. Who knows when we'll be the one's in need," Eheneden paused to scan Ogwu. He seemed genuinely shocked, "As well, contact our friends in Angola, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon, and see if they would be interested in collectively sharing their quotas as well. We're an OPEC founding member, we can bring up a collective case with the greedy pigs in the Kingdom and Iran. Unless they're too busy warmongering." Ogwu was distressed. Erediauwa was going to anger some important people in Caracas, Riyadh, and Tehran. "President, I-" "That is all, minister." Ogwu nodded at the curt, dismissive gesture, and got up to leave. Eheneden extended a hand to Ogwu, which he shook carefully, and was on his way. "Well at least we're doing something different." --- Actions: 1) Introductory Post 3) Have Minister of Energy, and Minister of Finance write up a fair Quota-Sharing agreement for Nigeria, that is not extortive in nature 3) Have foreign minister present Quota-Sharing agreement with friendly African Petroleum-producing nations, ie, Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and OPEC. From john.penta at gmail.com Thu Jul 17 14:31:35 2008 From: john.penta at gmail.com (John Penta) Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:31:35 -0400 Subject: [War] US: A postwar plan for Iran Message-ID: "A postwar plan for Iran" 15 July 2014 Pres. John Williams USA ================== Iran presented a strange case for post-conflict reconstruction, if the Allies did in fact have to go into Iran. It wasn't Iraq; Unlike Iraq, there were rather less in the way of tribal divisions, and there hadn't been as stifling of a dictatorship, either. Sure, Iran wasn't -free-, not in the way most people would think of the term. But the rudiments of a real democracy was present in the Islamic Republic. The thing was, you had to dig to find them. It was with that in mind that the US proposed a plan for the postwar governannce of Iran. It would, governmentally, leave much of the prewar governmental structure intact - thereby not repeating a key mistake of the Iraq era. The United States would pay the military and police forces to stay on the job, even. The Majlis would be reconstitututed under new, genuinely open elections - this time with no Guardian Council or Expediency Council to vet the candidates. The objectives of the Allied stay in Iran would be as follows: 1. Separation of the mosque, if not from the state, then from a vice-grip on the state structures; 2. The drafting of a new Constitution; 3. The organization of a new Majlis; 4. Reconstruction of the Iranian economy and infrastructure. Precisely how these objectives would be met? Well, that's why the objectives listing would be shipped around Allied capitals to secure volunteers to do the detailed planning. In the meantime, Allied forces would stop at the Azeri-Iranian border after destroying the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. --- Actions: 1. Set out basic objectives for postwar Iran, if we have to go in. 2. Ship it around to Allies for detailed comments and ideas (OOC: Sorry, but this is what happens when John tries to lift too much at the gym today. I...can't think details.) 3. Order the elimination of the IRGC, and for forces to stop at the Azeri-Iranian border. From dantheman2210 at yahoo.com.au Fri Jul 18 07:18:11 2008 From: dantheman2210 at yahoo.com.au (Daniel Sanderson) Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:18:11 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [War] Australia: Mourning Message-ID: <554092.42345.qm@web39103.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ?Mourning? Monday 14 July Prime Minister Jack Decker Australia The Prime Minister walked across the grounds of Scotch College towards their Memorial Hall. Today, Second Lieutenant William Christianson would be farewelled, and then buried at Melbourne General Cemetery in Carlton. It had taken some time for his body to return from Azerbaijan, after being sent back into Georgia, then on to Australia since his death last week. Jack wasn?t doing anything at the ceremony. It was up to Christianson?s family to say a few words about someone close to them, rather then hear the PM talk about service and duty and pretend to have known more about William then reading his name after his death. There had been another death in Azerbaijan, an SAS trooper who?d been on a covert mission close to Baku. Right now, Jack was ready to get stuck into Question Time and stick it to the Opposition. They?d had no qualms about the Azerbaijan mission until Lieutenant Christianson had died, and now they were all up in arms about it. He was ready to give the Leader a piece of his mind this time tomorrow. As they approached Decker saw a few familiar faces. Admiral Bains was there, along with the local state (Labor) and Federal (Liberal) Members of Parliament and the Premier of Victoria. As he approached, the Premier saw him and made his way over. ?Prime Minister.? He said grimly, shaking the man?s hand. ?Paul.? Decker said with a nod. ?Mrs. Christianson?s over here,? he said, guiding the PM over to the woman. ?Grace, the Prime Minister.? Decker took the lady?s hand. ?Mrs. Christianson, I wish there was something I could say, but?I?m very sorry for your loss. I didn?t know your son, but he was wearing the uniform, and doing his nation a great service.? ?Thank you sir.? Grace replied. ?He was a good boy, I always told him that I didn?t want him to join the Army.? ?My mother didn?t want me to serve either.? Decker said honestly. ?He did it for me.? A gruff voice said behind Decker. He turned to see a large, moustached man wearing a suit with a Vietnam Veterans pin on it. ?This is my husband, George.? ?Mr. Christianson, I?m very sorry.? Decker said, shaking the man?s hand. ?Not as sorry as I am Mr. Decker.? George replied. ?There?s no good blaming ourselves in the end.? Decker stated. ?Everyone does what they want in the end.? ?That is very true.? George said with a nod. ?I?ll leave you to your family.? Jack said with a soft smile, and shook their hands once more. ?My condolences, again.? The Christiansons tended to family and friends while Decker slipped back to the perimeter. A minute later Admiral Bains came up alongside him. Tom Bains was a career Naval officer. He was of medium height, and kept himself in a degree of physical fitness, though as the years went by his waist line expanded with it. He?d lost his hair a few years ago. ?Sir.? ?Tom.? Decker acknowledged him with a nod. ?Poor family.? The Admiral observed. ?Did you ever think about what might happen when you signed up? About your family getting a visit to say you were dead.? ?Honestly, sir? No. Thought I was more likely to get struck by lightning.? Bains regarded the PM out of the corner of his eye for a moment. ?Did you, sir?? ?No?my mother tried to make me think about it, but I never did.? He paused. ?What?s the word from Azerbaijan?? ?Baku in a week, according to our friends in the Pentagon. Iranians backed right off, guess they?ll draw us close to the border and if we cross, they?ll put up a fight. Current instructions are for units to hold short of the border.? The mourners began to move inside, and the PM followed. The service was nice. Decker learned that Christianson had a common Melbourne upbringing, common for certain people anyway. Send off to an exclusive boys school, where he joined their cadet unit. School Captain, missed out on Dux by a hair but was listed in the paper as having got the top score in three of his VCE subjects. Despite his high score he went to the Defence Force Academy, graduating with Honours in a Bachelor of Business. The military guard carried his coffin out to the song Forever Young. He was buried, and given the 21 gun salute. Decker said goodbye to his parents, and told them to call if they ever needed anything. He was back on the plane to Canberra an hour later. Start at the new Yahoo!7 for a better online experience. www.yahoo7.com.au From john.penta at gmail.com Fri Jul 18 13:06:57 2008 From: john.penta at gmail.com (John Penta) Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:06:57 -0400 Subject: [War] US: On behalf of a grateful nation Message-ID: "On behalf of a grateful nation" 15 July 2014 Pres. John Williams USA ======================= To the muffled, slow sound of the drums, a flag draped casket was carried at a slow pace.' Second Lieutenant James Arthur Wilcox, United States Army, originally from Libertyville, IL, had been the first casaulty of the Azeri War. A sniper had killed him; he'd only been on active service, out of training, for 6 months when he'd died. Thusfar, there hadn't been many American *wounded*, even. Which made John Williams a singularly lucky President. He knew that, as he silently rendered honors. But somehow, it just didn't seem to matter much. As the Chaplain led the graveside service, John silently watched. He knew it all too well. Had been to far, far too many funerals for comrades - even after they'd returned home, as suicide took its toll. He'd carried that casket, as members of Lt. Wilcox's platoon had carried his. Eventually, the time arrived. The family had wondered to their casaulty officer why the President never appeared at funerals. Instead of a stock response, this casaulty officer had pulled out his cellphone and made a few calls, asking precisely that question. Previous presidents would have begged off. God knows, John Williams had wanted to. Some tiny, dishonorable part of him had wanted to. But he hardly could. Not when "luck and some damn accidents", as he'd put it to Wilcox's father, had him as President, not a soldier on the line. So, quietly meeting with the deceased's father, he'd arranged to make his own appearance. To present the flag to Wilcox's fiance. As the flag was folded, as the rifle volleys sounded, he stepped out of the crowd of mourners, approached the commander of the honor guard, and saluted. "Captain." "Mr. President." Silently, with the practiced grip of one who had done it far too many times before, he took the folded flag and softly stepped forward, to Wilcox's fiance. Nobody would know, but he had to struggle to contain his own emotions then. Fortunately, Thank God, there was a script. As he presented the flag, he fall back on those words, words which had been said, would be said, to far too many over the nation's history. "Ma'am, this flag is presented on behalf of a grateful nation, as a token of appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service. God bless you and this family, and God bless the United States of America." Wilcox's fiance, Kristy Brown, took the flag and whispered a soft "thank you"...before handing the flag to her fiance's father and breaking down in tears. "Why?" she whispered. "Why him?" Williams's heart broke, then. Willing himself to a quiet, dignified control, he spoke softly. "I can't answer that question for sure, but I can try," he said softly. "If you want me to." "I guess." "Because he was a leader, and he was where a leader should be - up front, taking the risks he asked those he led to take. Speaking as someone who's been there...He was probably scared as hell, but when the time came, he was there. That's all any of his troops, any of his commanders, could possibly ask. And we thank God he *was* there. That he was a leader who would share the risk, share the burden. Would risk -his- life...to make sure that his troops got through it all." Brown looked at him, eyes still filled with tears. "You mean that, don't you?" "Ma'am...It never sounds right when you're saying it. I doubt it helps much, right now. But it's the truth. He raised his right hand, promised to lead, for any number of reasons, but he gave his life for exactly one: Because the guys to his right and his left were -his- troops, and he'd taken to himself the task of getting them home. And y'know what? He did." She smiled then. "He did do that, didn't he? Something to be thankful for, I guess." "Yeah. It hardly sounds like much, but...yeah." --- Actions: 1. POTUS goes to funeral for first casaulty of Azeri War. 2. POTUS or SECDEF will appear at funerals *where possible*, but make the point that it'd be physically impossible to do them all. 3. Try to comfort family and friends. From lee.tarnow at utoronto.ca Sat Jul 19 15:29:00 2008 From: lee.tarnow at utoronto.ca (lee.tarnow at utoronto.ca) Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:29:00 -0400 Subject: [War] Nigeria/USA: Foreign Relations/Everything you ever wanted to know about Nuclear, Solar-Thermal, and H2. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20080719152900.g04qi7hbks80ggwc@webmail.utoronto.ca> Foreign Relations/Everything you ever wanted to know about Nuclear, Solar-Thermal, and H2. --- 15 July 2014 Abuja, FCT (Nigeria) HH Eheneden Erediauwa, 39th Oba of Benin, Edaiken of Uselu, Member of the Uzama, 3rd President of the Nigerian Fourth Republic Crown Prince Ore-Oghene "Goose" Erediauwa Pres. John Williams, United States of America (and others) --- "Father!" Ore-Oghene "Goose" Erediauwa ran up to his father outside the cafe. Eheneden extended his arms and embraced him. The men hugged. "?b'?v?n, Ore-Oghene." "?b'?v?n, ?rh?," Goose replied with a smile, "It is good to see you! How are things?" "Busy," Eheneden looked around the perimeter of the cafe. There were 7 SSS guards with Chinese Type 03s. They should be safe, "I'm sorry I missed your birthday. It is a shame that you could not come back sooner." "It is a shame!" Goose laughed. He had been busy as well. Nationals for judo, and wrestling, exams, talking to schools for next year, "But we have much to catch up on, and such little time. Shall we get a table?" --- "...and with further investment in pure solar, efficiency looks to increase past 60%, to an estimated 75% in the next 20 years..." Eheneden struggled to keep awake. He had eaten too much rice at lunch with his son, and was having to work on several coffees to even stay awake. He was in a meeting with his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Adamu Ogwu, the Minister of Energy, Baba Odey, the minister of finance, Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu, the suits from ExxonMobil, and the kid giving the presentation. "...Further more, with investment in technology from one of the Gen. IV nations, we could adopt HTE technology as seen in VHTR technology, for cheap generation of Hydrogen, say 42% efficient-" "Hold on a second," Odey interrupted, "VHTR is nuclear. I thought we're talking about solar, and hydrogen?" "We are talking about solar and hydrogen," the young man was Dr. Aberle Roth. He was a Ph.D. from Stanford, and a big name in renewable energy. He was a major player at EEStor, Maxwell Technologies, and AltairNano, among others, and did extensive consulting for Lockheed-Martin, and now Exxon Mobil Corporation, "VHTR is the predominant nuclear technology, as seen with PBMR, GT-HTR300C, ANTARES, NHDD, GT-MHR, AVR and NGNP in South Africa, Japan, France, Republic of Korea, Germany and the United States. However, what a lot of people don't understand is VHTR is Hydrogen. In fact, The GEN-4 schematic concept for VHTR includes a Hydrogen Production Plant. Even if the leadership of those countries may not acknowledge it, they're producing hydrogen by going nuclear, whether they like it or not. The Chinese HTR-PM 200 MWe Shidaowan plant, in Shandong Province, was commissioned in 2013. They're already stockpiling H2 reserves. The US will be following suit by 2021 with their NGNP plant." Eheneden was struggling to keep awake. He tried thinking about his son. He had accepted an athletic scholarship to Iowa - he would wrestle through college. It was not what Eheneden would have chosen for Ore-Oghene, but it was what he wanted, and there was little he could do with Goose over 11 000 km (6600 miles) away. Odey raised his voice, "Alright, so nuclear is hydrogen, but what does this have to do with solar, and for that matter, us?" "Sudan and Angola have the highest industrial production growth rates in the world, in excess of 20%. This is because of extensive investment from China. Nigeria, by comparison, by a vast growing economy, but a low industrial production growth rate of around 3%. This is hindered by an anorexic power grid, and inadequate production," the room groaned. This was an inconvenient truth, "Unfortunately, the Gulf of Guinea, only gets between 175 and 200 watts per square meter per day of solar radiation. However, there are areas of the the Sahara that get 250, even 300 watts of solar radiation per square meter per day," Roth cleared his throat, "In Algeria, they have a surplus to the extent that they are able to export 6 GW of power to the EU, as an example-" "But what does this have to do with hydrogen?" Odey chimed in. "I'm glad you asked," was the response from Roth, "Hydrogen is generated through High-Temperature Electrolysis (HTE) in VHTR facilities. The initial problem with Hydrogen was that any existing nonchemical process for production had low efficiency. By contrast, HTE demonstrates 41% efficiency at 100?C, 64% efficiency at 850?C, and around 70% efficiency at 1000?C, the operating temperature for VHTR facilities," he paused for effect, "The Algerian Hassi R'Mel integrated solar combined cycle power station operates at around 600?C." Roth gestured to the ExxonMobil suits in the room, "We have plans for a liquid fluoride salt multi-stage turbine system operating above 1100?C." "So what does this have to do with us?" Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu chimed in, "You mentioned that we don't get as much sun as Algeria." One of the suits from ExxonMobil raised his voice, "We have a working relationship with Angola, Nigeria, and Sudan. Angola doesn't get enough sun, Sudan did not want to work with us, and we do not have a working relationship with say, Algeria," he smiled, "As soon as we heard about your recent 'negotiations' with Algeria, we figured we could enter into a strategic partnership." "What are you proposing?" The room turned to look at President Erediauwa. He hadn't said anything for the entire meeting. "We estimate, at proposed efficiencies, a facility serving the whole of Nigeria would be around 750 square kilometres, the size of Guantanamo Bay, or about 7 times the size of the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay. The value of land in the Algerian Sahara Desert is around $4500/sq. km. Find out how much they want, and double it. We'll pay for half," he had the room's interest, "We incorporate Pan-African Power, for generation and transmission. You own half, we own half. We'll employ your people, and provide the expertise. You get jobs, money, and power." "And what do you get out of it?" it was Igwe. "You'll see." --- Eheneden sat down in his office. It was 4:00 pm. The meeting had run over an hour and a half. It would be 9:00 pm in Washington. He picked up the phone. John Williams, was settling down to read. Sci-fi was one of this President's acknowledged vices, and the fact that it had been how he'd met his wife was only going to add to his addiction. Tonight was "Starship Troopers." The phone rang. Picking it up, he looked. WHCA's switchboard. "Williams speaking." "The President of Nigeria for you, sir." "Alright, put him in on scrambled." "Good evening, President Williams. This is President Eheneden Erediauwa of Nigeria. You may call me Eheneden. How is Washington?" "Not bad, considering I just spent 30 minutes trying to convince my son that night time was for sleeping, not for practicing new sounds and trying to turn dad into a chew toy," John chuckled, the frustration of bedtime with his 10-month old now a bit drained by a few-minutes difference. "Call me John, Eheneden. And how's Abuja?" "Hot." Eheneden paused for effect. It wasn't that good of a joke, "My children are grown, but every day is still an adventure with them. My youngest is in the country for his holidays, but he will be back in the United States come August," he looked at the clock, 4:01, "I discussed an entertaining proposition with the snakes from ExxonMobil. I think that you and I could be friends." "Yeah. I've heard good things about his performance last season." Pause, hearing the bit about ExxonMobil. "Go on..." He didn't disagree with the characterization of EM's people as snakes, but it didn't do to say that openly. "Power in the desert. An ambitious project, much like your Mojave Solar Park, but on a much grander scale. 35 times the size of Mojave Solar Park in fact," Eheneden chose his words, "It will require a water and hydrogen pipelines from Nigeria to Algeria, through Niger, the power station itself, electrical infrastructure here in Nigeria, transmission lines in Niger..." It was very, very big. "EM wanted to enter in on the endeavour 50/50. I would like to offer you a 25% share, 50/25/25." "A quarter share for the US Government?" Williams tapped a note to WHCA to send the transcript to DOJ, and check if that was even -legal- for them to have. "I'll have to check with the lawyers, see if it's even legal for us to hold equity like that." "That said...How much are you thinking it'd take, time and cost?" "The estimates I have from EM and my people are 3 years, $70B US," Eheneden grimaced. It was expensive, but they had the money, and it was an investment in Nigeria's future, "That's $35B to Nigeria, $17.5B to EM, and $17.5B to USA." A whistle of surprise. "I can help you secure private funding, maybe bonds, but that sounds almost too big for me to pull off US Government funding. Good thing is, you've got a decent credit rating, and what I think I -can- do is guarantee part of the loans needed. A brief thought: Have you tried tapping domestic capital? It's a huge project - what might be best is a quarter- or half-share held by the Government of Nigeria, remainder by private equity funds like Blackstone, and then whatever share you bargain ExxonMobil down to." Eheneden gave it a moment of thought, "Perhaps you are right. At the same time, maybe we could negotiate a deal for a smaller sum for your 'participation.' As you are aware, we have proven oil and natural gas reserves... Would the United States be interested in an energy investment to alleviate pressure on your your strategic reserve? Perhaps $5B?" "Over three years, I think I can squeeze five billion from Congress." Pause. "They're going to demand a lot on the human rights front, though. Much as AFRICOM and I may have understood -why- the anti-MEND crackdown was so harsh, even we squirmed at it. Congress will want to see progress to keep authorizing the funds after year one." Eheneden thought on Muhammadu in Lagos, and the SSS, "Our men are capable, but trained in a manner that is unbecoming of them. They will require training, re-education. As well, we do not have American weapons on which to be trained," He thought on being told how to run his country, "Unless your men can use the (Chinese) Type 03 and Type 11." "I'll grant that." Pause. "I'm not trying to tell you how to secure your country...But understand that he who pays the piper calls the tune. Congress will call the tune...And it's hard to really say no to their setting conditions on things when, I guarantee, exhibit A for any opposition to US investment in Nigeria will be people tortured by the State Security Service. Would you prefer I lie to you and say there'll be no problems, then present you with delays later? Or can you at least commit to working with me on improving the standards your security forces hold themselves to and act in accordance with, so that we can both say to Congress that their concerns *are* being heeded?" "This is fair," More thinking. Eheneden had a compromise, "I want top men, though. Smart enough to learn immediately, or already trained on our equipment to the highest degree of competency possible. If you can give me that, you can retrain my entire army if you want." "I'll deploy a Special Forces company to lead the effort, back it up with contractors, mostly former Special Forces themselves to advise your forces at the battalion level. Your police forces will also be trained by the US Army, the MPs. If you don't mind, quite simply, I think you just volunteered Nigeria's security forces to become an example on the African continent. I have no doubt it'll take a long time, but I think we can at least make your security forces something that could set the example for the rest of West Africa to look up to." "I would like that very much, Mr. President," Eheneden smiled, "Tell me... What is Iowa like?" "Flat. Lots and lots of cornfields. Winters are colder than anything I think your son is likely to have ever experienced. If he stops by DC, I know a few people who can help him get adjusted." "I'll keep that in mind," he thought back on Ore-Oghene. He would buy him a parka. "That is very kind of you, President Williams. When can we expect your people in Nigeria?" "2 weeks for the first elements." "I look forward to inspecting them myself," That was productive. "I would very much like to meet you. Perhaps we can establish a formal visit, to discuss further business?" "Would you be coming to DC, or would you prefer I come to Abuja?" "Perhaps I shall come to DC, with my son, come mid-August," Eheneden grinned, "I very much enjoyed speaking with you John. Until we speak again." "Until then, farewell." --- Eheneden pressed the button for his secretary on the intercom. "Dorothy, can you contact some people for me? I have some business to discuss with them..." --- Actions: 1) Send envoy to Algeria, negotiating for land purchase in Algerian Sahara Desert near Niger border. Negotiate from $4500/sq. km. 2) Send envoy to Niger to discuss lease and licensing issues for land and transmission lines through Niger. 3) Contact The Carlyle Group, Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Area (w00t family hookups), TPG, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Blackstone Group, etc. in regards to receiving Private Equity for modernizing Nigeria's electrical infrastructure as per discussed plan. 4) Make arrangements to receive US Special Forces Training Group for Nigerian Army and State Security Service. 5) Make arrangements for Presidential visit to United States of America for 2 weeks in August. From dylandv at gmail.com Sun Jul 20 03:08:48 2008 From: dylandv at gmail.com (Dylan de Valk) Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:08:48 -0700 Subject: [War] Canada: Flowing East Message-ID: <763946e70807200008r2a3ca993p1d15f0e70ee5c903@mail.gmail.com> Canada had been in a rather odd position in regards to its oil industry for many years. With the second largest reserves in the world if you counted the tar sands of Alberta, the country was IMPORTING oil. More than half of its needs were imported from abroad, mostly the north sea countries and the mid-east. Shameful, really. The government had taken a long, close look at this unique problem, and had decided to do something to try and remedy it. Back in the days of Trudeau's National Energy Plan, an oil pipeline had been built from Alberta to the eastern portion of the country to supply it with Albertan oil. The pipeline needed some refurbishing, but could easily become operational again. Leaders from the oil industry had been contacted and were receptive to the idea of reactivating the pipeline. The government was working with the provinces and the industry and was offering incentives to begin the flow of oil to eastern Canada once again. The idea was to avoid legislation and clunky government monopolies and such. They also wanted to avoid angering the provinces. They would setup a joint-owned corporation, with shares held by the provinces the pipeline ran through, the federal government, and a consortium of corporations who would be running the thing. The refineries currently in operation had more than enough spare capacity and no new ones needed to be built, for now anyways. This way, everyone affected and involved could benefit a little. There were plans for another pipeline as a contingency in case demand was higher than expected. Once the oil started to flow east, imports could be reduced as needed, and thus unnecessary expenditure of capital could be saved, and could be better used for other things. The whole process had been very transparent and open to the public. McColl had been very open to the public that the scheme would allow the billions of dollars of capital being spend on importing oil from foreign countries would now be injected back into the economy, keeping the wealth inside the nation and further enriching it. The oil being imported would be replaced by Alberta oil, still allowing profits for everyone and making the country less reliant on foreign producers. That was the idea anyways. ----------- Actions: 1] start replacing imported oil with domestically produced stuff 2] detail a plan of action to do so -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080720/d1f03262/attachment.html From martellian at hotmail.com Sun Jul 20 14:43:55 2008 From: martellian at hotmail.com (Ian Martell) Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:43:55 -0700 Subject: [War] Japan: "Settling it on the Links" Message-ID: ?Settling it on the Links? Japan July 3rd 2014 -------------------------- While the Japanese civil service had downgraded their job action from a full on national strike to rotating strikes throughout the country, it was still embarrassing and terribly inconvenient for the Sato government, so it was decided in the last Cabinet meeting before everyone disappeared for a little bit of vacation, that it was time to throw in the towel. However, the Cabinet wasn?t willing to cave entirely; the cabinet had its pride after all and being Japan, the matter wouldn?t be offered at the negotiating table without first having a sense of the other side?s position. Kenzo Shimada the Cabinet Secretary strolled up to the tee and set down his ball before taking a deep cleansing breath and visualizing a nice clean shot going down the length of the fairway and landing in the hole. Then with no other forethought swung cleanly and followed through. Reality as it turned out was not quite so kind as his visualization, but he nodded in satisfaction as he saw his ball skip once on the green a roll to a stop within a meter of the hole. Hideki Nomiya a senior bureaucrat from the Cabinet office, and Shimada?s opponent on the links smiled and nodded approvingly. ?Good shot, Kenzo!? he applauded. The despite Shimada being a new appointee to the Cabinet Secretary?s post, Shimada and Nomiya had, like most senior politicians and bureaucrats had grown up in the same environment, attending the same Tokyo high school, two years apart, and both graduating with high marks from Tokyo University and spent most of their lives moving in the same social circles. As such they were friends before they had even met professionally. Shimada smiled. ?I?d have liked it better a meter to the left,? he joked mildly. Nomiya chuckled as Shimada cleared the tee for the bureaucrat to take his shot. Nomiya?s stile was more kinetic, as he took a couple of slow practice swings that stopped at the ball before he let fly, his ball fell short of the green but no by much, and the two men went back to their clubs, carried by their caddies. ?So, Hideki, I might have some good news,? Shimada brought up as he handed his club to his caddie and walked with his friend towards their cart. ?Oh?? asked Nomiya. ?The Cabinet has decided this is the time to push for removal of Article 9 from the constitution, as such we are concerned about government unity, and this strike, and so we are willing to make an offer we feel could end it in an amicable way.? Nomiya nodded. ?What sort of offer?? he asked not quite keeping the skepticism out of his voice, he knew that Prime Minister Sato was furious with the situation and wasn?t likely to make an offer worth hearing until he calmed himself. ?We cannot of course entirely scrap the review, but what we?re offering will take the threat out of it.? Nomiya nodded and Shimada continued. ?We?ll turn the review over to the civil service in its entirety. You can decide how long to take, and who will perform the review, and in return we promise no more cut-backs than you yourselves propose.? ?And if we propose none?? asked Nomiya. ?There must be cut-backs Hideki,? Shimada says. ?You know it would be foolish to leave the Civil Service as it is when our population is shrinking.? Nomiya made a non-committal noise. ?Then if we refuse this offer?? Nomiya as the pair reached the cart. ?Then the Cabinet will make the cuts themselves,? Shimada replied. ?With outside consultation.? Nomiya chewed the inside of his cheek. ?How long until you make this offer at the table?? ?As long as two weeks,? replied Shimada. ?I see,? replied Nomiya thoughtfully. ?Perhaps we can have lunch in a week or so, to discuss this?? Shimada nodded. ?Of course, I will be at my home outside Nagano, I?ll arrange for you to come up; there is this new hot spring spa I think you?ll enjoy?? Actions: 1> The Cabinet offers the civil service, full control of the review process to end the strike, but with the condition that there must be cuts of some kind. 2> Hint at Japan?s plans re: Article 9. From martellian at hotmail.com Sun Jul 20 15:12:58 2008 From: martellian at hotmail.com (Ian Martell) Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:12:58 -0700 Subject: [War] Japan: "Summer of the Family" Message-ID: "Summer of the Family" Japan July 3rd 2014 ------------------------ WNN - Tokyo, Japan - Ayame Ishikawa, Japan's Minister of State for Families and the Population, announced that the second Monday of August will become Japan's fifteenth national holiday: Family Day. In her press conference the Minister explained that the government hopes that the Japanese people will use the long weekend to spend time with their families and 'strengthen the bonds between generations that have been one of Japan's greatest strengths'. Additionally the government will hosting a celebration outside the Diet Building during the new holiday, and hopes that local governments and companies will follow their example. This announcement is the said to be the first of many in what Minister Ishikawa called the Summer of the Family. The content of the future announcements are as yet unknown, however sources indicate a new tax cut for families may be among them. Actions: 1> Kick off the Summer of the Family 2> Declare a new national holiday on the second Monday of August (to create a three day weekend for those with a five day work week, as per the Happy Monday System [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Monday_System]) 3> Hold a celebration for families out front of the Diet buildings (targeted for Japanese extended families, parents, grandparents, and children) and encourage companies and local governments to do the same for their employees and citizens. From martellian at hotmail.com Sun Jul 20 15:15:55 2008 From: martellian at hotmail.com (Ian Martell) Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:15:55 -0700 Subject: [War] Japan: "Settling it on the Links" [Repost] Message-ID: ooc: Think I finally got these posts to format correctly. PS Chris, will reply tonight re: JP "Settling it on the Links" Japan July 3rd 2014 -------------------------- While the Japanese civil service had downgraded their job action from a full on national strike to rotating strikes throughout the country, it was still embarrassing and terribly inconvenient for the Sato government, so it was decided in the last Cabinet meeting before everyone disappeared for a little bit of vacation, that it was time to throw in the towel. However, the Cabinet wasn't willing to cave entirely; the cabinet had its pride after all and being Japan, the matter wouldn't be offered at the negotiating table without first having a sense of the other side's position. Kenzo Shimada the Cabinet Secretary strolled up to the tee and set down his ball before taking a deep cleansing breath and visualizing a nice clean shot going down the length of the fairway and landing in the hole. Then with no other forethought swung cleanly and followed through. Reality as it turned out was not quite so kind as his visualization, but he nodded in satisfaction as he saw his ball skip once on the green a roll to a stop within a meter of the hole. Hideki Nomiya a senior bureaucrat from the Cabinet office, and Shimada's opponent on the links smiled and nodded approvingly. "Good shot, Kenzo!" he applauded. The despite Shimada being a new appointee to the Cabinet Secretary's post, Shimada and Nomiya had, like most senior politicians and bureaucrats had grown up in the same environment, attending the same Tokyo high school, two years apart, and both graduating with high marks from Tokyo University and spent most of their lives moving in the same social circles. As such they were friends before they had even met professionally. Shimada smiled. "I'd have liked it better a meter to the left," he joked mildly. Nomiya chuckled as Shimada cleared the tee for the bureaucrat to take his shot. Nomiya's stile was more kinetic, as he took a couple of slow practice swings that stopped at the ball before he let fly, his ball fell short of the green but no by much, and the two men went back to their clubs, carried by their caddies. "So, Hideki, I might have some good news," Shimada brought up as he handed his club to his caddie and walked with his friend towards their cart. "Oh?" asked Nomiya. "The Cabinet has decided this is the time to push for removal of Article 9 from the constitution, as such we are concerned about government unity, and this strike, and so we are willing to make an offer we feel could end it in an amicable way." Nomiya nodded. "What sort of offer?" he asked not quite keeping the skepticism out of his voice, he knew that Prime Minister Sato was furious with the situation and wasn't likely to make an offer worth hearing until he calmed himself. "We cannot of course entirely scrap the review, but what we're offering will take the threat out of it." Nomiya nodded and Shimada continued. "We'll turn the review over to the civil service in its entirety. You can decide how long to take, and who will perform the review, and in return we promise no more cut-backs than you yourselves propose." "And if we propose none?" asked Nomiya. "There must be cut-backs Hideki," Shimada says. "You know it would be foolish to leave the Civil Service as it is when our population is shrinking." Nomiya made a non-committal noise. "Then if we refuse this offer?" Nomiya as the pair reached the cart. "Then the Cabinet will make the cuts themselves," Shimada replied. "With outside consultation." Nomiya chewed the inside of his cheek. "How long until you make this offer at the table?" "As long as two weeks," replied Shimada. "I see," replied Nomiya thoughtfully. "Perhaps we can have lunch in a week or so, to discuss this?" Shimada nodded. "Of course, I will be at my home outside Nagano, I'll arrange for you to come up; there is this new hot spring spa I think you'll enjoy." Actions: 1> The Cabinet offers the civil service, full control of the review process to end the strike, but with the condition that there must be cuts of some kind. 2> Hint at Japan's plans re: Article 9. From dylandv at gmail.com Sun Jul 20 16:01:32 2008 From: dylandv at gmail.com (Dylan de Valk) Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:01:32 -0700 Subject: [War] Canada: Flowing East Message-ID: <763946e70807201301j369dd277ue5be5caac522e7b5@mail.gmail.com> 'Flowing East' July.12/2014 PM James McColl Canada ---------------- Canada had been in a rather odd position in regards to its oil industry for many years. With the second largest reserves in the world if you counted the tar sands of Alberta, the country was IMPORTING oil. More than half of its needs were imported from abroad, mostly the north sea countries and the mid-east. Shameful, really. The government had taken a long, close look at this unique problem, and had decided to do something to try and remedy it. Back in the days of Trudeau's National Energy Plan, an oil pipeline had been built from Alberta to the eastern portion of the country to supply it with Albertan oil. The pipeline needed some refurbishing, but could easily become operational again. Leaders from the oil industry had been contacted and were receptive to the idea of reactivating the pipeline. The government was working with the provinces and the industry and was offering incentives to begin the flow of oil to eastern Canada once again. The idea was to avoid legislation and clunky government monopolies and such. They also wanted to avoid angering the provinces. They would setup a joint-owned corporation, with shares held by the provinces the pipeline ran through, the federal government, and a consortium of corporations who would be running the thing. The refineries currently in operation had more than enough spare capacity and no new ones needed to be built, for now anyways. This way, everyone affected and involved could benefit a little. There were plans for another pipeline as a contingency in case demand was higher than expected. Once the oil started to flow east, imports could be reduced as needed, and thus unnecessary expenditure of capital could be saved, and could be better used for other things. The whole process had been very transparent and open to the public. McColl had been very open to the public that the scheme would allow the billions of dollars of capital being spend on importing oil from foreign countries would now be injected back into the economy, keeping the wealth inside the nation and further enriching it. The oil being imported would be replaced by Alberta oil, still allowing profits for everyone and making the country less reliant on foreign producers. That was the idea anyways. ----------- Actions: 1] start replacing imported oil with domestically produced stuff 2] detail a plan of action to do so -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080720/bf64f685/attachment.html From vampi.digitalwytch at gmail.com Sun Jul 20 22:29:30 2008 From: vampi.digitalwytch at gmail.com (Vampi Digitalwytch) Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:29:30 -0600 Subject: [War] Romania/United States: "Into the Great Wide Open" Message-ID: "Into the Great Wide Open" xx July 2014 Pres. John Williams, USA President Antanasia Danesti, Romania ==================== If it was Thursday...Wait. Was it Thursday? After being woken up by his son at 5 AM, he still wasn't sure. But either way, a brief check of his appointments calendar showed a call to Bucharest was in order, so he picked up the phone. "Sergeant, connect me to Bucharest, President's office, please. Routine priority, scramble POLARIS," he said to the WHCA comms tech on the other end. With the usual run of chaos not so much at a lull but more of a level that others could handle things for now, Antanasia was in her office going over a few things that had managed to be pushed off to the sides as greater issues demanded more attention. Her aide knocked on her door. "Madame President, Williams of the Americans is on the line.", the young man said as she bid him enter. "Ah, very good. Patch him through.", she said as she set some papers aside. The call patched through, Antanasia picked up. "Good Day, President Williams. I hope things are well in your part of the world." "Quiet may be a better word. The war is progressing about as well as could be expected, Congress is in recess...Until one of those things changes, I'm content," John chuckled. "And in your particular corner of the planet, Madame President?" "It is a case of so far so good.", Antanasia chuckled, "The film studios are still flocking to film on the cheap and the call centres are booming. Sprinkle in some music festivals and there one goes." While she did have some actual business to discuss with the American President since he was on the line, it wasn't that often one got to just small talk like normal people. Who said they were normal? But that was a question for another time, as John replied simply, "Mm, take what you can get. No doubt I'll hear from the California delegation about Romania stealing their film jobs. To which my response would be that that might be a good thing, if it saves us from the cheesiest of movies." Pause. "But I have a feeling your office didn't set this up strictly for us to mock Hollywood, though." "Indeed.", she replied, "I should have gotten back to you sooner regarding this ANDA proposal. From what I've read, it is quite intriguing. Intriguing enough that we would like to join in with this." Antanasia leaned over and rifled through some papers, "I would think offering the equivalent of two billion American dollars would be a nice starting contribution." John tapped at the keyboard of the computer that he, unlike previous Presidents (who'd cared more about their records not being subpoenaed than efficiency to actually use one), had in the Oval Office. "Indeed it would. We'll send the paperwork over this week, but...welcome to the ANDA club. I was told that Romania might be looking to build a few new reactors, actually?" "You have heard rightly.", Antanasia replied, "It has been a long problem with our current power facilities not only being outdated but quite polluting. Despite the usual misgivings, after much discussion we are interested in American model facilities as we do not put much stock in the Russian designed models." "Ahh, well. Thank you for the vote of confidence. Actually, it sounds like the perfect project for ANDA's civil-reactor unit - to design and build a reactor optimized for power-generation in countries like Romania, who're transitioning in from Russian models or who've never used nuclear power before. Not a 'reactor with training wheels', if you would, but focusing more on passive safety than, say, plutonium extraction or being necessarily quick to build," John replied easily. Because, well. Russian models had sucked at the safety aspect of things. And he didn't want to think about Eastern European organized crime groups getting their hands on plutonium. "That does indeed sound perfect for our needs. Should this succeed, it will be well worth being the guinea pig and finally easing the old fears regarding nuclear power.", Antanasia replied, "Once we have the size specs for the designs, we will have land set aside for the project." "And even better - one of the stipulations of ANDA is that we share the profits from when we build types in third countries. So you'd have something of a profit share in future sales, depending on how much you put in at the beginning," John noted. "That said, I'll get the RFP out this week." "Very good.", she said, "And if the first reactor goes well, we will contribute more to the project." She smiled though he couldn't see it, "May this be the beginning of an excellent partnership much like the aid your country gave mine with our education reforms." "Let's hope." ------------------------- Actions: 1. Romania signs on to the ANDA. 2. Project proposal: Power reactor, designed for those transitioning from Russian models or new to nuclear power, with passive safety as the focus more than ease of construction or plutonium production. -- --I know there are no lifeguards in the gene pool, but damn, there ought to be at least a few sharks in the water. From martellian at hotmail.com Mon Jul 21 02:55:03 2008 From: martellian at hotmail.com (Ian Martell) Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:55:03 -0700 Subject: [War] Japan: "The View from the Nosebleeds" Message-ID: "The View from the Nosebleeds" Japanese Peacekeeping Battalion, Georgia. Japan July 8 2014 -------------------------- 1st Patrol, Second Platoon, of the 3rd Company of the 1st Peace Battalion crouched in the shade of their Type-96 APC, enjoying a break from their security duties while their Sergeant reported to the Platoon's Lieutenant, for their orders. As they waited in the shade, a pair of the 'new guys' from the Western Army Infantry Regiment rounded a nearby supply shed looking cool in their latest ballistic eyewear and state of the art body armour. "Hey you guys get to shoot anyone yet?" Corporal Harima called from his place of honour by the front wheel of the APC. The two men exchanged looks and kept walking as though Harima hadn't even spoke. "Bastards," Harima cursed as soon as they were out of earshot. "They just got here and already they're getting all the action." Katsuo the team's medic, who was the only one in the sunlight, looked down from where he was sunning himself on the top of the APC and shook his head. "I heard they're only following the advance, haven't even fired a shot." Harima spat on the ground. "Still it isn't fair, we've been in this shitty country for two months and we haven't done shit." The Peace Battalion had been assigned to the Georgia peacekeeping mission before the whole Iran war exploded on to the world scene and they were moved up closer to the Azerbaijan border to help secure the staging area for the attack against Iran. "It's like the Navy guys," said Goto from where he squatted. "They've just showed up and I heard they got to blow up a bunch of stuff already." "Should have joined the navy," Harima said ruefully. "You got to be smart to join the Navy," Katsuo joked. "You barely passed your high school exam, that's why you're in the army." "Shut up, who asked you anyway?" Harima said moodily as Goto and the rest of the patrol laughed. Snorting Harima stood up and stretched. "I am just saying that it's not fair, we've been in this place forever putting up with these foul smelling barbarians who can't even talk English let alone Japanese and what do we get? Guard duty." Goto grunted. "Let the Westies go to Yasukuni, I am fine with staying back here," he said. Yasukuni was the shrine for the Japanese war dead. "Will we go to Yasukuni?" asked Iwata from at the back of the APC's shadow. He was the new guy and it showed how Harima barely noticed he spoke. "I mean if we die." Harima shook his head. "I don't know, I guess," he said finally. "Anyhow, go stand watch." Iwata frowned but he stood up and snapped to. "Sir!" and then moved away to go watch the great deal of nothing that surrounded them while the others lazed in the sun. Katsuo looked over without raising his head off his hands. "Hey, let the kid get some rest," he said. "We're likely doing another patrol today." Goto nodded. "That's right Banzai will want us out showing the Americans we're real soldiers," he said wryly. Banzai was the nickname they gave their lieutenant, a young, highly-educated and very nervous man who saw this foreign assignment as his chance for a promotion and so spent most of his at HQ volunteering his platoon for any assignment that came open. That meant more often than not, more patrols than what the men felt was a fair share of patrols were assigned to the platoon. The men laughed at Goto's remark, and Shimeda took out a cigarette and lit it up, before passing the pack to the others. "Heard the helos got some action last night," Shimeda said. "Yeah?" Goto asked. "Who told you that?" "Tanaka," Shimeda said. "No shit?" Harima asked. "What happened? Missile?" "No, just ground fire, said his helo got grazed though, then the American gunships flew in and." Shimeda mimed an explosion with his hands. "Boom." "That's so cool, man the flyboys are lucky," Harima lamented. And the others agreed, after all, it seemed like everyone else was having all the fun and all they could do was watch from the sidelines. Actions: 1> Highlight Japan's ground and air contributions, if through a rather inglorious POV. From martellian at hotmail.com Mon Jul 21 03:49:14 2008 From: martellian at hotmail.com (Ian Martell) Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:49:14 -0700 Subject: [War] Japan: "Your JSDF" Message-ID: "Your JSDF" Defense Minister Taro Inukai Japan July 8th 2014 ----------------- Most of the Diet and Cabinet was out of the city for the summer break, even the workaholic that was Prime Minister Shunichi Sato had finally gone home to Niko for a week. Though with the number of times he called, it was really like he had never left. For Taro Inukai, Japan's Minister of Defence, there was too much work to be done for him to go back his District and his home just outside of the city of Kochi on the island of Shikoku, after all there was a war on. Though more than that, there was political campaign to run, which was, in essence the abolition of Article 9 of the Japanese constitution. A ridiculous article, he hade hated since the very first day he put on a uniform at the Defence Forces Academy when he was eighteen years old. To his mind it was an insult to everyone who served in Japan's defence and to those who had given their lives to the same goal in previous generations and he was determined to see it end before the year was out. Which was why he was meeting with his staff today, they were laying out the first stages of the plan to win over Japan's population to the idea that having an army you called an army meant Japan would revert to militarism and mad campaigns of conquest. "Alright, so what is the plan?" he asked as he sat back behind his desk and looked out over his staff. His chief assistant, Tamiko Haruna, stood up. "The first step, is that we are putting an end to the regulation that JSDF personnel are forbidden to wear their uniform while off-duty and off-base, and replacing it with one that encourages the wearing of the Defence Forces uniform at those times," she read from her notes. "This is due to our Public Affairs office's study that says that 90% of Japanese citizens say they have never met anyone from the JSDF." Inukai nodded. "Yes, yes, I've read it," he said forestalling her before she really got going. "Carry on." "Yes sir, sorry, about that," she smiled a little shyly, and flipped the pages of her note book. "As part of the same public outreach plan we are hosting several events on our bases which will familiarize the community around the base to the base's purpose and the personnel who work there, as well it will be a chance for the JSDF to show off its technology especially the unmanned vehicles we are currently deploying. This relates to our campaign to continue the perception that the JSDF is a safe profession for young Japanese men and women to enter into. As we all know, the JSDF is often the first choice for students who cannot afford college due to the fact we provide education benefits, and it is considered safer than the police or fire departments, we expect that if Article 9 is removed, that this will no longer be the case, so we are working with the Public Affairs department to highlight how Japan's technology industries are working to safe guard our troops." She turned to Juji Watanbe, the head of Public Affairs to continue as she sat down. "Yes, well as you know, our UAV and remote infantry units, are ready for deployment, we are going to be beginning an advertising campaign to highlight these aspects of the Defense forces to be running over the summer and into fall, as well as promoting the role of Japanese industry in providing this technology for the troops. It is all part of our message plan titled "Your Defense Force", with the aim of showing the public the connections between Japan and her defense forces." "And ensuring the Japanese people it is still a safe occupation." Haruna chimed in. "Yes, of course, safe, strong, and good, Your Japanese Defense Forces." Inukai nodded neutrally. The whole thing seemed a little wimpy to him, but then he was hardly the specialist in these matters. "Okay, what else?" Haruna took up the conversation. "We have also given authorization to the major newspapers and television networks to attach reporters to our mission in Georgia, to highlight our efforts there." "I assume we're keeping them away from the combat?" he asked. "Of course, they are strictly being tasked the rice and teddy bears side of the mission," she replied. Inukai nodded, he like the rest of the Cabinet knew there would be a major backlash from the pacifist side of the country with the news of a casualty on the Caspian Sword mission, so he was glad to know the actual event wasn't likely to happen live at eleven on NHK. "Beyond that, right now we are letting the Summer of the Family take center stage, and after September, when the Diet is in session we will begin the serious campaigning for change to the constitution." And with that the meeting continued. Actions: 1> Begin promoting the JSDF to the Japanese people. 2> All personnel are no longer forbidden to wear their uniforms off base, and are now encouraged to do so. However it should be noted that disorderly conduct while in uniform will not be tolerated. 3> The Ministry of Defense will begin to promote the safe side of the JSDF and the role of Japanese industry though an ad campaign. 4> Additional ads will be run in order to promote to the people of Japan a sense of ownership of the JSDF. "Your JSDF" As well as opening up bases for air shows etc, to give the Japanese people a better picture of who the JSDF are and what they do. 5> Reporters will be attached to the safe side of the Japanese deployment to Georgia. Lots of shots of Japanese soldiers doing peacekeeping, interacting with the locals etc. From john.penta at gmail.com Mon Jul 21 11:30:53 2008 From: john.penta at gmail.com (John Penta) Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:30:53 -0400 Subject: [War] US: On the Road Again Message-ID: "On the road again" 17 July 2014 Pres. John Williams USA ================ After the call with Romania finished up, Williams tapped a few keys. One to save the transcript of the call for action by various agencies, another to mark the item as Completed on his virtual organizer, and a third to alert his secretary that he was ready for the next appointment. This next appointment was going to be a doozy. Why? Because it was the Thursday Travel Meeting, and those just sucked lately. For all involved, they were necessary, but they just sucked. It was everybody from his staffers, WH Travel, WH Advance, Kayleigh's staffers, WHCA, the Military Office, the Medical Office, Protocol...UGH! At such times, he seriously considered resigning and running away gibbering in madness. Not necessarily in that order. Thus why Kayleigh always popped up a few minutes early to these weekly things, to privately and quietly kiss him and remind him of the fun parts of traveling as President. And to make sure that he kept his sanity amidst all the bullshit. --- Normally, the President's travel required extensive coordination. Even in the Williams White House, with the emphasis on "light touch" security and pulling down the barriers between the President and the average person, it could get to be messy. With weeks coming up that held two state visits (One by the Nigerians to DC that was being taken in stride by all, and another possible State Visit with the Chinese in San Francisco that had nerves on edge), plus Presidential visits to Indian Reservations for Town Hall meetings, plus the planning for a Presidential trip to Europe soon afterwards, this was a meeting that was one of nerves and cat-herding. Nobody was necessarily nervous about Nigeria - it seemed a bit prideful to say it, but that sort of State Visit happened all the time. China had people on edge. Everybody, from POTUS on down, knew that there could be -no- slipups in the protocol or related matters on that visit, and so they'd prepared for it for months, even when such a visit seemed unlikely at best. A repetition, or even a foot put remotely near, of when the Chinese had visited during the Bush 43 Administration, when the visit had nearly been bungled, would cost a lot of people their jobs, Williams had warned. It was a lot like a Japanese Tea Ceremony, in a lot of ways. What was said was almost unimportant compared to the tea ceremony itself, how it was performed. And then there was Europe; in many ways, while this was the most relaxing of trips for the President (and a special one, too, since it would see Luke baptized - at the Vatican's request - at St. Peter's, by the Pope), it was almost as complicated as the State Visit preps for hosting the Chinese. It would be complex - the NATO Heads of Government Meeting in Brussels capped the trip on the official side, while the Papal Audience and baptism would cap things unofficially - and long - visits to the UK, France, Germany, and quite possibly Georgia were also on the schedule. Some were longer than others, but it was expected that the President would be overseas for up to two weeks. Either way, the preps were a bit maddening. --- Actions: 1. Prepare for Nigerian and Chinese State Visits. Let no detail go un-dealt with. 2. Prepare for trip to Europe. 3. OOC: Europlayers (Dan, Mike, Lisa), up to JP's of a POTUS visit in about two weeks? From john.penta at gmail.com Wed Jul 23 11:27:59 2008 From: john.penta at gmail.com (John Penta) Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:27:59 -0400 Subject: [War] US: The Commander-In-Chief Calls Message-ID: "The Commander-in-Chief calls..." 16 July 2014 Pres. John Williams USA =========================== [OOC: This post inspired by this story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080723/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/blacks_in_the_military; - especially the disturbing stat that there are members of Congress submitting zero noms to the service academies.] "Now that -is- an interesting stat, Colonel. Any guesses as to why you think it might be?" SECDEF and POTUS were meeting with COL Gene Waranski, head of admissions at West Point, as part of their usual post "Plebe Summer"-start briefings on the new classes of the service academies. He'd mentioned a very interesting - and not-a-little-concerning - statistic about the accession sources of the latest class: 45 Senators and Members of Congress had submitted zero nominations to any of the service academies. The overwhelming majority of those members, about two thirds, were black or Hispanic, all of those representing majority-black or Hispanic districts among the House members. Thus why the Speaker of the House and the head of the Congressional Black Caucus were about to be invited for a chat. "No, sir. I'd hate to hazard guesses, on the record or off. You'd have to ask them, sir." "I plan to, Colonel. Pointedly." POTUS noted. The briefing went on for a bit, then the Colonel left. Overall, the new class wasn't so bad...But the lack of nominations from some members was...concerning. Hence why the President made some calls. --- Actions: 1. Ask pointedly why some members of Congress aren't submitting any nominations to the service academies; if there are none to submit, okay...but otherwise, The White House is Concerned. 2. Nudge said members - c'mon, there gotta be some who've inquired... 3. Ask the head of the CBC to nudge his members a bit on the issue - we can only have diverse academies if we have a diverse applicant pool, after all. From john.penta at gmail.com Thu Jul 24 11:55:35 2008 From: john.penta at gmail.com (John Penta) Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:55:35 -0400 Subject: [War] US: ...Calls all young men and women... Message-ID: "...Calls all young men and women..." 17 July 2014 Pres. John Williams USA ============================== The briefings done, SECDEF, POTUS, and the Service Secretaries (including the Homeland Security Secretary to represent the Coast Guard and Merchant Marine academies) gathered around lunch to argue the conclusions. "Okay, first off...I like what I'm hearing, but for one problem. Well, it's one big issue with a bunch of related issues." POTUS started. "The recruitment base is narrowing." Secretary Abbot concluded. "Quit reading my mind, dammit. But yes." POTUS noted. "Suggestion: End principal nominations. Only admit the qualified." SECARMY, a West Point grad, put forth. "I'd love to; could the academies handle the glut?" Vigorous nods. "At the same time...Okay, it's becoming increasingly clear to me: The service academies have got to advertise." Pause. "I'll ask Congress for the cash." POTUS looked grumpy as he said that. "Similarly, how vote ye on ending the status of the Academy Superintendents as terminal posts?" Glances among the secretaries. "Is that a good idea?" Asked SECARMY. "It'd suck massively for there to be command influence on Academy grading, for instance." "Is a lame duck Superintendent really a good idea? If there's CI, I don't think it need be said that there would be heads rolling - at Congress's instigation!" SECNAV put forth. "Gentlemen," SECDEF intervened, "We're not going to solve that issue now. Table it." Nonetheless, the argument raged throughout lunch. --- Actions: 1. Nudge Congress to enact provision in next Defense Authorization Bill ending "principal nominations" at the service academies. 2. The academies will now advertise, like normal schools of national prominence do. No clubbing the other services in your ads. 3. Debate begins whether to end the terminal-post nature of the Academy Superintendent's post (which means that they have to retire from said Service after holding that post). From lee.tarnow at utoronto.ca Fri Jul 25 22:22:08 2008 From: lee.tarnow at utoronto.ca (lee.tarnow at utoronto.ca) Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:22:08 -0400 Subject: [War] Nigeria/USA: Negotiations and the Future of Nigeria In-Reply-To: <20080719152900.g04qi7hbks80ggwc@webmail.utoronto.ca> References: <20080719152900.g04qi7hbks80ggwc@webmail.utoronto.ca> Message-ID: <20080725222208.i1huxu816o0o084k@webmail.utoronto.ca> Negotiations and the Future of Nigeria --- 25 July, 2014 Washington, D.C. HH Eheneden Erediauwa, 39th Oba of Benin, Edaiken of Uselu, Member of? the Uzama, 3rd President of the Nigerian Fourth Republic Pres. John Williams, United States of America (and many more...) --- Eheneden looked out the window of the VH-71 Kestrel. NAF-001 had landed at Andrews AFB, but Eheneden and his entourage were immediately borded on Marine One to meet POTUS at the White House. Ore-Oghene marveled at the size of the Kestrel. It had a crew of 4, and was a sheer behemoth of an aircraft. At a cost of US$400M, the Kestrel had capacity for 45 excluding the crew. It was nearly 23 metres in length, and weighed 15 600 kg. Perhaps President Williams needed a helicopter f this capacity, but it was a prime example of American decadence none the less. He would not mention it to his father, Eheneden had caught on well with POTUS, but he smirked at the obvious penis joke in his head. The Kestrel -was- a bit, um, excessive...But it was also a holdover from the last Bush Administration, POTUS recalled with a grin as he watched it swoop in for landing. No comment was necessary besides that, he decided mentally. That said, his eyes watched the helo like a hawk as the door opened, and the joint-service honor guard came to present arms. He waited at the end of the red carpet, eyes fixed on those who exited. The first member of the Nigerian entourage out of Marine 1 was Muhammadu Edem. Almost 7' tall, he wore dark sunglasses everywhere, even in the dark. He scared everyone (this was appropriate, as he was the Director General of the SSS), and made Ore-Oghene uncomfortable. Eheneden trusted him though, so that was all that mattered. Also accompanying the Nigerian President were Minister of Foreign Affairs, Adamu Ogwu, the Minister of Energy, Baba Odey, the Minister of Finance, Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu, and the Ministers of Defence, Commerce & Industry, and Education. Finally out of the Kestrel was Ore-Oghene, Aberle Roth, and another large African known simply as Simon Peter; he was with Edem. Williams looked over each member of the Nigerian delegation in turn. Edem was regarded with extreme wariness by the Secret Service, but that may have been as much for the rumored sadism of the SSS as anything else. The Ministers were a near non-factor, in that regard - it was the Nigerian President and his son which got the rest of Williams's attention - particularly the younger of the two. There was almost nothing on the guy, and so POTUS's personal observations would in many ways set the tone for how the Secret Service - which handled security for the kids of foreign leaders studying in the US - handled him. Eheneden approached the POTUS with open arms, ?Good morning, President Williams!? He smiled, ?It's a pleasure to finally meet you.? Williams grinned, extending his hand for a handshake with each of the Nigerians. "And you as well, President Erediauwa." His eyes locked on the other leader, before taking in the other Nigerians. "I trust your preparations for the semester are going well?" he asked. Ore-Oghene was stammered, ?I ? err... uh, yes sir.? He hadn't expected that. The truth of the matter was that the Iowa State University was taking care of most of his arrangments. As a student-athlete, the university was obliged to cater to him, especially with wrestling, a sport with a storied history in Ames. Eheneden laughed. Williams grinned at the boy's stammering. "Good to hear. Now, if you'll all follow me, welcome to the White House." As he returned the Marine sentries' salutes, his pace slowed so that he was walking equal to President Erediauwa. ?We have much business to discuss,? Eheneden smiled at POTUS, ?EM may be filled with snakes, but young Dr. Roth,? he gestured to the young caucasian man with the African party, ?Is trustworthy, and full of suggestions. Perhaps I shall lend him to you when we're done.? The Nigerian president bore a toothy grin. Williams just chuckled. "We'll see." Soon enough, they were sitting next to each other in the Diplomatic Reception Room, letting the press have their photos. It was the average, day-to-day press opportunity. No quotes for the newsies from Williams, but then...their questions were mostly aimed at the Nigerian today. A president *and* a king? Oh, how the press had enjoyed hearing that. Then a serious question. ?What do you have to say about the SSS repression of political groups in the Niger Delta region?? --- 30 June 2013 Niger Delta --- Splash. Cold water. A hard slap. Ahmadu Scott wanted to die. The pain of living was too much for him. But they wouldn't let him die. They plucked out his eyes, gelded him, branded him, but he was not allowed to die. He was fed through a tube, kept in his own filth. Still alive. One name. One name was all the cold man wanted. He called him the cold man, because he was cold. His pulse was incredibly slow, if it existed at all. He barked out orders to the other SSS goons, and they did the work of the devil. Then there were the IVs. Barbiturates in one arm, amphetamine in the other. The barbiturates were released first, and as soon as Ahmadu began to fall asleep, the amphetamines were released. Ahmadu would begin babbling incoherently at this point, and it was thought possible to ask questions and get useful answersout of him. But not yet. Ahmadu was stronger than that. "Awake, Mr. Scott," it was the voice of the cold man. A deep baritone without a soul, "Don't fall asleep. If you're lucky, we may kill you today, and it would be the end of your suffering." The rush of the Amphetamines. This time a prayer. "The lord is my shephard," Scott began, "I shall not want." "Who is calling the attacks, Mr. Scott?" "He makes me lie in green pastures, he leads me besides the still waters." Punch. Blood. It dripped down the back of his throat, from his broken nose. "He restores my soul, he leads me in the paths of the righteous for His name's sake!" Urine and feces stained his pants. He had not been changed in a week, not left this chair. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me!" Ahmadu strained against the wood. It was no use. He was strapped in, had no strength to struggle against the zip ties. Spat up some blood. "Your rod and your staff, they comfort me! You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil, my cup runs over!" "The name, Scott, tell us the name." "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in House of the Lord forever!" Gun shots. One in each knee. Ahmadu howled in pain. One name. Only one came to mind... --- 25 July, 2014 Washington, D.C. --- Erediauwa just smiled, ?My predecessors have not been the most forward thinking of individuals, but I hope to lead Nigeria into the future as a more friendly, global community-minded nation, with a reputation that Nigeria deserves. The United States is an important ally in these difficult times, and I hope to establish a long-term working relationship that can benefit both the American and Nigerian peoples.? He noticed Simon Peter stand behind the small, asian woman who asked the question. Muhammadu was trying to signal something to him. Eheneden gestured at Muhammadu and the career SSS man stopped what he was doing. Williams watched the interaction - particularly the security goons - with concealed interest. As, he knew, did the Secret Service, who he kept in the shadows with barely a glance to his lead agent. The press was thick today, and he knew that exchange would hit the nightly news tonight. "Yes, President Erediauwa, but how do you respond to allegations of SSS torture of political dissidents, sir?" That from ABC's correspondent, who got watched by all the other journos, eager to see if the Nigerians would respond. Williams didn't mind the hard questions thrown at his guest, it seemed. Simon Peter grimaced in the crowd. Eheneden just smiled, ?Its happened in the past, but that was then, and this is now. I think I already answered that question. Next question?? No other questions. Soon enough, the group had moved on to the West Wing, where Williams said, without apology, ?I sense that was your first experience with the press?? ?First with American press, you could say,? again the smile, ?I never knew you Americans were so fascinated by torture.? "We're not. The press, however, sees you as a big, juicy target...standing up for their repressed comrades, you could say," Williams replied as they reached the Oval Office. Government security forces frequently harassed, arrested, and detained editors and reporters from journals critical of the Nigerian government through the beginning of the 21st century; 1997, especially, was a bad year. On 4 November 1997 Aoetokunbo Fakeye, defense correspondent for The News, was arrested. On 8 November, Jenkins Alumona, editor of The News, was arrested by SSS agents at a Lagos television station. On 9 November, Onome Osifo-Whiskey, managing editor of Tell magazine, was arrested by SSS agents in Lagos while driving to church with his children. On 29 October, Osifo-Whiskey had warned that the magazine had received a written death threat, which listed the names of 27 staff members. On 16 November, SSS agents arrested Babafemi Ojudu, editor of the News/Tempo. Rafiu Salau, an administration editor for the News/Tempo, was also arrested in mid-November. Former chairman of the editorial board of the daily The Guardian and a visiting professor of journalism at a US university, Olatunji Dare, was detained overnight and his passport seized upon his arrival from the United States on 2 June 1997. He was told to report to the SSS to retrieve his passport. After being interrogated on 17 June by SSS officials about his activities abroad, his passport was then returned. ?Well now that that's over with, we can get down to brass tacks.? By this time Ore-Oghene, Simpon Peter, and Edem had left to explore the city. Now was as good a time as any to discuss business with the Americans. A nod from Williams, as the doors opened to the Oval Office. As he escorted his visitors in, he looked about. "Before we begin, would you like anything?" ?A coffee would be lovely thank you,? the rest of the Nigerian party was looking around the office. It was darker than the 'The Villa' in Abuja, but had its own charm. They each asked for coffee, and took their places on the various chairs and couch in the office. Roth sat next to Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu, the Minister of Finance. ?Do you think they shall give us what we want?? He whispered to Igwe. ?We shall see,? was the response, ?I don't think there is any reason for them not to, but you have to keep in mind, Aberle, that what you have suggested to us can be extremely sensitive.? As the Navy stewards delivered the coffee carafe and poured each a cup, the President turned and smiled. "So, gentlemen. Where would you like to begin?" Eheneden placed his hands on his lap, ?Would you like to start with a difficult subject, or an easy subject?? That got a grin. "Start hard." Eheneden reclined gently. He sipped at his coffee. ?Igwe, I believe you can sum this up nicely for President Williams.? The Minister of Finance nodded, ?Boeing.? A raised eyebrow. "Oh?" Igwe continued, ?Boeing has international offices, for example, Boeing Australia. However, the piece of the company that we wish to do work with is a subsidiary of Boeing Satellite Development Center (BSDC) and Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (BIDS). As well, they are involved with testing at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and are involved with other DOE projects.? Eheneden continued, ?We would like to make sure that we are not stepping on our friends' toes.? "What's the project you want to work with them on?" It was now Roth's turn, ?The company, Spectrolab, has recently demonstrated upwards of 60% efficiency with their high efficiency multi-junction solar cells, and a minimum average efficiency of roughly 40%. We would like to enter into business with Spectrolab, bring them to Nigeria, establish a lab in Lagos to work in conjunction with NREL, and share the technology.? Williams brought up the company's info on his laptop, glancing at it. "Okay...Quick decision: It's an export-controlled item, so you'll need to get licenses from the Department of Commerce, but that shouldn't be a problem. However, I'm not ready yet to allow a research lab or similar to be set up - too much risk of controlled tech slipping out. If not to you, then to others with an interest." Roth shook his head. He had a response for this, ?By preventing Nigeria from establishing modern research facilities, you're actually creating a higher risk environment for technology theft. This kind of atmosphere would create an environment that would encourage reverse engineering,? Aberle paused for effect, ?You would alienate the research staff, and set Nigeria's modernization back several years. You may block the research for awhile, but eventually it would be reverse engineered, and then you'd have a generation of resentful professionals that have the technology anyway.? "Fair point, which is why I'm willing to compromise - we'll approve of and even assist technology transfer in certain fields, so long as this lab agrees to unannounced audits. In addition, the lab will stay under Boeing ownership - not the Nigerian government's. That's the one way I can get Congressional approval of the tech transfers." This pleased Eheneden, ?Excellent,? again he smiled, ?On to the next matter. Have you met the Minister for Education, Ojo Anuku?? He gestured to the short and stockey main nursing his coffee. Ojo gave a friendly wave. "Nope." Then, with his voice the clipped tones of a soldier, he spoke simply. "What's the topic, Minister Anuku?" ?The Spectrolab facility in Lagos,? Ojo began, ?Will be managed by Boeing, and the senior staff will be provided for by Boeing, but the rest of the staff will be interned by students from National Universities Commission (NUC). That being said, we will also need to be allowed to work with the American facilities and institutions that Spectrolab does business with. This includes the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at Golden, Colorado, and various offices of the Department of Energy. In short, we're asking to pool our facilities together, including research and intern positions available to NUC students.? "Sure, but American students get first preference at NREL. Everything else, you fly under Boeing's wing." Ojo nodded, ?I think we can agree to that. However, we would like to make this industry wide, to a variety of energy companies, in similar research. Boeing is the most high profile of course, but we would like to ensure that the next generation of Nigerian minds is competitive on the world scene. Can we come to a general agreement, or should we go through one by one?? "I think this works as a general framework," Williams noted. "For legal reasons, though, I can't give a sweeping agreement - It'll each need the at least cursory approval of the government. So long as you keep to these general terms, though, it'll be a formality." --- 3 hours later... --- ?...and that should just about cover everything,? the entire room was smiling. A consensus agreement was reached on all topics. This included, Boeing, Spectrolab, and their partners (NREL, DOE), CH2M 2HILL, Bechtel, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), University of California, Babcock and Wilcox, URS Corp, Batelle, Texas A&M University System, EEStor and Lockheed-Martin, Stanford, Maxwell Technologies, AltairNano, Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS), FPL Group, Inc, A123Systems, General Electric, OnPoint, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Motorola, Qualcomm, Procter & Gamble, through its Duracell division ... The list spanned hundreds of high-tech companies, universities, laboratories, and facilities across multiple disciplines. "Okay," Williams nodded, "I can agree to all of these, but they'll be subject to the same restrictions as any foreign grad student." ?Of course,? Ojo concurred, ?Any student interning in the United States will be subject to any restrictions applicable to a foreign graduate student who is conducting research in collaboration with an approved industrial partner.? The conversation went on for another half an hour. Eventually, though, after a working lunch, even the gregarious President had other appointments. The State Dinner was that night. --- Actions: 1)Negotiate with basically every industry to come to Nigeria, offering crazy government benefits and cooperation, plenty of interns, plentiful research grants, tax rebates, and all the other things that high tech companies like. Everyone from Coca Cola to Xerox, and even the ones that come before and after too. 2)Revise NUC to support corporate sponsorship, introduce Approved Industrial Partner (AIP) internship program this September, and make it available to all incoming, existing, and outgoing students. 3)Prepare construction of Design, Development, Engineering, and Research ((DDER) facilities and supporting infracstructure in relevant areas. This means ROADS, pipes, power, lines, etc. (ROADS especially) 4)Getting to know you banter, and other stuff. From pbuck11 at aol.com Sun Jul 27 21:47:32 2008 From: pbuck11 at aol.com (Patrick B) Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:47:32 -0600 Subject: [War] World Report Volume 8 Message-ID: <488D2534.3070808@aol.com> WAR: World Report - For all actions since Volume 6, advancing the timeline to 16 July to 1 August 2014 United Nations Security Council (Permanent Members): United States, United Kingdom, France, China, Russia United Nations Security Council (Non-Permanent Members as of 1 June 2014): Until January 2015: Germany, Thailand, Poland, South Africa, Panama Until January 2016: Canada, Japan, Hungary, Algeria, Venezuela Pending UN Security Council Actions: Pending UN General Assembly Actions: None United Nations Secretariat: No news. ============== Welcome to Lee who is playing Nigeria, our first African player WOO HOO... Also, I will be trying something new this week the blogosphere will react to things as they happen....so basically I'm going to try semi instant feedback. World news: Iran completely misjudged the world's response to their invasion, and their strikes. Iranian forces have been to put it bluntly steamrolled by the massive world response and several regiments have been surrendering en masse to advancing forces. Forces have begun a fast retreat back in to Iran there has been harrying fire, and several Improvised Explosive devices. =============================================== ACTION RESPONSES ============================= COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA =========================== Population Approval: 55% Government Approval: 55% International Favor: 50% Economic Growth: 3.9% Inflation: 4.1% Unemployment: 4.2% ---------------------------- Prime Minister Decker's quixotic attempts to hold back the Chinese are watched with some amusement in diplomatic circles, but the broader Australian public applauds the efforts. The ADF waits calmly for further orders, and senior officers are privately eager to join "their generation's big war". CHINA (PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF) Population Approval: 65% Government Approval: 60% International Favor: 45% Economic Growth: 9.7%, high Inflation: 3.0% Unemployment: 10.1% === The chinese Military Special operations units in Azerbaijan contines to perform unconventional combat, however the fact they are outnumberd against the Revolutnary guard, means they will tread carefully, however it has not been without casualties. At home Chinese citizens are unahppy that the government is letting the Western powers do the heavy lifting in warfare, and are calling it a 'loss of face' and protests against the Hong government have begun because of this. CANADA ======= Population Approval:55% Government Approval:50% International Favor: 55% Economic Growth: 2.2% Inflation: 5.0% Unemployment: 6.3% -------------------------------- The PM's visits to and from (respectively) the US and Australia are given brief nods of approval. That said, bewever, much of the newsies' focus is on Azerbaijan - something driving the Government's press team nuts. Like in Australia, there's not much enthusiasm for changes to the Commonwealth - it's seen as not necessarily being broken, and not something to be (perhaps dubiously) fixed. Meanwhile, the Government's plan to replace imported oil faces a steep uphill climb - Alberta's tar sands are a "heavier", more "sour" type of oil than those from, say, the Middle East - converting Canadian refineries to take it would take massive retooling, something not looking very attractive to the oil companies without (what else?) government support. Oh, and gasoline to replace that taken off the market during the weeks it would take to retool. JAPAN ====== Population Approval: 53% Government Approval: 55% International Favor: 65% Economic Growth: 2.8% Inflation: 0.6% Unemployment: 4% ------- As the war progresses past its initial stages, the government has started taking hits to its popularity as body bags come home. The divide between those who support the mission and those who want Japan to stay as it has for the last 70 years continues to increase as time goes on. That being said, most Japanese are supporting of the mission's morals to liberate Azerbaijan from the Iranian grip. The active use of the Self Defense Forces in active combat has resulted in pride in service, as the defense forces feel like soldiers, not just an afterthough. In addition there has been an uptick in interest in the old code of Bushido. FRANCE ==== Population Approval: 57% Government Approval: 65% International Favor: 43% Economic Growth: 2.5% Inflation: 5.6% Unemployment: 6.2% No activity--LOA-- NIGERIA ============================ Popular Approval: 57% Governmental Approval: 57% International Favor: 50% Economic Growth: 9.3%, high Inflation:5% Unemployment:4.7% ============================= The new quota-sharing agreement has jaws dropping, OPEC in what may faintly be called an uproar, and lawyers running for their books to see if it's legal. OPEC, in the end, shouts against it, angry at the manipulation of its manipulations of the oil market. Compared to more-common quota busting, it at least follows the rules, but you couldn't tell by the reaction the Arab states are giving to it. Other African nations are just stunned. There are rumblings of setting up an African alternative to OPEC, an OAPEC for lack of a better name. As if that weren't enough, the newest Nigerian plan, to generate massive amounts of solar power in the Sahara, has everybody watching catching their breath. Private equity firms are bidding fiercely for a piece of the action, salivating at just the prestige potential of a Big Engineering project like that proposed. Construction, even using first-world nationals as engineering staff only, is expected to take until January 2015 - but cover possibly as much as 65% of Nigeria's power needs upon completion. Meanwhile, the state visit of Nigeria's President receives much coverage at home - the news of new industrial and research opportunities is greeted joyously, and roads are already being planned out by Nigerian army engineers - the only group with the expertise for such massive public works projects. Romania Popular Approval: 60% Government Approval 60% International Favor: 55% Inflation: 7.0% Economic growth: 4.4% Unemployment: 4.9% ================ In Romania, people are happy that their government has taken steps to contribute to the NATO war in Azerbaijan, and thus increase its influence on the world stage. Nevertheless, as body bags come home from the Caucasus, families are torn apart as loved ones are buried. Because of the military deployment, stocks of goods normally used by civilians have been appropriated and prices have risen, leading some people to grumble. It also appears that some of the provisions being shipped to the forces overseas have gone missing and parliament has called for an investigation as part of a wider crackdown on corruption. However a convoy ambushed in a surprise action against the Iranians resulted in the discovery of barrels of Mustard Gas, Several nerve agents and most surprising Weapons Grade Anthrax. Officials of the World Health Organization have taken the WMD's in to their custody, and the Romanian soldiers who discovered the stash are being treated for exposure. Several zoos report Hedgehogs have been dissapearing, Rumor is some of it went to making Hodgepodge, a traditional Gypsy dish. UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND ==== Population Approval: 60% Government Approval: 58% International Favor: 50% Economic Growth: 2.5% Inflation: 3.0% Unemployment: 5.3% No activity--LOA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ==== Population Approval: 56% Government Approval: 54% International Favor: 66% Economic Growth: 2.9% Inflation: 3.1% Unemployment: 4.2% The whirlwind diplomacy has been well recieved, when the President goes for diplomacy, life is good. Support for what is being dubbed Gulf War 3 by some pundits is still high, as video of Azerbaijanis greeting the US forces with waving flags and cheering like something out of a world war 2 newsreel are very popular at home, though there are protests including Code Pink who call this Williams' war for oil, and the International Socialist front who are calling for Williams to be sent to the Hague for war crimes, what they are they won't say. Though former Attorney General Ramsey Clark has given an interview in which he fully backs the US action. The open enrollment to the Service Academies has been met with surprise, Congressional delegations however step to the forefront and begin to vet candidates. Among Service Academy alumnai it is met with mixed opinions, Several acamedy graduates call it a way to democratise what has been seen as the Military's ruling class, while others call it a slap in the face of tradition which will cause substandard officers and get soldiers killed. THe Superentdant position has been looked at as an honorable sunset, however DOD regulations are being investigated as to if it can be more then a sunset especially since it is only held by Lieutenant General, so there is room for advancement. In domestic news the delayed funeral of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has been rescheduled to this thursday. The Wesboro Baptist church buried Fred Phelps and filed a civil rights suit against the State of California, Los Angeles City and County, the Mongol Nation, the arrested bikers personally, and have called for the FBI to investigate it as a civil rights issue. An FBI spokesman remarked, "We'll get on that after we find DB Cooper, and Hoffa." ============================================= ECONOMIC INDICATORS NOTE: Initial indicators were gleaned from as recent sources as possible, for the most recent term possible (annualized). In some cases, the numbers used are published estimates, but the English- speaking nations' data is more or less right from the source. Depression: Economic forces retracting uncontrollably and at a dangerous pace with little end in sight. Recession: Economic forces retracting, but more shallow than Depression and more controlably. Sometimes necessary and part of regular economic trends, although prelonged. Revision: Economic forces retracting slightly and short term, associated with economic systems refitting to accomodate new industries, concentrations, etc. Zero: No movement one way or the other. Low: Comparatively low Economic growth/activity. (miniscule to about 2%, depending) Good: Average economic activity (ranging from 2%-5% normally) High: Above average performance (Greater than 5%) Sometimes dangerous if in excess of 8% continuously. SITES OF INTEREST WAR Website: http://war.dagarcia.net/ United Nations: http://www.un.org/ Central Intelligence Agency: http://www.cia.gov/ CIA World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ Federation of American Scientists: http://www.fas.org/ GlobalSecurity.org: http://www.globalsecurity.org/ CNN: http://www.cnn.com/ BBC: http://www.bbc.com/ New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/ From vampi.digitalwytch at gmail.com Mon Jul 28 02:39:12 2008 From: vampi.digitalwytch at gmail.com (Vampi Digitalwytch) Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:39:12 -0600 Subject: [War] Romania: "But was it tasty?" In-Reply-To: <488D6868.3050100@aol.com> References: <488D6308.8010908@aol.com> <488D643D.3090306@aol.com> <488D65F5.4070607@aol.com> <488D676A.2000607@aol.com> <488D6868.3050100@aol.com> Message-ID: President Antanasia Danesti Considering the attentions of the world on the current conflict in Azerbaijan, Antanasia had it known that to keep fully informed, even if her generals in the field needed to reach her, they could. Upon hearing of her people discovering what could've made the situation a worse nightmare, she was in the middle of authorizing Locotenant Prezan's well earned medal when her aide knocked on the door. "Madame President, Field report from Azerbaijan.", he said simply. "Patch it through.", she said as she readied herself to speak. General Radko Stepanovich looked mad enough to chew nails. "Madam President, we have not found any more chemical weaponry, though the Americans did have us secure the zoo, and some of our more....rural soldiers have never seen a Zoo before." Antanasia winced. "Will we be ending up in the news for bestiality again?", she asked as she ran a hand through her hair. The general set down his tea, "No ma'am, we are not savages after all, however they sort of found large cages containing animals and proceeded to, use them...as food. Starting with some Hedgehogs, then came 4 rabbits, 3 goats, two sets of Water Buffalo, three Gazelles and two Elks, before I could restore order they were in the process of getting a mortar crew in to the elephant enclosure." Oh Sweet Lord...., Antanasia thought to herself with a groan. "Reassure the local authorities that we will personally replace the eaten animals as soon as the area is safe and I order from here out that if the soldiers are not satisfied with the rations they are provided with to lodge complaints through the standard channels and we shall proceed from there.", she said, "Are there any further surprises I should be aware of?" "Well the local authorities are not the problem, as far as they are concerned we rescued them from Iranian dictatorship so they are very forgiving, however the American commander is one of their animal lovers and is considering making an issue of this calling it a war crime." "What?", she said as her mind tried to roll itself around the concept. Many of the middle to older generations had either lost family to Ceaucescu or the Nazis, and in many cases both. What they'd gone through were truly of the definition of War Crimes compared to being hungry and eating what was on hand. "It what he said, he told me their animal lovers would be angry and would pressure the President to make an issue of it. Madame President, I lost family to the Hitlerites, and to Ceaucescau's goons, I know war crimes, this is basically bumpkins who still have shit on their boots seeing large amounts of animals they ate. I have issued orders to not hunt in the zoo any more, but this fool wants courts martial and prison terms." "Inform him to forward his complaints through the appropriate channels and should President Williams wish to make something of this, we will deal with that should it come.", Antanasia stated, "If this officer wishes to attempt to imprison our soldiers, then it will be on his head of any civilian casualties that occur due to our troops not being present to protect." "Yes Ma'am." The remainder of the conversation went over matters of deployment and the progression of the combat. Antanasia wished the general well at the end. She sighed again and gathered the paperwork that would be needed to replace the zoo stock. ----- Actions: 1) New order to the troops. In addition to the no acquiring, no eating anything from the cities unless lawfully purchased in an eatery. Hunting outside in the wild country, go have at. 2) Preznan gets his sparkly medal, yay! -- --I know there are no lifeguards in the gene pool, but damn, there ought to be at least a few sharks in the water. From john.penta at gmail.com Wed Jul 30 17:18:25 2008 From: john.penta at gmail.com (John Penta) Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:18:25 -0400 Subject: [War] US: A ghostly visitor Message-ID: "A ghostly visitor" 21 July 2014 Pres. John Williams, USA And a spectral visitor (played by Lisa) =============== The White House was...quiet at this time of night. Yeah, quiet. Almost kind of eerie, Williams decided as he walked the third floor of the Residence. Luke and Kay were both asleep, but the President was still up, mulling over events in Azerbaijan. Even the Secret Service kept only a light watch at night, aided and abetted by modern technology, of course. The tall cloudy form silently made its way along its decreed path bound by rules and reasons unknown. It was aware of where it was and of it's time here in days long past. In truth, it did take some interest in the changes that had happened since those times. The gadgets and gewgaws now possible were quite fascinating. John Williams had always had good situational awareness. Which might explain his sense of...something amiss behind him. Quietly, he turned, spying the cloudy form. Still making it's leisurely pace, the cloudy form slowly shifted into gradual clarity. Even then, the form was one as recognizable as those on the current favourite tv shows. Though lacking his characteristic hat, the shade of Abraham Lincoln did politely nod towards the other in the hallway same as he would have in life. And this was the point at which John Williams was fortunate he had not drank that night. "Mr. President," he greeted his predecessor with rather more confidence than he felt, suddenly. "Interesting of you to make an appearance." The apparition stopped in the hallway and despite it's faint luminescence, seemed to have a bit of a gleam of amusement in it's eyes. "I always did like this place.", it spoke in a surprisingly normal voice with the vaguest impression of an echo. The accent was the same as any from the rural towns of Illinois, "Even if some of my times here weren't amongst my happiest." "Never seem to be for anyone who takes this job, sir. Makes me wonder why anyone takes it. Willingly, anyhow." *Nice understatement, John.* His mind whispered. But he didn't mention present concerns to his...spectral guest. He had a sense he knew, anyhow. Lincoln nodded. "The armchair politicians commentary doesn't help either.", he said with a hint of whimsy, "Even Washington had to deal with them, though history likes to forget that." He seemed to roll something around in thought before speaking again, "Though with those of us who have the more difficult choices to make, as much as others think they have the right way, they cannot understand until they've walked in our boots." A chuckle from Williams. "Not the armchair commentators that worry me; the First Amendment in action is nothing to fear. Mostly. It's the paid ones." A pause. "And the coffins coming home, the faces of the dead." A shudder came involuntarily; he could recite details for many of the dead in this war in his sleep, practically. This was insane, and he knew it, but what if this were real? In a weird way, it would make sense...Sort of. His whole term had seemed to careen from crisis to crisis, after all. It fit with all the other hauntings. "So how *is* the Union faring, sir?" He asked finally. "I sense you don't come around just on a whim." An independent evaluation, even from the dead and ineligible to vote (except, er, in Chicago), seemed a fitting thing to seek. "The Union must always come first.", the shade stated, "The choices I made were only to keep the Union whole, it was others that ascribed their own agendas. For me, it was a horrid cost, and as much as I weighed other options, I only had the bloody one as much as I wished there was another. Our Union is based on precepts that are almost sacred, and regrettably Freedom can have a bloody cost. Even in my day when our War of Independence was still within talking memory, we had those who forgot that. I imagine it is harder for you. In the end, we do as we can and aspire to the better angels of our nature." "Harder...Mmm. Indeed, when Freedom's frontiers stretch beyond the sea. I have no words to explain why, anymore." Williams replied. "Why it should matter much when it's someone else, not us, whose freedom is at risk." Lincoln chuckled. "It was once said we were the Great Experiment. Many said we were doomed to fail with our higgledy piggledy thrown together notions of equality and freedom assuming we would soon fall into chaos. Yet, look at us now. The Union still stands in an era undreamed of by our forefathers or I. This nation was built by those who aspired to more lofty ideals and set them to action. As oppression is wrong wherever it is, freedom is equally vital." "You *did* write your own speeches, huh?" Williams could think of nothing else to say, then smiled. There was, he knew, some degree of...not quite hypocrisy, but...blinders to Lincoln's words. Certainly, Lincoln would have been blindsided by even the little things. An integrated armed forces, with black men standing alongside white and Asian and others from throughout the Earth as equals? A shock to one of his age. Women not only wearing the uniform, but the stars of a general? A shock to those of even more...recent vintages, the current President knew. But suddenly, he did grasp the point of the argument. Those things were somewhat irrelevant, laid beside the ideals. Of course there had been imperfections. Were today, always would be. But at the end of the race, the point was the progress made. Lincoln watched Williams silently as he mulled things over. "For me, I followed our precepts written in the Declaration. Granted, our forefathers couldn't've envisioned the future times, but some concepts transcend time itself." With that, time let itself be known in the smallest of ways. The baby monitor on the President's belt blinked red as a tiny voice squealed. "That, I believe, is my cue," he said quietly. But when he looked up, nobody was there. "Sir?" called a Secret Service agent. "Did you see the same thing I saw? Lincoln?" A blink from the agent. "Yeah. But I thought it was just the heat." "I'd hoped it was. But no." "Nobody saw nothin?" Clued in the agent. "They'd think us nuts." "Go take care of Luke, boss." "Good idea." --- Actions: 1. Just some minor character development.