Rogue Generals: A Different Post-EDSA Uno Philippines TL

[Zyobot]

Jul 12, 2021 0:15:13 GMT TheRomanSlayer said:

Zyobot : There is also an option to delete your post, BTW.

Thanks. Guess I better do that.

[TheRomanSlayer]

Chapter Seventy: A Path Closer to Reunification

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Portions from the Live Broadcast in Kiev, Union State of Ukraine and Belarus on the Visit by Russian President Gennady Burbulis
ITAR-TASS
February 14, 1999

(We see TV Reporters Alena Martynyuk and Oleg Mitrofanov in Victory Square in Kiev as the Russian delegation led by President Burbulis are escorted by both Russian Secret Service guardsmen and Ukrainian Berkut Riot Police)

MARTYNYUK: (In Russian) The Russian delegation, as we can see here, are being led through Victory Square in the streets of Kyiv. Many of the Ukrainian demonstrators who came out to protest the presence of the Russian delegation are making their feelings known, although there are no reports of incidents so far. It is also known that the reconciliation ceremony will take place in Maidan Square, where the representatives of the two constituent republics that comprise of the Union State of Ukraine and Belarus are set to meet their Russian counterparts. What's happening in Maidan Square right now, Oleg?

MITROFANOV: (In Russian, from Maidan Square) This is an interesting development that we're seeing here. (Points at a group of Second Russian Civil War veterans holding a procession) Over there, just on the outskirts of Kyiv is a group of veterans who fought on the side of Alexander Lebed and the National Redemption Army. However, they're being heckled by another group of civil war veterans. This time from the pro-Ukrainian independence movement.

UKRAINIAN VETERAN PROTESTERS: (in Ukrainian) Muscovites out! Muscovites out! (moves towards MITROFANOV, who then runs away from the protesters, only for BERKUT riot police to block the protesters' path)

MITROFANOV: The reception here in Kiev is becoming a bit more dangerous as time goes on. (sees the motorcade) All right, I think we have spotted the Russian delegation and they must either be brave or foolish to go through a crowd of anti-Russian protesters who are angry at their presence. We'll have to take a break for a bit, but when we come back from break, we will broadcast the reconciliation speech.

(scene moves to the commercial break, and then returns to the Live Broadcast)

MARTYNYUK: (in Russian) Hello, and welcome back to this politically charged event where Russian President Gennady Burbulis is due to speak in front of the audience. I'm not sure what the speech will be, but from what I heard with Union State President Azarov, it is something that will definitely be cathartic. Any recent developments so far, Oleg?

(scene switches to MITROFANOV, who is now inside MAIDAN SQUARE along with the Russian delegation)

MITROFANOV: I see the Russian delegation led by President Burbulis as they make their way into the center of Maidan Square. For security reasons, the Berkut have deployed most of their riot police to prevent any potential incidents between the nationalist protesters and the Russians themselves. (looks at the group of Ukrainian nationalist protesters) So far, the nationalist protesters are just chanting slogans so far, and in ten minutes, we will listen to President Burbulis's speech.

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Excerpts from the Maidan Square Speech Made by Russian President Gennady Burbulis

ITAR-TASS

February 14, 1999

"Citizens of the formerly fraternal republics of Ukraine and Belarus. I know that you might have some raw emotions that you wanted to unleash when we arrived in the city of Kiev, known to us as the mother of all the Russian cities. However, we did not come here to simply chat on what has happened in that old time, but rather, to rectify a historical tragedy that has constantly undermined the relationship between the Russians and their brothers in Ukraine and Belarus. Before you decide to walk away from this speech, I advise you all to simply listen to what I have to say. Then, and only when I am finished, you are free to curse us. Or to forgive us.

The tragedy of the Ukrainian people should not have happened. The Holodomor that occurred, have affected all the peoples of the former Soviet Union, but Ukraine was singled out for the harshest punishment because its peoples refused to wear the chains of political, psychological, and spiritual slavery. The Russians and Belarusians however, were powerless in their fear of death that led to their reluctant acceptance of Soviet oppression and slavery. Much of northern Kazakhstan, the Caucasus region, Belarus, and Russia had also suffered from famine, but the event in Ukraine was caused by the Communist Party's desire to control its food supply, and to sell whatever grain they can steal on the world market. Lenin had once said that the famine creates the proletariat, for it forces the peasant to leave his or her farm, and join the burgeoning population of the working class as they acquire certain jobs that could be done, and with it, the membership in the Communist Party. Stalin had once said that a million deaths can be a statistic, and Trotsky had shown himself to be the most careless of criminals that had ever lived. That is not to say that the Bolshevik leadership was primarily responsible for the crimes that it had committed. The ordinary peoples of the Soviet Union should be complicit in the crimes as well, for they had not only collaborated with the criminals in power, but had also taken part in the atrocities themselves. The everyday informer is the worst kind of petty tyrant, while the minder has played a parasitic role in most of our lives. In addition, the tragedy that happened in Ukraine had also resulted in a kind of demographic change where the eastern portions of Ukraine were being repopulated by affected peasants from the Russian SFSR, which is exactly why today the eastern half of Ukraine is populated by ethnic Russians, and the Kuban regions of the Russian SFSR had also been affected to the point where the Kuban Ukrainians there had to declare themselves Russians in order to avoid being killed, and even then it proved fruitless.

On behalf of the Russian people, we apologize to the victims of not only the Holodomor, but of various crimes committed by the Soviet dictatorship and its Tsarist predecessor. We apologize for creating an undesirable political climate where Ukraine and to a lesser extent, Belarus, could not decide their own political destiny. Yet, I ask you, people of Ukraine, is this the time to start mending ties? It is never too late to accept our apology, and it is never too late for the Russian people to help their neighbors whenever they're suffering from hardship. I want to approach the administration of President Mykola Azarov for help in creating a special fund to compensate the descendants of the Holodomor victims, and I will not stop there. We must also apologize to the other unknown victims of Stalin's deportations, primarily the Crimean Tatars, the North Caucasian Muslims, the Koryo-saram who were forced to move to Central Asia from the Russian Far East, and the Baltic peoples. Everyone who was affected by the deportations, we apologize. For our part, we have already started the process of repatriating the Russian minority from the Baltic States, and soon, we will start negotiating with the Ukrainian and Belarusian government on the possible repatriation of our people and even give incentives to the population of the Kuban to regain their Ukrainian ethnicity, so they could be resettled in the eastern regions of Ukraine, in exchange for the Russian population of Eastern Ukraine being relocated to the Kuban. The time has come for us to move forward into an uncertain future, and it starts now."

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Excerpts from the Webster Dictionary:

Ukrainization (Politics): A political process where one minor country influences the political development of a larger, more powerful country. It should not be confused with the promotion and development of Ukrainian culture in general, although Political Ukrainization should also be called Mohylization, after the Kiev Mohyla Academy where in 1999, Russian President Gennady Burbulis and the President of the Union State of Ukraine and Belarus, Mykola Azarov, have met to discuss the political futures of their respective nations. It is also believed that the concept of the reunification between Russia and the Union State of Ukraine and Belarus were set in motion, although officials have claimed that talks of reunification went as early as the middle stages of the Second Russian Civil War, where a planned power sharing agreement between Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus would be reached in a similar fashion to the failed Burbulis-Konayev Agreement.

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"What started off as a huge political challenge on the part of the Russian government, proved to be useful for us in the end, as we laid down the roots of a maturing Russian democracy, managed by Ukrainian and Belarusian modernizers who had a huge stake in the survival of Russian democracy that respects the rule of law, a concept that was apparently not familiar with the old political traditions of the former Russian autocratic regimes. While there were a few checks and balances between the government and its people, it also took care to ensure that no autocrat would be able to arise to challenge the political order. However, the political structure that we took great care to cultivate had to survive an external challenge from Islamist terror groups who constantly harmed our citizens. While the world can justify its protests against former President Azarov's intervention in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, he had a clear goal of rooting out terrorists and withdrawing on schedule, unlike what happened with the Chinese in Burma, or the Americans in Cuba and Nicaragua. We focused our energies on rebuilding our respective nations, and after the reunification, we turned our attention towards the integration of newly arrived immigrants into our country. If you see a German sounding brand at your home, chances are that it's made by an Afrikaner immigrant who built their business in not only Russia, but Ukraine, Belarus, and other parts of the nation. Approximately 2,000,000 Afrikaners have resettled in our territory, with assistance from the Namibian, Zambian, Botswana, and Swazilander governments who did not want to burden themselves with a despised minority that reminded them too much of the colonial period in southern Africa. Intermarriages between the Afrikaners, who gradually regained their identity as Boers, and our local population had been common, although the Boers were quick to convert to the Orthodox faith. The presence of the Afrikaner-Boers in Russia as a whole, along with the gradual opening of Russia's lands to the returning overseas diaspora who suddenly found themselves being unwanted in the so-called prosperous West due to their ethnicity, had resulted in a greater development of our country. However, persistent problems remain, from right-wing extremists who prowl the streets of every major city in Russia, to the bitter Soviet loyalist veterans who are being actively shunned because of their political allegiance during the Second Russian Civil War. We still have work to do to reshape this great nation into what our ancestors would be proud of." Olga Bohomolets, speaking during a Duma Session in Moscow, March 7, 2017, on the progress made since the reunification of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

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REFERENDUM ON MERGER BETWEEN RUSSIA AND UNION STATE BEGINS IN ALL CITIES THROUGHOUT THREE EX-SOVIET REPUBLICS
Syndey Herald
August 9, 1999


Prominent leader of the banned Communist Party of Russia Gennady Zyuganov leads a procession of anti-reunification protesters during the 1998 campaign on the proposed reunification of Russia with the Union State of Ukraine and Belarus.

(Chernobyl, UNION STATE OF UKRAINE AND BELARUS) - The planned referendum on the reunification between the three ex-Soviet republics was launched, with massive campaigns in support of, and opposing the initiative. In the regions closest to Poland and the Baltic States, the opposition campaign was being launched on the platform of maintaining the integrity of the Union State of Ukraine and Belarus as a barrier to a potentially resurgent Russian imperialism, and also favored closer ties to the ECA, the United States, and the NATO alliance. In the regions closest to Russia, and in areas where Orthodox Christianity is more dominant, the campaign supporting the initiative was launched on the platform of closer economic, cultural, and diplomatic ties between the three ex-Soviet republics. Yet in the Russian side of the campaign, the Russian opponents of the planned merger had campaigned on the platform of the reunification being the vehicle of anti-Soviet elements, and favored a gradual slowing of de-Sovietization of Russian politics. The Russian supporters of the planned merger mainly campaigned on nationalistic grounds, but also favored closer ties to the ECA and the US, and at the same time, opposing any further NATO expansion into the rest of Eastern Europe.

"It is a complete tragedy and idiocy on the part of the so-called Russian nationalists who wanted to reunite with their fellow brethren who would not miss an opportunity to insult them behind their backs!" says prominent former Soviet loyalist general Albert Makashov, who was forced to resign from his post after the loyalist defeat in the Second Russian Civil War, and has since moved into politics in an attempt to rehabilitate the defeated Soviet loyalists who fought to protect the old regime. "Ukraine and Belarus, although fraternal republics who spent their best moments with the Russian SFSR, have always been a hotbed of Russophobia, even during the Tsarist period. I think that concentrating our efforts on maintaining a relationship with Ukraine and Belarus would be wasted. The East is where our destiny lies!"

Although the campaign kicked off smoothly, not everyone is keen on the idea of the reunification. For younger generations who lived through the late stages of the Gorbachev period and all of the Second Russian Civil War, the merger is not their biggest concern.

"Right now, our families are struggling to bring food on the table because of a lack of jobs. All of the factories producing essential goods are being slowly rebuilt, and those fat cats who made themselves rich are just as ignorant of the common man as ever," says Russian university student Evgeny Ulyanov, while participating in an anti-reunification rally. "I think that rebuilding our economy should be the top priority right now."

Likewise, the traditionally anti-Russian elements of the Ukrainian and Belarusian nationalist movements have echoed their own sentiments.

"This planned merger is basically a return of Russian imperialism, under the guise of a peaceful reunification. Hitler had annexed Austria under the guise of a peaceful reunification between Germany and Austria, and we fear being absorbed into Russia once again," says Belarusian pro-European integration activist Alyaksandra Mackievic during the pro-independence rally in Hrodno. "Mark my words: if this reunification succeeds, then Russia will not stop there. How long until we hear the words Russian imperial aggression once again?"

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UNITY THROUGH HATE - THE DARK ORIGINS OF THE REUNIFICATION OF RUSSIA, UKRAINE AND BELARUS
Time Magazine
August 23, 2018

It has been almost twenty years to the day that Russia witnessed a dark chapter in its post-Soviet period, when a 30,000 strong column of Russian nationalists attempted their own version of the infamous March on Rome, by marching into Moscow. Although the Russian nationalist movement since the Second Russian Civil War had exposed some of its glaring weakness, many Russian liberals and other ECA officials can agree that there is a danger of Russia falling into the hands of a would-be demagogue. That Russian demagogue would forcibly reunite the lands that made up of the former Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, and would launch World War Three. Yet, for all its efforts, the March on Moscow had lost its momentum and have fallen to infighting between the emerging factions: the so-called National Bolsheviks that rallied around left-wing conspiracy theorist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who also hosts a talk show called 'Sovetskaya Pravda', the explicitly neo-Nazi right wing demagogue in Aleksander Ivanov-Sukharevsky, and several other oddball movements that have neo-pagan and Christian Restorationist flavors in it. Then, there are the famed prikhodniks, who found themselves regaining their sense of Russian spirit.

For 37 year old Ruslan Mirkulov, a former prikhodnik who, like the famous VDV prikhodnik Pyotr Belyayev who was also interviewed by Time Magazine, had started off his career in the Russian military. In his case, he enlisted in the Russian Naval Infantry and emerged as an officer. However, Mirkulov's superiors in the Russian Naval Infantry officer corps had been influenced by a former National Redemption Army officer who became involved in ultranationalist movements named Vladislav Alekseyevich Achalov.

"General Achalov was a VDV officer, much like Generals Lebed and Khabarov. Yet, he accumulated enough influence to twist the minds of other former NRA officers who felt cheated by the Burbulis administration," comments Mirkulov when asked about the man. "In his spare time, General Achalov would often read books on history. Pre-war Japanese history was an interest that he acquired, mainly because of his post as the commander of the Far Eastern Military District after General Khabarov was reassigned to the post of commander of the Siberia Military District. He knew that there will be a point where either China or Japan would pose a threat to the Russian Far East once again."

Mirkulov would find himself posted in the Russian Far East, as a part of the newly created 42nd Naval Infantry Brigade. Formed after the Second Russian Civil War, the Russian 42nd Naval Infantry Brigade did not see much action until Joint Challenge Infinite Stratos occurred in 2015. Mirkulov's unit participated in all phases of the exercise, and had passed with flying colors. But for the Russian naval infantryman, the politics was hard to avoid.

"Much like the Japanese military before the war, General Achalov saw that the Russian military was becoming split along ideological lines. In this case, the radicals came from the defeated Soviet loyalist side who did not like the complete destruction of the Soviet legacy, and wanted to resurrect the Soviet Union on a purely National Bolshevik structure. These radicals had the ear of General Achalov and that buffoon Zhirinovsky," Mirkulov explains to us while pointing at an old newspaper article that highlighted the incidents that Achalov found himself in. "Achalov was, in the words of FSB Director Sergei Smirnov, becoming a radical demagogue in the Tadiar or Corbalan vein. Ironically enough, one of Alexander Lebed's proteges, Viktor Chechevatov, emerged as the moderate figure in the Russian nationalist faction of the military."

Viktor Chechevatov, another prominent ex-National Redemption Army general who became a top leader in the modern Russian military, had raised alarms about political radicalism within the Russian Armed Forces. His allegiance to President Burbulis and his support for former Soviet politician turned business mogul Boris Yeltsin was a sore point for the radicals, and it was one of the reasons that the radicals around Achalov had made plans in the event of another major political upheaval to have the alpha moderate assassinated. His role in the reforms of the Russian military had been helpful to the Naval Infantry, which oversaw the greatest expansion of its organization since the end of the Soviet Union.

"General Chechevatov learned under Defense Minister Lebed, and the most important thing that Lebed taught him was that professionalism and a major overhaul of the training system for the Russian soldier is the way to the future, and that we are not going to simply throw the soldier into the battlefield without sufficient training," Mirkulov explains as he showed us one of his old military textbooks that he had to study while at the academy. "The Second Russian Civil War taught the current military leadership all about modern warfare, and the reason why the Soviet loyalists had lost that civil war was because they were stuck on the outdated military mindset that would have worked in the Great Patriotic War, but not in the modern era."

When asked about the March on Moscow, Mirkulov merely smiled.

"I was in Moscow to visit my parents and girlfriend when I heard about the rally. I went to Manezhna Square to check it out, and sure enough, we saw an odd bunch of nationalists," Mirkulov recalls the event in which he marched alongside other off duty soldiers under the banner of the People's Party of Russia. "You had these crazy NazBols arguing with the boneheads with swastikas, and there were the other prikhodnik oddballs who looked a bit lost."

As Mirkulov continues to recall the March on Moscow, his facial expression suddenly turned grim.

"We first came across the checkpoint guarded by the OMON police force. They looked serious on cracking down on us. Even worse, we saw these Soviet loyalist veterans and the nostalgists who looked more like the Western antifa caricatures that we saw during the infamous Roanoke Massacre." Mirkulov could also remember the infamous Roanoke Massacre when 52 anti-fascist counter-demonstrators were beaten up by far-right extremists who fought in the former Soviet Union as part of the ultra-right Grey Legion set up by the National Redemption Army. "The police did not need to pull the trigger in this case. The far-left and the far-right viciously beat each other up."

The March on Moscow eventually ended with the OMON police firing tear gas into both sides of the crowd, but not before Vladimir Zhirinovsky was pelted with orange juice by Aleksander Barkashov himself.

"That one was hilarious. We saw the same skinheads carrying a large carton of orange juice, and they threw it at the nostalgists," Mirkulov laughed lightly, but frowned at the next subject that came up. "Then the radicals launched what appeared to be the biggest coup attempt since the Second Russian Civil War."

An attempted coup launched by Achalov, who was soon supported by Albert Makashov and Viktor Ilyukhin, soon after the March on Moscow ended in failure. Mirkulov felt nervous about the possible role of the Naval Infantry in the unfolding scenario.

"Achalov's rebel forces, from what I heard, took control of both Sheremtyevo and Domodedovo Airport in Moscow, and was about to capture Vnukovo Airport when they were surprised by the loyalist forces," says fellow Naval Infantry Junior Sergeant Ivan Boshov (originally spelled Boshoff). "Luckily for us in Vladivostok, we stopped the coup attemp there with some unexpected help."

That unexpected help given to the loyalists who fought off a pro-communist coup came from an unexpected source: the military arm of the Provisional Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which was based in Vladivostok.

"We were surprised to see the Korean National Liberation Army soldiers dressed in our fatigues stop a rag tag group of would-be coup plotters and hold them captive while we confiscated their weapons. Then again, it wasn't surprising to us, given that the former North Korean VI Corps had sensed that something went wrong when the Soviet nostalgists held a rally in Vladivostok a few days prior to the coup," Boshov explains while he and Mirkulov showed us the pictures of the ex-North Korean VI Corps soldier posing for a picture with them. "Imagine the surprise we got when the next day, General Boris Yugai arrived in Vladivostok to take charge of the prisoners."

News of the failed attempt in Vladivostok did not stop Achalov, who also seized control of the rest of the military bases around the Moscow military district. Fears of a potential Third Russian Civil War was raised, and the events in Russia had nearly overtaken the other major events around the world, namely the Mexican Civil War and the American invasions of Cuba and Nicaragua.

"I recalled watching the news of the Russian White House being bombed from the skies by the rebel forces, and it was at this moment that President Burbulis suffered some significant injuries," Boshov explained to us, recalling the time that the entire Naval Infantry unit watched the news in Moscow. "To us, it looked like President Burbulis was losing control of the entire country, but in his hour of desperation, he turned to Defense Minister Lebed and FSB Chief Smirnov to stop the coup."

The order issued to Rosgvardiya troops to take control of all border crossings at the border shared by Russia and its neighbors was profound, but it raised fears in the Baltic States and Poland when news of the rebel uprising was broadcasted.

"It wouldn't surprise us if we heard that NATO was mobilizing its troops at the border with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, and yet the only thing we heard about the international response to Achalov's uprising was that NATO had admitted Poland, Hungary, Czechia, and Slovakia, with even Austria applying for membership. That was before the ECA was toying with the idea of a purely Europe-centric military force. Thankfully, the Brits and the Dutch torpedoed the idea," Mirkulov told us after we saw yet another one of the old newspaper articles that he kept. "We never forgot the reactions of British Prime Minister Blair and Dutch Prime Minister Frits Bolkestein on the Russian news."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair's opposition to the ECA's idea of a proposed European Defense Force was not only the cornerstone of his administration, but that of succeeding administrations soon after him. Likewise, the surprise victory of Dutch Prime Minister Fridrik Bolkestein over Wim Kok was due to his opposition to the proposed European Defense Force, in favor of maintaining the NATO alliance. Yet, NATO expansion into the former Warsaw Pact nations had been another sore point of General Achalov, who accused President Burbulis of complacency when it came to expanding into the borders of the old USSR.

"Many of us here in Russia never forgot about the role that the ECA played in stopping the coup, but all it did was to make Burbulis look weak, and the role of the Russian Presidency compromised. Now, all of a sudden, one of the key points that tipped the scales in favor of reunification between Russia and the Union State of Ukraine and Belarus emerged in the proposed political reform that would weaken the authority of the Russian President, and transfer most of its powers into the Duma. That was the proposal that both Presidents Burbulis and Azarov placed on the referendum, and it looked like Russia was about to experience a political Mohylization," Mirkulov references the recently invented political term where Ukraine and Belarus would exert influence on Russian politics. "Even after the reunification, Azarov still managed to drag Russia into its first post-Soviet conflict, but it was a necessary thing."

That 'necessary thing' Mirkulov refers to was the 2000-2003 Russian military intervention in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, where the rebuilt Russian military was deployed to battle the al-Qaeda terrorists that have occupied much of Central Asia. At the same time, Iran had sent its military to battle the same al-Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, marking the beginning of a military cooperation between Russia and Iran. Yet, unlike the US invasion of Cuba and Nicaragua, or China's aggression in the West Philippine Sea, the international community rallied behind President Jack Kemp's call to impose sanctions on Russia, but that failed when al-Qaeda launched another terrorist attack against the US, this time it detonated a car bomb outside a Florida resort called Mar-a-Lago.

"I don't understand why the US was calling us aggressors when they also pulled off the same stunt against Cuba and Nicaragua. Moreover, we had a legitimate reason to intervene in Kazakhstan, and that was because of the terrorists!" Mirkulov snapped when asked about the difference between the American and Russian military adventures. "Apparently, none of us in the military forgot that it was America that helped train the very same terrorists that they're now dealing with in Florida."

As for the so-called 1998 Russian coup attempt by Achalov, Mirkulov had a clear explanation.

"The Belarusian and Ukrainian intelligence agencies coordinated their efforts with the FSB in dealing with Achalov's rebels. Once, they even stopped a rebel incursion into the Ukrainian city of Luhansk, and that was done by both the loyalist and Ukrainian forces," Mirkulov recalls the incident. "In the end, the rebels enacted one final move that proved to be the most decisive in the Russian people turning against Achalov. They bombed the Duma, and killed the people inside."

Ironically, the political and intelligence figures who were inside the Duma when it was being bombed had liberal or progressive leanings. By the time the final death toll was counted, all of Russia was stunned at the news of so many deaths of prominent Russian liberals, including prominent Russian Jews like Boris Nemtsov, Yevgeny Primakov, and Grigory Yavlinsky, as well as former Russian Internal Affairs Minister Vladimir Putin, who also served his last years as Prime Minister under Gennady Burbulis from 1996, until his death at the hands of Achalov.

"Viktor Ilyukhin and Albert Makashov had boasted that they were going to wipe out the Zhids inside the Duma when they got their hands on some bombers or helicopters. Tragically, they were able to do just that, but the pilots who committed the crime shot themselves in the head afterwards," Mirkulov grimaces as he and Boshov remembered that one pilot who apologized over the radio. "Since then, the Russian military leadership was being purged of Achalov's radicals, and the former Soviet loyalist veterans who participated in this coup attempt were simply sent to Black Dolphin."

The notorious Black Dolphin prison, along with its own version of Alcatraz in Ognenny Ostrov, or Fire Island, emerged as major prison centers where the most dangerous criminals were being sent. Achalov and his followers who were soon arrested and tried for their crimes had ended up there. As for the officers in the Russian Naval Infantry who sided with Achalov, many of them were forced to resign in disgrace.

"We were finally happy when we were assigned a new commander of the 42nd Naval Infantry Brigade, and from what I heard, he was friendly towards the Boer soldiers in the Naval Infantry," Boshov commented after saluting the aforementioned new officer. "He played a major role in the joint military exercise in Japan."

Although the memories of that fateful event gradually faded in the minds of both Ruslan Mirkulov and Ivan Boshov, both men were now weary of various kinds of extremists that existed, both inside the military, and outside.

"I despised those neo-Nazis that often marched alongside traditional nationalists, since it was their kind that allowed us Afrikaner-Boers to be expelled from our homeland. It practically gave the communists a second chance in proving their toxic ideology in South Africa, and it shows," Boshov said as he showed us the pictures of him and his family from when they were still alive. "I arrived in Russia as an orphan, and was adopted by a family of Chuvash heritage. My experience in South Africa made me more opposed to neo-Nazism. Let's hope that it remains dead here."

[stevep]

  Zyobot ,

   One issue is that I'm uncertain that many Boers would convert to Orthodox given how important their Calvinist faith was to their culture.  Also 2 million Boers would be approaching the entire OTL population I think.  Checking the 2011 S African census with a population of ~55M some 8.9% were white and about half of those would be English.  So having 2 million people of Boer descent in Russia ~2000 AD would seem rather excessive.

  Otherwise interesting chapter and confirms my view that Russia seems to have been treated harshly by the rest of the world for its intervention in C Asia to oppose Al Quada.  Ironic seeing Putin being remembered as a liberal.

  Steve

[TheRomanSlayer]

There may be a few Calvinist churches being built in Russia ITTL, but keep in mind that the Orthodox Church (both TTL and OTL) are weary of Catholic and Protestant presences on Russian soil. Another factor that may contribute to the slight population boom of Boers in Russia ITTL is the intermarriage between them and the locals, plus the lack of farm attacks that IOTL have resulted in over 3,000 deaths.

ITTL, the Afrikaner-Boers have also settled in the US as well, but not as many due to the distrust aimed at them from the African American community there.

[Zyobot]

Jul 15, 2021 12:33:07 GMT stevep said:

  Zyobot ,

   One issue is that I'm uncertain that many Boers would convert to Orthodox given how important their Calvinist faith was to their culture.  Also 2 million Boers would be approaching the entire OTL population I think.  Checking the 2011 S African census with a population of ~55M some 8.9% were white and about half of those would be English.  So having 2 million people of Boer descent in Russia ~2000 AD would seem rather excessive.

  Otherwise interesting chapter and confirms my view that Russia seems to have been treated harshly by the rest of the world for its intervention in C Asia to oppose Al Quada.  Ironic seeing Putin being remembered as a liberal.

  Steve

I’m afraid I can’t really respond to your points, Steve. Seeing as I’ve neither written, nor read this story in detail. I should, however, set aside some time to do so in the near future, since it looks and sounds interesting enough. 

[stevep]

Jul 15, 2021 16:14:24 GMT Zyobot said:

Jul 15, 2021 12:33:07 GMT stevep said:

  Zyobot ,

   One issue is that I'm uncertain that many Boers would convert to Orthodox given how important their Calvinist faith was to their culture.  Also 2 million Boers would be approaching the entire OTL population I think.  Checking the 2011 S African census with a population of ~55M some 8.9% were white and about half of those would be English.  So having 2 million people of Boer descent in Russia ~2000 AD would seem rather excessive.

  Otherwise interesting chapter and confirms my view that Russia seems to have been treated harshly by the rest of the world for its intervention in C Asia to oppose Al Quada.  Ironic seeing Putin being remembered as a liberal.

  Steve

I’m afraid I can’t really respond to your points, Steve. Seeing as I’ve neither written, nor read this story in detail. I should, however, set aside some time to do so in the near future, since it looks and sounds interesting enough. 

  Apologies.  Senior moment.  Not sure what the hell made me label you rather than TRS.

[Zyobot]

Jul 15, 2021 18:05:13 GMT stevep said:

Jul 15, 2021 16:14:24 GMT Zyobot said:

I’m afraid I can’t really respond to your points, Steve. Seeing as I’ve neither written, nor read this story in detail. I should, however, set aside some time to do so in the near future, since it looks and sounds interesting enough. 

  Apologies.  Senior moment.  Not sure what the hell made me label you rather than TRS.

It's fine, no worries.

[TheRomanSlayer]

Jul 15, 2021 18:05:51 GMT Zyobot said:

Jul 15, 2021 18:05:13 GMT stevep said:

  Apologies.  Senior moment.  Not sure what the hell made me label you rather than TRS.

It's fine, no worries.

If you have some ideas for the TL after you've read them, don't hesitate to give them to me.

[Zyobot]

Jul 16, 2021 2:18:02 GMT TheRomanSlayer said:

Jul 15, 2021 18:05:51 GMT Zyobot said:

It's fine, no worries.

If you have some ideas for the TL after you've read them, don't hesitate to give them to me.

Will do. For now, it seems I've got quite a bit of reading to do, so there may be a delay, if you want all my thoughts packed into one or two posts that encapsulate my reaction to the whole story.

[TheRomanSlayer]

Chapter Seventy One: A New Global Jejemon Arises

PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT-IN-EXILE APPOINTS JESSICA SOHO AS NEW PRESS SECRETARY, AMIDST CABINET SHUFFLE
Vancouver Sun
May 27, 1999

(Whistler) - Eager to expand their diplomatic presence in the international arena, the Whistler-based Philippine government-in-exile has appointed another exiled journalist named Jessica Soho as the new press secretary. Soho, who covered the events of the Filipino Civil War, was marked by the Tadiar regime for liquidation when she interviewed former Marcos loyalist Edgardo Abenina for his role in the attempt to revive the banned Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, or the Movement for New Society in Filipino, during the aborted uprising in the early days of the Tadiar dictatorship. Given a warning by a sympathetic colleague in the Philippine media giant GMA on the possible assassination attempts on her life, Soho would flee to the Canadian Embassy in Manila, where she announced her defection. The powerhouse journalist also joined the government-in-exile, initially as an assistant working under government-in-exile President Corazon Aquino, before her promotion to Press Secretary.

"We are pleased to announce the appointment of Jessica Soho as our Press Secretary. Her exemplary record back in the Philippines will be of great asset in managing all press conferences between our government-in-exile and the public," comments President Corazon Aquino during a press conference in Vancouver. "As an eyewitness to the first few years of the Tadiar dictatorship, she has an intimate knowledge about the human rights violations that were committed on orders of Artemio Tadiar."

Although there was a silent response to this important appointment, the presence of one of Asia's rising stars in journalism in Canada is an indication of how press freedom in the Philippines has declined to the levels worse than during the Marcos regime. Under the Tadiar regime, approximately 68 journalists have been killed in the Philippines since 1989, making it one of the most dangerous nations in the world for journalists. It is also expected that by the year 2000, the Philippines will ranked as the 1st most dangerous nation in the world for journalists.

"Press freedom is the cornerstone of our democracy, and the Tadiar regime has resorted to measures that is worse than during when Marcos was president," Jessica Soho explains to a BC Global TV journalist, during an interview in Vancouver, prior to her appointment as Press Secretary of the Philippine Government-in-Exile. "It has gotten worse to the point where NICA agents have assassinated exiled journalists, as well as delivered parcel bombs to foreign reporters who were either in the Philippines, or have worked overseas that have uncovered some of the worst scandals involving the Tadiar dictatorship. Ask Vilma Pascual how that went after she uncovered a major scandal involving the Philippine military attache in Turkey, and his involvement in training both Uyghur and Crimean Tatar separatists."

The infamous Ardahan Scandal of 1998, along with the concurrent break up of the notorious Bakhchysaray spy ring, was a major diplomatic scandal that occurred throughout the beginning of 1998, when former Philippine military attache Angelo Reyes became the second Filipino military officer to defect to the Embassy of the Union State of Ukraine and Belarus after Hermogenes Esperon. Upon his arrival at said embassy, Reyes had revealed to the embassy staff, as well as Ukrainian intelligence of an existence of the spy ring in Bakhchysaray, and the role that Brigadier General Rodolfo Calzado had played in training not only the Crimean Tatar nationalists that would launch an uprising against the Union State, but it had also trained Circassian paramilitaries for a potential war with Russia. The scandal that broke out in Ardahan started when another Filipino attache, a certain Brigadier General Oscar Florendo, had given a folder containing sensitive intelligence reports to Vilma Pascual, one of the journalists who covered the EDSA Uno Tragedy that cemented Tadiar's notoriety, before he illegally crossed the border to the Georgian Federal Republic, where he announced his defection and has lived there since. As for Pascual, Turkish intelligence failed to assassinate her, leading to her defection to Georgia as well.

---

Op-Ed: Hypebeasts and Jejemons Among Football Hooligans
by: Pedro Kalingan


A mixture of stiffhounds and hypebeasts at an Azkals football friendly in 2017, against Vietnam. The hypebeast phenomenon has also reached the football hooligan culture as well, much to the annoyance of the hardcore football ultras who viewed the hypebeasts as simpletons.

"It seems that the emerging sub-culture of the Filipino exile community has found its way into the realm of sports hooliganism, which I belong to. My team, the Melbourne Victory, is not immune to the presence of the new football fans from the Filipino exile community. The trend started back in 2001, when these jejemons were just in their teenage years and were often spotted with cheap clothing, before they became wise enough to realize that they need to get a job, so they can purchase some of the merchandise from the team they are supporting. Melbourne Victory started this trend, and soon ever Australian football team had their own kinds of hypebeasts and jejemons. Well, the jejemons became hated within the football hooligan community, mainly because of their ignorance of football culture and their tendency to make a fool of themselves. When the internet gradually became faster in 2007, these jejemons were facing increased ridicule for hipsterizing football hooligan culture. It is not surprising that neo-Nazis often used jejemons and their upgraded cousins, the hypebeasts, as punching bags, resulting in certain tragedies, such as the 2008 Warragul Riot, when several hypebeasts were trying to make one of those cringe videos in an attempt to impress the white Australian girls, resulting in a fight between the hypebeasts, and angry locals. The jejemons and hypebeasts also fought against the Filipino exile version of the stiffhounds, which are the frugal guys who don't spend a lot of money. Yet, one famous former stiffhound eventually became an international football star. You know the name: Bruno Tyrconnell, the emerging star of Galatasaray FC and the Australian national football team. Tyrconnell has chosen to represent Australia, due to his mother's advice against representing the Philippines because of her past as a former Marcos loyalist. Before his rise to fame, Tyrconnell was one of the football jocks who studied hard in high school and played football as a midfielder. Although he did not graduate as a valedictorian, his experience as part of Melbourne Victory's youth system had attracted attention from other football teams around Australia, but Tyrconnell chose to play for Melbourne Victory, before being signed to his first international team on a one year agreement with Ascenso MX's Dorados de Sinaloa. While still a stiffhound at heart, Tyrconnell is often heard in the news, engaging in philanthropy, where he donates a quarter of his salary to various charities that deal with mental disabilities.

It is widely known that the stiffhound turned football star Tyrconnell was one of the harshest critics of the growing hypebeast/jejemon phenomenon that has taken root in the football hooligan culture, as their tendency to show off in such an improper fashion that has resulted in widespread anger from genuine football hooligans. The only saving grace was that when Exiled Barkada arrived in Australia on a fundraiser performance for Francis M's surgery, each of its members gave one advice to the hypebeasts and jejemons in the audience: instead of being an embarassment to the Filipino exile community, they should strive to become the agents of change. That advice was once again reinforced when for the first time since the fall of the Marcos regime and the lifting of the travel ban on the Philippines in 2007, the Azkals played a friendly with Australia in front of a sold out crowd in August 12, 2014, which was actually hosted in the Philippines. Although the Azkals did play a friendly back in 2012 against Yugoslavia, that was played in Red Star Stadium in the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade, in which the only few Filipinos could be found are the tourists from Western Europe, or the local Balkan Filipino community, many of whom have lived in Croatia. Australia eventually won that game 5-1, with Alex Wilkinson scoring two goals and Tyrconnell scored once. Yet, the interaction between the Azkal Ultras and their Australian counterparts was kept to a minimum, with the Azkal Ultras being encouraged to watch both North American and European football matches, just to see how the football hooligans conduct themselves. The only saving grace though, was that the jejemons and hypebeasts began to transmit their sub-culture back to the Philippines around 2014, when underground rap competitions were being held in basements, to avoid detection by local police. It was the attempted confiscation of an Exiled Barkada pirated CD from a UP Diliman student that led to the university-wide rebellion against its pro-Tadiar head, which spiraled into the biggest student-led revolution since the Marcos regime. We knew by the iconic title: 'The Barkada on the Street', which eventually mushroomed into the Barkada Revolution. The Barkada Revolution played a major role in sending Loren Legarda into the Presidency, and forcing Tadiar to step down. The only good thing that the hypebeasts and jejemons actually succeeded in doing, was to bring down the Tadiar regime. The only thing left is: will the hypebeasts and jejemons start to calm down, now that Mama Loren is in charge, and not Artemio Tadiar?"
---

A NEW RIVAL EMERGES: EXILED BARKADA FACING COMPETITION FROM PRO-TADIAR JUNTA RAP GROUP HUKBONG BERDUGO
Kabankalan Tribune
November 8, 2015

(Kabankalan) - In what appears to be Artemio Tadiar's attempts to prevent the loss of his power base, he has decided to wage a different kind of war. This time, he was going to use pop culture to win over any skeptics who might have second thoughts on supporting his bid to stay in power. Thus, he has given support to former military veterans of the 2002-2004 Second Korean War who decided to form their own political rap group, Hukbong Berdugo. The group, which was named after their commanding officer, Jovito Palparan, who was given the nickname 'El Berdugo' for his brutal strategy of encircling three North Korean Army regiments in the Battle of Anbyon, which resulted in a Coalition victory that included the Philippines, normally by grinding them in a war of attrition. In addition to the rock star Arisaka, Hukbong Berdugo started off as a rap group before attracting the attention of not only Artemio Tadiar himself, but Saulito Aromin and Edgardo Doromal, now grooming Nicanor Faeldon to become another potential dictator while simultaneously molding Elly Pamatong for a similar role.

"We are Hukbong Berdugo, and we support our General," the founder of Hukbong Berdugo, former Sergeant Victor Gacutan, said during an interview. "Exiled Barkada is nothing more than dogs of exiled cowards who said nothing when we faced Chinese bombs. We took our revenge on them during the Second Korean War, while the exiles were chanting for peace in East Asia."

Hukbong Berdugo, although popular in some parts of rural Philippines, have been banned from performing overseas, like their fellow artist Arisaka. Their explicitly racist lyrics, along with various anti-communist, anti-globalist, and oddly enough, anti-imperialist verses, were the main reason for their ban. Yet, even they faced scrutiny from their benefactor when they included in one of their songs a veiled criticism of Hiroo Onoda's ownership of land in Lubang Island.

"A national disgrace that we bear, when the Butcher of Lubang became a landowner. We'll dig our own graves on his property, to remind him of the victims he's killed," one of the verses in the song 'National Disgrace' quoted. "A national disgrace that we endure, when Makapili rats sell out their countrymen and roll in carabao manure."

It seems that Hukbong Berdugo's slight anti-Japanese sentiment expressed in their songs was partly influenced by their stay in what was then the former South Korea, before Korean Reunification occurred. Thousands of Korean soldiers have explained their ancestors' struggles against the Japanese colonial authorities and have begged their Filipino counterparts to resist Tadiar's pro-Japanese stance. Even more so, all members of Hukbong Berdugo have Korean wives, which revived an old trend stemming from the First Korean War, when the Filipino soldiers as part of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea returned home with Korean war brides.

---

1998-99 NHL Season Playoffs:

Eastern Conference:

(1) Ottawa Senators
(2) New Jersey Devils
(3) Carolina Hurricanes
(4) Philadelphia Flyers
(5) Boston Bruins
(6) Pittsburgh Penguins
(7) Toronto Maple Leafs
(8) Buffalo Sabres

Western Conference:

(1) Dallas Stars [President's Cup Winnter]
(2) Colorado Avalanche
(3) Phoenix Coyotes
(4) Anaheim Mighty Ducks
(5) St. Louis Blues
(6) Detroit Red Wings
(7) Edmonton Oilers
(8) San Jose Sharks

ECQF:

(1) Ottawa Senators 1
(8) Buffalo Sabres 4

(2) New Jersey Devils 3
(7) Toronto Maple Leafs 4

(3) Carolina Hurricanes 2
(6) Pittsburgh Penguins 4

(4) Philadelphia Flyers 1
(5) Boston Bruins 4

WCQF:

(1) Dallas Stars 4
(8) San Jose Sharks 1

(2) Colorado Avalanche 4
(7) Edmonton Oilers 0

(3) Phoenix Coyotes 2
(6) Detroit Red Wings 4

(4) Anaheim Mighty Ducks 0
(5) St. Louis Blues 4

ECSF:

(1) Ottawa Senators 1
(7) Toronto Maple Leafs 4

(5) Boston Bruins 3
(6) Pittsburgh Penguins 4

WCSF:

(1) Dallas Stars 3
(6) Detroit Red Wings 4

(2) Colorado Avalanche 4
(5) St. Louis Blues 1

ECF:

(6) Pittsburgh Penguins 4
(7) Toronto Maple Leafs 0

WCF:

(2) Colorado Avalanche 4
(6) Detroit Red Wings 2

Stanley Cup Finals:

(WC2) Colorado Avalanche 4
(EC6) Pittsburgh Penguins 3

---

FIFA, UEFA, TO HOLD MEETINGS WITH RUSSIAN, UKRAINIAN, AND BELARUSIAN FOOTBALL FEDERATIONS ON STATUS OF NATIONAL TEAMS AFTER REUNIFICATION OF THREE STATES
ESPN
July 30, 1999

(Geneva, SWITZERLAND) - FIFA and UEFA today held an emergency meeting with the heads of both the Russian and the joint Ukrainian-Belarusian football federations on their status should the referendum on the reunification between Russia and the Union State of Ukraine and Belarus pass in favor of approval. The main talks focused more on the players themselves, since they had some reservations on playing for a reunified team. Although no official agreement has been passed yet, speculations and rumors are rife about fielding a joint team from all three nations, to even simply creating an all-Russian team that would include players who previously played for the Ukrainian and Belarusian national football teams.

"The political issue of the reunification between Russia and Ukraine-Belarus is important for FIFA, because of how it will affect major tournaments and even qualifications for future FIFA World Cup tournaments," says FIFA President Sepp Blatter, during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland. "While both Russia and Ukraine-Belarus could follow the example of the United Kingdom, and keep their national football teams separate, that might create a dangerous precedent, as the autonomous republics within those three states may also demand a national football team of their own."

While there is no possibility of the constituent republics within Russia forming their own football teams and seeking admittance into UEFA, the AFC, and FIFA, the Confederation of Independent Football Associations could open its doors to potential new members from those autonomous republics within Russia and Ukraine-Belarus. As the autonomous republics are not recognized as sovereign states by the UN and FIFA, they are theoretically qualified to join COINFA, but not FIFA. Likewise, the option of keeping the teams separate already has a precedence: the United Kingdom does not have a single, unified team, but consisted of four different football federations consisting of Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England. On their end, the heads of their respective football federations have also explored that option as well.

"I think that keeping the teams separate may also generate some additional rivalries, but also foster greater cooperation and competition as well," says Russian national football team coach and manager Philippe Troussier, when asked about his opinions on the teams in general. "Ukraine and Belarus have their own styles of gameplay, and they employ their own coaches too. My style of gameplay that I have introduced to the Russian team is different, and that I have also looked at developing the younger players, especially with the Russia U-19 and U-23 teams."

---

AFGHAN NORTHERN ALLIANCE LAUNCHES INVASION OF TALIBAN-HELD SOUTHERN HAZARAJAT, ETHNIC HAZARAS LIVING UNDER TALIBAN OCCUPATION LAUNCH UPRISING IN CONJUNCTION WITH INVASION FORCES
Sydney Herald
June 4, 1999


Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud holds an informal conversation with his followers, on the eve of their invasion of Taliban-occupied southern Hazarajat.

(Bamyan, AFGHANISTAN) - The Taliban, facing an increased logistical crisis from the newly emerging Northern Alliance's control of Northern Afghanistan, had embraced themselves for an invasion from the 21,000 strong Northern Alliance contingent, led by charismatic former Mujahideen turned Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. The invasion, which was targeting the southern portions of the region called Hazarajat, had been expected by the Taliban. Anticipating the invasion by the Northern Alliance, the Taliban resorted to forced relocations of the remaining Hazara population there into the rest of southern Afghanistan, but in the town of Mayel, an entire Hazara community had taken up arms and started to engage the Taliban in a series of hit and run attacks, leading to further repression by the Taliban.

"We have received reports of additional uprising by our brothers and sisters who continue to suffer from the tyranny of the Taliban," says Hezbe Wahdat founder Karim Khalil, when asked about the uprisings in Taliban-occupied southern Hazarajat. "As a result, there are now 1,900 Hazara fighters that are now engaging the Taliban behind enemy lines."

It is also expected that Bamyan will become the major target of the Northern Alliance, and with it, the rest of southern Hazarajat would soon fall. Similarly, the Taliban saw Bamyan as its red line, fearing that its conquest by the Northern Alliance would open the way to the rest of southern Afghanistan, and thereby precipitate the collapse of its authority. Yet, the Taliban held an effective advantage over its Northern Alliance rivals in that they have received major funding from regional Islamic powers like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, while the Hazaras are a weak link in the Northern Alliance. Furthermore, the Taliban can count on the support of its Al-Qaeda allies that are operating in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Fearing a potential enemy on its eastern borders, the Iranian clerical regime authorized the covert deployment of its elite Quds force (a unit within the Iranian Revolutionary Guard) to Afghanistan, under Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour.

"As it stands, Afghanistan runs the risk of falling under a hostile power that doesn't hide their disdain for the Shia Islamic faith," says Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, during a Majli session in front of its members. "This is an unacceptable risk that will undermine our national security. Therefore, with the blessing of the Grand Ayatollah, I have authorized the shipment of military aid to the Afghan Northern Alliance, under the command of Ahmad Shah Massoud."

---

"The US was preoccupied with their occupation of Cuba and Nicaragua when news of the Afghan Civil War made it to the world headlines. Unlike the occupation of those two Latin American countries, the situation in the Middle East and South Asia had been far more delicate, as much of our oil comes from there. That is, before President Kemp passed one of the most controversial natural resource centric laws ever made. It was the so-called Domestic Petroleum Production Act of 1999 that called for government subsidizing of ExxonMobil, Chevron, and other various oil companies, that threw a wrench on both former Presidents Bob Dole and Jesse Jackson's desire for the United States to transition back into the railway period. Yet, at the same time, Vice President Lamar Alexander saw the national security angle of America securing its own domestic petroleum production that it started to scale back on its purchase of foreign oil. Moreover, President Kemp saw the emerging success of various Russian oil and gas companies as a threat to American dominance of the petroleum industry. At the same time, we must look back at the 1998 Mid-term elections that saw a huge stunner in Texas's gubernatorial electoral victory of Ross Perot over George W. Bush, and the emerging presence of the Libertarians in the Lone Star State. The rest of the Mid-term elections saw a couple more gains in the seats for various other Libertarians, including in Arizona, where an emerging star in Gary Johnson has won his seat as a House Representative for his riding. The small scale Libertarian victories however, came at the expense of the Republicans, whose handling of the Cuban and Nicaraguan occupation had nearly costed them both the House of Representatives and the Senate to the Democrats. In addition, Hillary Clinton's continued popularity had frightened some of the Republican establishment into finding a suitable candidate that can take on Hillary if needed. Luckily for them, the declining popularity of California's Democratic establishment on the state level has resulted in a surprise Republican re-emergence, led by Carly Fiorina. As we may well know, Carly Fiorina was known for her role as a volunteer in giving relief to the survivors of the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. She was also famous within the sports community, often appearing in baseball games where she often gave a speech on California's recovery from the dreadful earthquake. 1999 in California was not only going to be the 10th anniversary of the Loma Prieta Earthquake, but also the 10th anniversary of the memorable World Series victory of the San Diego Padres over the Toronto Blue Jays. However, all of the domestic joys and sorrows seemed insignificant when news of the Taliban's successful defense of Bamyan reached the world headlines by June 8th, inflicting a significant defeat on Massoud's forces long enough for the Taliban to launch an offensive into the other half of Hazarajat that was held by the Northern Alliance. The Taliban would have succeeded, had not Iran intervened in the conflict, which they did by June 13th. Although it was supposed to be a covert aid to the Northern Alliance, the hardliners within the Iranian government had a lot to lose with a hostile Taliban-dominated regime on its eastern borders, in addition to the major presence of Al-Qaeda on its northern border with Turkmenistan. Moreover, the US had already started to scale back some of its troops that were in Iraq as a part of the UN peacekeeping mission that was supposed to help transition the Iraqi government from a brutal dictatorship, into a fully functioning democracy. However, the aspirations of the Iraqi Kurdish government in northern Iraq had not died, even after the international community had managed to stop Turkey, Iran, and Syria, from fully expelling their own Kurdish minority into Iraqi Kurdistan. As a result, Iraqi Kurdistan had declared to the central government in Baghdad that it is no longer willing to participate in the affairs of a united Iraq and has launched a independence referendum. Yet, the United States would refuse such an initiative, fearing that a broken Iraq might allow Iran to take advantage of the power vaccum and install a Shia-dominated Iraqi government. Coupled with a Shia-dominated Syrian government (despite themselves being a minority), the US and primarily Saudi Arabia had spoken of a Shia Arc that would strangle the ability of Saudi Arabia and Turkey to project their influence into the rest of the Middle East. It was for this reason that President Kemp would propose to the United Nations of a potential federalization plan for Iraq, but Iran objected to the American proposal. In addition, the Iraqi economy was in a free fall, thanks to Basra being under Iranian occupation. Fearing another potential loss of a captive economy, this time in a region where Israel is located, the Kemp administration would enter into an informal partnership with an Iraqi caretaker government. This move was probably one of the only rare moves of the Kemp administration that did not have any CIA involvement in it, as the factions within the CIA were busy with the American occupation of Cuba and Nicaragua." Alex Jones, from "Corporate America's Dirty Little Secret", sponsored by 'The American Cause'.

[stevep]

   That is a great line, "resulted in widespread anger from genuine football hooligans"   I feel so much sympathy for the vermin [not].

  Good point with the status of the three USSR successor states if they merged and how it affects their FIFA status.  Thinking about it since Belarus and Ukraine have already merged what happened then?  Assuming their still two separate teams?

[TheRomanSlayer]

ITTL, they still kept their football teams separate despite being in the Union State. However, if they reunite with Russia, this means they would no longer have a team of their own, so unless Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus reform their own Union State, the teams will simply merge themselves.

[kyuzoaoi]

What happens to Tagean-Tallano guy in TTL?

[TheRomanSlayer]

Don't know much about him, and he'll still be an obscure figure even ITTL.

[simeon]

Pray tell though, with Tadiar and those ones in the national government up in their high horses of nationalistic virtue, how much graft and corruption are there in the prefectural level? How about patronage? I doubt even those ones in the Bakufu would put themselves above the last one especially with their increasing differences in opinion.

Oh wait, the government can be likened so much to a Shogunate, daimyos and all, with communists belonging to the untouchable class.

For all that talk of emergency though, has Artemio Tadiar assumed the presidency himself?