Rogue Generals: A Different Post-EDSA Uno Philippines TL

[TheRomanSlayer]

Chapter Eighty-Six: Power Play at its Worst

JOINT ESF-KAZAKH EASTERN OFFENSIVE SUCCESSFUL AS URZHAR IS LIBERATED FROM AL-QAEDA
Moscow Times
March 14, 2001


Kazakh troops stand at the ready as they are being sent to Urzhar for the offensive against Al-Qaeda.

(Urzhar, KAZAKHSTAN) - The city of Urzhar woke up one morning to find various Al-Qaeda fighters fleeing from their posts as the ESF Combined Aerospace Force bomber squadrons had launched a bombing raid on various outposts that they abandoned. In a classic combination of a pincer move and encirclement, the two armies belonging to the East Slavic Federation and Kazakhstan had managed to trap the unlucky Al-Qaeda fighters who were not fast enough to escape the encirclement. Though the ESF soldiers wanted to send them to a POW camp somewhere in Siberia, the Kazakh military leadership quickly shot the idea down. The liberation of Urzhar comes at a time when much of Al-Qaeda in Central Asia are facing serious challenges from the ESF government and that of Iran's clerical regime, which also opted to send their troops to attack Al-Qaeda in Turkmenistan, in cooperation with the Turkmen government. Much of the ESF troops that were sent to Urzhar were predominantly from Ukraine, as evident by their communications and the appearance of the T-84 battle tanks that were deployed. The T-84 is not a part of the inventory of the tank arsenal controlled by the Russian contingent of the ESF military, although a recently upgraded version of the T-80 tank was deployed to the Caspian region of what remained of Western Kazakhstan.

"We've started to provide humanitarian aid to the civilians who were in need of them, as soon as our troops began to enter the city," says General Mikhail Kutsyin (Ukrainian: Mykhailo Kutsyn), when asked about the condition of the civilians inside Urzhar. "Some of our medics have reported over 30 civilians who died from malnutrition, while 47 civilians were injured from the bombing campaign. We took measures to target only military installations, as to minimize civilian casualties."

The Kazakh military on the other hand, had been struggling with supply and equipment issues, as their main tanks and APCs were suffering from chronic shortage of parts and other essential goods needed to repair them. Upon hearing of Kazakhstan's need of military aid, the Israeli government approached their Kazakh counterpart for such an offer, according to Kazakh President Serikbolsyn Abdildin. In addition, the governments of the United States, China, and South Korea, have also approached Kazakhstan with similar offers for military aid, but President Abdildin was hesitant to plunge his country into debt, as much of Kazakhstan's economy has been affected by Al-Qaeda's occupation. Kazakhstan, along with the other Central Asian republics, were the only former Soviet republics to not impose a lustration policy on former Communists that would have banned them from serving in the post-communist government, having been a bastion of the Soviet loyalist government after the fall of Moscow to the National Redemption Army. The preservation of certain traditions that went back to the Soviet period is what also attracted the Chinese to offer more than just military aid to the entirety of the Central Asian region. Its offer of economic assistance, followed by a free trade agreement, has been a source of debate within the Kazakh Mazhlis.

"The People's Republic of China stands ready to assist their Kazakh brothers in eliminating the threat that the terrorists pose to its sovereignty. We share the same enemy in Al-Qaeda, which also backs the terrorists that belong to the East Turkestan Party," Chinese Premier Bo Xilai announced during the session in the National People's Congress. "If needed, the People's Liberation Army will also join the fight alongside the Kazakh military."

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"Central Asia after 2001 had become the center of a new Great Game, this time between the two giants that share the Eurasian continent: the East Slavic Federation, which had become the third incarnation of the Russian Empire, and the People's Republic of China. China's interest in Central Asia was mainly economic, although their security needs were also influenced by Al-Qaeda's presence in the region, and their role in training the Uyghur separatists that launched their insurgency against the Chinese government, starting in August of 2001. The crucial capture of Urzhar by the Kazakh and ESF military had also resulted in the destruction of several Al-Qaeda training camps, which were used to train new militants and Uyghur separatists. The success of the ESF and Kazakh militaries in Kazakhstan was also used by the Chinese government to start sending covert aid to the Kazakh military, not by a shipment of equipment as the Kazakh government had hoped for, but a squadron of 5 Chinese Ilyushin Il-76 transport planes carrying around a total of 600 soldiers from the People's Liberation Army Special Operations Forces. These Chinese special forces troops played a key role in the capture of the Kazakh border town of Horgos, which was being used as a waystation for the East Turkestan Party-aligned Uyghur separatists to travel. From Horgos, the PLASOF would also launch several raids into the other Al-Qaeda training camps that were not destroyed by the ESF Special Aerospace Forces, with the PLAAF bombers carrying out the bombing missions over eastern Kazakhstan. By the time Al-Qaeda had retreated to Almaty, the number of surviving Al-Qaeda fighters had swelled up to 5,000, as various Al-Qaeda commanders proclaimed a jihad on both the ESF and Chinese militaries, with the Kazakh military being singled out for a special kind of punishment campaign. It was at Almaty that the military doctrines of the ESF and Chinese militaries would be put to the test. The operations in Central Asia had an effect on relations between China and the ESF, which was repaired with the state visit to China by ESF Foreign Minister Mikhail Khvostov on May 14, 2001. The following visit to the ESF by Chinese Foreign Minister Zhou Yongkang the next month had not only restored diplomatic relations between the two nations, but had also resulted in the first free trade agreement that was signed between them. The ESF's role in bridging the diplomatic relations with China had also played well with the ECA, which was also keen on maintaining some semblance of foreign relations with the Chinese, though their military adventurism in SE Asia had been a sore point with them. Nevertheless, the Chinese Politburo had constantly criticized the National Redemption Army's conduct during the Second Russian Civil War, and had lamented that it failed to preserve the communist dictatorship in the former Soviet Union, and also failed to bring what remained of the Central Asian republics of the rump USSR to China's sphere of influence. Moreover, the territorial integrity of Kazakhstan was something that Premier Bo had also spoken during his sessions in the National People's Congress, as he supported the restoration of Kazakhstan's territorial integrity to what it was before the Second Russian Civil War broke out. Relations between the ESF and China would continue on a steady trajectory throughout the early 21st century, with the interruption of the 2002-2004 Second Korean War where Chinese volunteers would face off against American troops for the first time since 1953, and the liberation campaign of the rebel soldiers belonging to the Provisional Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea would also become a source of tension between the two giants, as the PGDPRK was staunchly pro-ESF, while China was committed to preserving the Kim regime. Ultimately, the Second Korean War would result in the reunification of the Korean Peninsula, but a major event occurred in 2008 that will shake the geopolitical and social structure in East Asia. On June 24, 2008, when Pyeonghwa Motors announced that it was being sold to an Indian automotive firm called Ashok Leyland, and that it will relocate its manufacturing facilities to Chennai, India, many of the workers who faced layoffs were upset. They were furious that the company had deceived them by saying that they were not being laid off, but the financial situation of Pyeonghwa Motors as a result of incompetent management, and the employment of labourers from the former North Korea had been one of the reasons for the general strike. The confrontation between the furious unemployed factory workers and management would soon boil over into open confrontation that will forever change the history of East Asia." From the South China Morning Post Documentary 'The New Great Game: China versus the East Slavic Federation in the Post-Cold War Era'.

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Excerpts from "Cue for Conspiracy: The Rise and Fall of Senator Alex Jones"
By: Isaac Feldman
University of California Berkley Press

Chapter Thirteen: Face to Face

You know, at times like this, is when we are glad to have joined the Libertarian Party. Ever since Governor Perot's rise to the position as Governor, Texas is fast becoming an attractive place to live, surpassing California by a bit, shockingly enough. By now, Alex had been promoted to the role of Press Secretary within the Libertarian Party, while I was promoted to political consultant. It was at this time that I began to see Monica and Alex together more often, and it was really okay. I met this young woman by the name of Erica Wulff, and we also got along rather well. In fact, it was funny for me to mention this, but Alex was a stuttering wreck when he tried to ask Monica out. I think that there was something about Alex that Monica liked, which is why she was hesitant to accept his proposal. The truth was that she was playing hard to get in order to make him a bit more confident about himself. What surprised us all was that Alex had began to research into Jewish traditions and norms, something that would have impressed Monica's family, but I winced whenever Alex asked me about basic stuff in the Torah. I can tell that he's also started to read a lot of books, especially the Torah, the Bible, and the Koran. Much of his later political stance came from those books, and I'm beginning to think that he's trying to build a connection with a lot of people within Austin, Texas.

It was on that particular Sunday in a hot July of 2001 when we just went around the entire city of Austin, and while Linda was still running the TrippWire, Monica and Erica went with us on the road trip to the small town of Bastrop, Texas. We didn't see much of Bastrop, and upon Monica's suggestion, we headed to San Antonio where there were these megachurches that were used by the Evangelicals. I found her suggestion strange, until she told us that there is an influential man whom we could talk to in our first quest to establish a network of influence for the entire state of Texas. We came across this impressive looking church as we stepped inside, and found a massive audience seated in the auditorium. The people who greeted us were friendly and even showed us where we can observe the ceremony. It was not until we settled down that we began to hear this particular speaker preach his sermon.

"In this time of crisis, we Christians must stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel and the Jewish people, for God will bless those who bless the Jewish people," the preacher said. I winced as Monica's suggestion of establishing connections with the right people involved certain ones that have this rah-rah for Israel. Even growing up in a religious Jewish family, we would have been flattered with the Christian friendship with us. Looking back and thinking now, I'm quite embarrassed by those people who are making things bad for the world. "Though our government has not abandoned Israel, it has faced multitudes of challenges from its neighbors who wanted to finish what the great anti-Semite mass murderer Adolf Hitler wanted, to the new beast from the north that arose as the new Gog and Magog. Make no mistake: we now have Syria, Lebanon, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Venezuela, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, China, India, and the head of this great horde, the East Slavic Federation. However, God will humble those nations that do not respect and love the Jewish people."

After that sermon was over, we were escorted by the greeters to the man who made the sermon. It was only after one of them finished the conversation with the preacher, did he gave a nod, and we were soon escorted into his office. Another greeter offered us some drinks, which we gladly accepted. The preacher in question, shook our hands.

"I see that you four have come to listen to the words of the man who does the work of the Lord," the man told us. "I'm Pastor John. John Hagee."

"Nice to meet you, Pastor. I'm-" Alex began, but the pastor held up his hand.

"I've known of your reputation, Alex Jones. You don't need to be scared of me, for anyone who declares themselves the friend of Israel and the Jewish people is a friend of mine," Hagee told us. "Now, why have you come to visit our church?"

Alex continued to speak. "Well, Pastor Hagee. Ever since I've read the Torah, the Bible, and even the Koran, I wanted to know more about the world at large. What makes it work, and what triggers the violence within it. As you may know, we're all members of the Texas branch of the Libertarian Party, and we're also here to ask for your advice on how to build connections with those who love freedom, liberty, and the rights of the individual."

"Well spoken, Alex." Hagee turned his attention towards me. "I don't think we've met before."

"Isaac Feldman, and I was raised Jewish, along with my girlfriend Erica, and Alex's girlfriend Monica," I told Hagee as he chuckled lightly.

"I see what you've done so far, Alex. You've already started the baby steps in creating your network of influences, both within the Christian and Jewish communities. Perhaps I would become another one of your backers if you were to run for political office, but I understand that you're all too young to do so," Hagee told us. He grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and began to write something down. "When do you two plan on settling down?"

I frowned, as marriage was not something that was on my mind at the moment. "We're still learning the process of building a political career at the moment, Pastor Hagee."

Hagee nodded in agreement, but kept that frown. "Understandable, but at some point, it might be a good time to settle down. A family with children would do wonders for you young people."

Monica smiled lightly. "Pastor Hagee, is there any upcoming fundraising events for CUFI?"

"Well, unfortunately only the active parishioners would participate, but there is an event that we're hosting this month." Hagee went to the drawer and grabbed four copies of what appeared to be invitation letters. "These are the invitations for the event called 'Night to Honor Israel', and you can certainly donate some of your money to the IDF in a fundraiser we would call the IDF Donation Fund."

"Wow, thanks!" Alex told Hagee as we bade him farewell.

The return trip to Austin was uneventful, except that Monica looked a bit squeamish after the meeting with Pastor Hagee. I sensed that she too, is feeling a bit awkward about this whole group of people who are essentially cheerleaders for Israel. It reminded me of that time when the Zionists were clashing with the pro-Palestinian crowd, and among the latter, there were these Rabbis who were denouncing Israel's existence. These rebel rabbis don't understand that we have a country that we can call our homeland, claiming that it didn't meet His expectations on how a proper Jewish homeland should be established. By the time we got back to Austin, we noticed that a small, black car was parked in the same spot where we normally parked. It was only after we got out of the car that three men stepped out of that black car, and saw us.

"This is just a short visit, but I wanted to just ask one question," the man in question asked us.

Alex frowned. "Have we done anything wrong, sir?"

"Not of the sort, but I would advise you to not get involved in any form of activism. You're not on the watch list yet, but if something bad happens, we may have to put you all on a list," the man warned us. "We're not from the FBI though. We're from the CIA, and I'm the new Director. Oliver North at your service, and we have an eye on you."

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LOYALIST TROOPS REPEL REBEL OFFENSIVE OUTSIDE PUERTO PAEZ AS KEMP ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES DEPLOYMENT OF 10,000 MARINES TO VENEZUELA, MULLS OVER POSSIBLE AIR CAMPAIGN
Sydney Herald
July 12, 2001


Ex-FARC soldiers who joined Ramon Rodriguez Chacin's rebel forces patrol the border between Venezuela and Colombia as they also guard the supply lines connecting the two nations.

(Puerto Paez, VENEZUELA) - The embattled forces who remained loyal to ousted President Rafael Caldera have managed to deliver the first defeat of the Venezuelan conflict to Ramon Rodriguez Chacin's rebel forces, as over 4,000 loyalist troops had managed to hold the city of Puerto Paez, on the border with Colombia. A spokesperson representing the loyalist Venezuelan military stated that over 600 rebel troops were killed in the first few days of the offensive, before a shortage of ammunition forced Chacin's rebel forces to retreat. In addition, the supply route between the old FARC bases in eastern Colombia and the front line in Venezuela came under artillery fire by other loyalist troops. The success of the loyalist Venezuelan Army had raised the morale of its troops, as additional news of US President Jack Kemp's announcement that 10,000 US Marines will be deployed to Venezuela to help bolster the loyalist forces and to train additional troops if needed. On the other hand, the rebel setback did not deter Chacin's forces, as 200 extra troops belonging to the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that later joined the Chacinite cause had taken control of the river island of Isla Margarita.

"Our troops have tasted their first victory of this conflict, but we should not celebrate too soon, as it will be a long war indeed," says Venezuelan President Caldera during a press conference. "Morale on the other side is also high, as they are also aided by the arrival of mercenaries from Colombia, Peru, Syria, and Lebanon."

The presence of foreign volunteers from those four nations have been a sore point within the Kemp administration, which saw the presence of the Syrian and Lebanese volunteers as a violation of the Monroe Doctrine, even though said doctrine was designed to keep European powers out of the Western Hemisphere, and did not say anything about non-European powers. However, in a fit of panic, the Kemp administration had made plans for a military invasion of Syria and Lebanon as punishment for their participation in Venezuela's civil war. The planned invasion however, is something that Israel's government is pushing for, due to the ongoing Syrian occupation of Lebanon.

"Our security is seriously compromised by the presence of the Syrian military in Lebanon, and their position could allow them to bypass the Golan Heights to directly attack northern Israel. President Kemp's proposal of an invasion of Lebanon and Syria should be able to relieve us of that pressure," says Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, during a press conference in Haifa. "In addition, the Mossad has received crucial information of another possible Intifada, should we don't get the Syrian situation under control. Most importantly, we've also detected the presence of Clausewitz Academy graduates within the ranks of both Hamas and Hezbollah, as they have recently returned from central Africa for their additional training."

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"The event that we now know as ConfessionGate, had occurred during one of the fundraising events that Christians United For Israel had hosted in San Antonio, when a staff member who formerly worked for the State government and Governor Ross Perot, had approached Pastor John Hagee for a confession. The confession was that the whistleblower had stumbled upon a series of papers that were taken from the Governor's desk, and faxed it to his own fax machine at his house. The papers contained deals between various Texan companies and the Mexican government, and one of those papers revealed at how they were going to resettle the refugees that came from Chiapas to Canada, while offering a monetary incentive for the Mexican diaspora in the United States to relocate to Chiapas, as long as they were business owners and had a thriving business back in the state they reside in. The scheme, which was called the Yucatan Proposal, was a way of colonizing Chiapas with fervent anti-communists, to prevent the rise of the Zapatistas from ever occurring again. Another file contained proposals to bring in Cuban and Nicaraguan refugees to states that primarily voted for the Democratic Party, in order to make it Red states, while one file containing a contract between the Cuban caretaker government and Ross Perot Jr., in which Ross Perot Jr. will purchase several hectares of land in western Cuba for real estate, which will then be used to construct new resorts and casinos. That one example of a sweetheart deal was typical of awarding allies and family members of the current Governor of Texas with lucrative contracts for rebuilding Cuba and Nicaragua, while at the same time also resettling Nicaraguan refugees in the same Blue states. One report that was later published in 2005, long after Perot Sr.'s departure from political office, revealed at how the Mexican dictatorship of Mario Chaparro and Chilean dictator Alvaro Corbalan (albeit the funding from Chile was done when Pinochet was still the dictator) had donated over $20 million dollars towards the Ross Perot for Governor campaign in exchange for the Perot Group's right to negotiate contracts with those two governments, independent of the federal government. Two biggest bombshells to land however, were the revelation that the Perot Group had signed a deal with the Nicaraguan caretaker government, where they would build a new canal that will link the Caribbean with the Pacific Ocean, using cheap labor from among the Nicaraguan population, in exchange for the privilege of resettling in the United States, preferably in the Midwest, and compiling the list of names of prominent activists within the Israel lobby, and handing it over to the Palestinian Authority. The compiling of names and their addresses, which was considered illegal under federal law, and selling this information to the Palestinian Authority, were the reasons why on August 15, 2001, a member of the Texas legislative assembly had handed the Articles for Impeachment against Governor Ross Perot, on charges of cronyism, nepotism, accepting donations from foreign governments, undermining the electoral process (in which Mexican and Chilean money got Perot elected), abuse of office, and illegal collection of information of American citizens, as well as the Logan Act (related to the Perot Group's proposal to negotiate deals with foreign governments, circumventing the federal government). The trial of Ross Perot would take place between September 1st to September 21st, in which various witnesses testified before the Texas Supreme Court on various activities of Governor Perot, before the final vote was unanimous in favor of removing Perot from office. Thus, on September 30th, 2001, Governor Ross Perot became the first sitting Governor of a US state to be formally removed from political office through impeachment. From October of 2001 until November of 2002, Texas would be run by Lieutenant Governor Ted Cruz, before the 2002 Texas Gubernatorial Election resulted in the election of Clayton Williams." From 'The Fall of Ross Perot', released by PBS Documentaries.

[TheRomanSlayer]

Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Dragon and the Wolf

CHINA'S NATIONAL PEOPLE'S CONGRESS ADDRESSES THE ONGOING ACT OF PIRACY IN BOTH THE SOUTH CHINA SEA AND THE STRAITS OF MALACCA
South China Morning Post
July 24, 2001

(Beijing) - The main topic of piracy and terrorism was discussed in the yearly session in the National People's Congress, as Chairman Bo Xilai presided over a heated debate on the possible solution to the ongoing hijackings and bombings of merchant ships and luxury ferries that are operating under the Chinese flag. Long time Communist Party official and former Acting Premier Wang Dongxing had declared that the Vietnamese and Filipino criminal regimes were not only responsible for the acts of piracy, but that they also had a hand in sending Uyghur separatists to Central Asia, in order to reach the training camps operated by the East Turkestan Party, which the Chinese Communist Party has declared a terrorist organization. In addition, while there is also an ongoing military buildup in the Philippines, it is for certain that the Kemp regime in the United States has provided military aid to the fascist Tadiar regime. Moreover, the same fascist regime has also been responsible for subsequent attacks on the Nansha Islands, in a series of seaborne raids while using torpedo boats to engage in a maritime kind of partisan warfare.

"The so-called international community has covered up for the fascists and neo-reactionaries in the Philippines constantly, and it is not helping us at all. Moreover, Vietnam's pretensions at past national glory has resulted in one of the most heinous kind of human rights violations committed against the Cambodian minority within southwestern Vietnam, and continues its illegal occupation of parts of Cambodian territory," says Wang, during one of the sessions in the NPC where he was given a turn to speak. "The Philippines has never been a kind of proper Asian nation that knew its place in the social hierarchy of the Sinocentric tributary system, as its exposure to the culture and civilization of Europe has allowed it to develop a kind of hero worship for their colonizers, making Pan-Asian cooperation impossible."

Some of the more outspoken generals within the People's Liberation Army had advocated for the resumption of conflict against the Philippines, with the sole intention of fully annexing the entire country for national security reasons. Even as Comrade Wang had stressed the difficulty of subduing the nation under a fascist regime, policy makers within the government of Comrade Chairman Bo Xilai had developed a kind of policy that will later be called the Bo Doctrine, which would highlight what China's ultimate goal of preserving its national security and interest. Comrade Chairman Bo himself had placed a heavy emphasis on developing China's economy, though not by relying on the millionaires and billionaires that have emerged in the economic reforms proposed by the late Comrade Deng Xiaoping, but by gradually phasing out the Central Bank of the People's Republic of China, and allowing the Chinese Communist Party to assume control over the circulation of the Renminbi. In addition, the recovery of Hong Kong and Macau had also given China access to the various economic developments that took place, prior to the handover. Inside Hong Kong, numerous financial banks were competing with one another to obtain lucrative loans to the Chinese government, while Macau's casino industry has allowed Chinese citizens to partake in an activity that is normally illegal on Chinese soil that is under the direct authority of the Chinese Communist Party.

"The influx of excited citizens of the mainland would create a huge demand for more casino services, which we will gladly give to them, provided that we collaborate with the government of the mainland on how we'll be able to accomplish this task," says Hong Kong-Macau billionaire Stanley Ho, when asked about the potential economic boom in Macau. "Moreover, the multilingual tradition of Macau will also attract international visitors to the area, provided that certain appropriate accomodations are also met as well."

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JAPAN'S CONSTRUCTION BOOM CONTINUES TO RISE AMIDST PREPARATION FOR 2002 FIFA WORLD CUP
Japan Times
August 5, 2001

(Tokyo) - Recent reports have been released by the Japanese government that reveals at how much attention was given to the infrastructure being constructed throughout the host cities that will participate in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. As a result of FIFA's disapproval of the idea of co-hosting, Japan gained the right to host the FIFA World Cup without having to rely on neighboring South Korea for support. The cities that were selected to host various FIFA World Cup matches were as follows: Tokyo (the Ajinomoto and National Stadiums), Saitama, Niigata, Yokohama, Osaka, Miyagi, Kashima, Kobe, Sapporo, Shizuoka, Naha City (Okinawa Athletic Park Stadium was also chosen to host a few matches, as well as the official training ground of the Kazakhstan national football team), and Fukuoka. New hotels and training facilities were built in all of those host cities, while Niigata Airport is currently undergoing a massive renovation project to meet the future demands of international travelers who will visit the city for the tournament. Niigata is also chosen as the training ground of the East Slavic Federation national football team, due to its position as the gateway for traffic between Russia and Japan.

"It is expected that the major investments in the projects that are ongoing will benefit us in the long run, as tourists are far too used to visiting Tokyo and Kyoto, when there are other Japanese cities that are starved for visitors," says Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, when asked about the status of the projects. "Sapporo and all of Hokkaido are also earmarked for major investments to ensure that they're not neglected."

Sapporo had received special attention for its massive infrastructure expansion, due to the increased intake of Filipino migrant workers who have temporarily resided in the city, thanks to the Open Door Treaty that the Japanese government signed with the Tadiar regime in the Philippines. Indeed, much of the workers involved in the expansion of Sapporo's infrastructure are Filipino in origin, leading to resentments from local Japanese residents of Sapporo, who felt threatened by the increased influx of Filipinos in their cities. At the same time however, there are also expansion projects in real estate housing, as the needs of hungry house seekers have increased rapidly, and Prime Minister Mori's financial incentive for the residents of Tokyo to relocate to sparsely populated areas of Japan, especially in the Tohoku region. The town of Fukushima is also earmarked for urban expansion, as the local mayor there has announced that it is closing down most of its nuclear reactors due to the questionable standards that were currently in place. Replacing the nuclear reactors was a major challenge for the local Fukushima government, due to its primary reliance on nuclear energy to meet its energy needs, but several proposals for Waste to Energy incineration plants have been put forward.

"Our position in the Ring of Fire makes the nuclear power plants vulnerable to damages sustained from earthquakes, which is why we're pushing forward the proposals for not only Waste to Energy incineration plants, but also the expansion of geothermal energy for daily usage," says newly appointed Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Koichi Haguida. "A nuclear explosion in our reactor would be far more devastating than the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

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ALMATY UNDER SIEGE AS AL-QAEDA FIGHTERS PROMISE A FIGHT TO THE DEATH FOR ADVANCING ESF, KAZAKH ARMIES
Moscow Times
August 31, 2001

(Almaty, KAZAKHSTAN) - Approximately 5,000 Al-Qaeda fighters that survived the earlier offensives by the East Slavic Federation military forces have converged on one of the few major strongholds in Kazakhstan still under Al-Qaeda's control, as they promised a fight to the death for the advancing troops that are poised to lay siege to the city. Days before the expected siege were to begin, the ESF Combined Aerospace Force dropped leaflets all over the city, persuading its inhabitants to hide within their homes while the fighting rages on, and not to stay upstairs in their homes where they'll be more likely to get killed by an airstrike. The offensive comes at a time when other ESF military forces have made considerable gains throughout Kazakhstan, and have captured the crucial KPP Karkyra-Avtodorozhnyy border crossing that guards the border between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. In addition, the Kazakh Army soon began to receive small amounts of military equipment from the ESF in the form of additional weapons and ammunition, but former Warsaw Pact member states have started to donate some of their old weapons to the Kazakh military as they intend to sell off much of their old equipment and to purchase better ones. In particular, Hungary and Poland donated some of their old T-72 battle tanks as they intend to replace their old Soviet-made tanks with ones made in Western Europe as they're transitioning to a NATO standard military.

"The aid received from former Warsaw Pact nations are a gift to us as we attempt to liberate our country from the grip of Al-Qaeda," says Kazakh General Saken Zhasuzakov, during a ceremony in liberated Karagandy, while addressing the troops that are being prepared to deploy to the front lines. "In addition, our prospects of a post-occupation recovery increase every day with the passing minute, as more of our territory is being cleansed of terrorists.:

In addition, the Chinese PLA Special Forces that were deployed to Eastern Kazakhstan have played a role in the crucial victory over retreating Al-Qaeda forces that had attempted to hold their ground in Penzhim, just hours after the fall of Horgos. Much of the PLAAF bombers have also targeted terrorist training camps in the borderlands between China and Kyrgyzstan, while news from Iran broke out that the Iranian government will send additional troops to Turkmenistan to bolster the Turkmen government's fight against other Al-Qaeda forces there. However, the biggest news to come out of Central Asia was the sudden invasion of southern Uzbekistan by the miniscule Afghan Northern Alliance under the command of Ahmad Shah Massoud, as his fighters are attempting to cut off Al-Qaeda's supply route between southern Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.

"Our brothers are suffering from the tyranny of the takbirs who have come to Uzbekistan with the sole aim of destabilizing it, in the same way they have destabilized Afghanistan," says Uzbek warlord Abdul Malik Pahlawan, as he led a group of fighters across the Amu Darya River. "Soon, we will eliminate the takbirs who desecrate the teachings of Islam and bring peace and order to this entire region."

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Portions from the Interview with Benigno Simeon Aquino
60 Minutes Interview, February 18, 2016

Discussing the Prelude to the Attempted Coups Against Tadiar

Interviewer: By the end of 1999, until a good part of 2001, you've described those years as the era where Artemio Tadiar had opted to keep a low profile. Indeed, his decision to focus on the continued development of the Philippines has resulted in a somewhat impressive economic recovery, despite the controversy surrounding the abolition of the Central Bank of the Philippines. What was your opinion on the radical experiment that Tadiar made regarding the Philippine economy?

Aquino: Well, to his credit, Tadiar not only solved the food crisis that plagued the Philippines between 1999 and 2001, but he also managed to obtain new crop seeds from Japan and Indonesia for rice cultivation. It was extremely controversial in the Japanese press, since there was a law that banned the export of Japanese rice to foreign nations, meaning that say, a sushi that was made with the so-called sushi rice, was actually rice cultivated in the former South Korea. Indonesia on the other hand, was happy with shipping some of its foodstuffs to the Philippines, as the Indonesian agro-industries there thrived at the growing domestic and foreign demand for their goods.

Interviewer: That's correct. Now. (pauses) In addition to the solving of the food shortages, what was the other thing that the Tadiar regime did regarding acts of piracy in the West Philippine Sea?

Aquino: To be honest, Tadiar's decision to scale back on the raids on the Chinese merchant ships was influenced by the tough decision made by Chairman Bo Xilai to reroute the merchant ships towards the Java Sea, which incidentally made the trip a bit longer, but it also allowed the local economy in Indonesia to grow, as much of the Chinese goods were being traded there, before some of them were allowed to continue towards Australia. However, it was the Singaporean government's decision to sign a military alliance with China that backed Tadiar off.

Interviewer: In what way?

Aquino: The Singaporean Navy offered to escort the Chinese merchant ships through the Straits of Malacca, and if either nation's vessels came under attack, it would be seen as an act of war. Tadiar realized that his continued acts of piracy would eventually come back to hurt him, so he switched to staging seaborne raids on Chinese military installations in the disputed Spratlys, and even helped plan a bold military mission that resulted in the recovery of Scarborough Shoal. The continued raids on the Chinese posts in the Spratlys was also helped by the continued development of the formerly aborted Santa Barbara project, which the Kemp administration had been interested in.

Interviewer: Some say that the Santa Barbara Project, which was the brainchild of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, had been completed back in 1999, but you disagreed on the year it was actually completed.

Aquino: That's right. It was completed in early 2002, and Gerald Bull also expressed interest in improving its capability. There were two prototypes that were completed: one was the default Santa Barbara Project, which eventually became the Aswang-1. The Aswang-1 was a missile launcher mounted on the truck, so it was a miniature version of the S-300. The second one was basically what we call Santa Barbara on a Walker Bulldog chassis, and it was this kind of weapon that terrified the PLAAF.

Interviewer: How were they scared of such a weapon?

Aquino: The Tikbalang-100P anti-air missile had 27 rocket tubes, nine in a single sub-tube. It was also given protection by a machine gun on the top of the Tikbalang-100P. Since it was a prototype, it was given the P designation. Once it's marked for mass production, it loses the P designation. Ultimately, they reduced the rocket tubes to 18, and installed gatling guns for both anti-personnel and anti-air combat.

Interviewer: But the credit for the development of these weapons belonged to the US government, correct?

Aquino: Yes, and Tadiar also received credit due to his contribution as well. Moreover, the Tikbalang-100 regular version used the recycled chassis of the decommissioned M41 Walker Bulldog, while the Tikbalang-100MT, with the MT standing for multi-terrain as it can fight on the jungle and on the mountains. The Tadiar regime received the first 50 batches of these weapons, and obtained the license to build them.

Interviewer: All right, so weapons development was also something that the Tadiar regime had to focus on, as well as the procurement of several old vessels that were purchased from either the US Navy, or the Spanish Navy. Of these, three Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates were donated to the Philippine Navy, while the Spanish Navy would not donate one of their submarines to the Philippine Navy until 2007, a year after Tadiar ended the diplomatic isolation that he imposed on the Philippines in the S61 Delfin. What was the significance of the increased naval procurement during the Tadiar regime?

Aquino: It was obvious that the naval procurement was meant for acts of piracy, which was conveniently covered up by the Kemp administration, as they were mainly shipping out a few extra weapons to the Tadiar regime in order to help them continue the chaos in the West Philippine Sea. Three ships that used to serve the Royal Navy in Hong Kong, the HMS Peacock, HMS Plover, and HMS Starling, were originally going to be donated to the Philippine Navy, until the Chinese ambassador to the UK lodged a formal complaint about it, resulting in the cancellation of the transfers. Instead, the HMS Peacock, HMS Plover, and KMS Starling were donated to the Royal Thai Navy, as a gesture of good faith. Moreover, the Australian Navy had donated the HMAS Swan and the HMAS Torrens to the Philippines in 2004 after being advised by the Kemp administration to hold off on sinking them, as they needed to boost the Philippine naval capabilities. To compensate for the failed transfer of those three Peacock-class ships, the Tadiar regime would receive 4 Fremantle-class patrol boats as a reward for its participation in the Second Korean War.

Interviewer: And what of the Air Force?

Aquino: All of the F-5s that were used during the Spratlys conflict were shot down, meaning that Tadiar didn't have any fighter aircraft that can defend Philippine airspace. It was the difficult process of procuring the aircraft needed that eventually led to what we now call the Sangley Point Mutiny, when famed war hero Danilo Atienza would lead a group of Philippine Air Force pilots, as well as disaffected troops of the Philippine Army, into a rebellion against the Tadiar regime. That was one of the several coups that nearly broke the Tadiar regime, until the Kemp administration threatened to intervene that Tadiar would send his own troops to crush the mutiny, and place Atienza and eight other ringleaders on trial, before executing them in the middle of the Philippine Sea by means of machine gunning them.

Interviewer: Goodness gracious! That was terrible to say the least.

Aquino: Yes, and while Tadiar was furious with Atienza's mutiny, it was the other gesture that would eventually result in the Philippines resurfacing into the headlines of the world press, when several UP students, furious with the diplomatic isolation and the incident involving a Chinese-Filipino student, unfolded a banner that literally says Manila, Philippines SAR, People's Republic of China. That led to the Diliman round ups and the attention was given to the Diliman Thirteen, who staged a hunger strike over Tadiar's continued human rights abuses.

Interviewer: And what prompted Tadiar to suddenly participate in the 2002-2004 Second Korean War?

Aquino: Just as China threatened to wage war against the Philippines once again over a Chinese merchant ship being detonated over the Spratly Islands, Tadiar announced to the world that he had somehow obtained the chemical weapons acquired from former Iraqi Ba'athist officers, and had ordered his scientists and engineers to developed an improved version of those chemical weapons and threatened to launch them at Macau and Hong Kong. President Kemp actually offered to recover those chemical weapons in exchange for giving Tadiar the authority to create one of the dreaded military units that served in Korea in 2003, and financial aid as well.

Interviewer: You are of course, referring to the Berdugo Brigade, correct?

Aquino: Yes, and it was actually named in honor of the aspiring officer who made a name for himself with the merciless treatment of captured NPA fighters who were impaled with a bamboo stick, and had a penchant for ordering his soldiers to literally kill their prisoners with butcher knives. There is a reason why the Berdugo Brigade was nicknamed the Filipino Dirlewanger Brigade, because that was the unit that consisted of hardened criminals that were taken from local jail cells in the Philippines. However, the Kemp administration also allowed active members of various gangs that were affiliated to the Nuestra Familia prison gangs, the Crips, Bloods, the Mafia, and even Neo-Nazi outfits whose members fought in the former Soviet Union, to serve in the Redemption Brigade as well. Of course, we cannot forget the Bato Brigade, which was another penal brigade that was led by Bato de al Rosa. All of the penal brigades were given the license to do whatever they wanted, as long as it took place within the former North Korea only. The only catch is that if they were captured, the US and Philippine governments will deny their existence, so it was essentially a mixture of a penal battalion and a mercenary outfit. They were given the same training as the US Marine Corps, and they were also outfitted with heavy weaponry as well. It was the presence of these penal brigades that were responsible for 88% of various war crimes that were committed in the former North Korea that resulted in the Republican Party facing a near collapse, because the crimes of the Kemp administration had now been synonymous with the Republican Party. Even so, the Republicans were still strong in California and Texas due to the continued support given to them by the local Filipinos there, but once the 28th Amendment was passed due to the 2004 US Presidential Election being the first to have a no clear winner, with the growth of the Social Progressives and a small growth of James Traficant's National Revival Party, the US would now have two elections: One on the last Tuesday of October, where they will determine which candidates will advance to the runoff, and the second is of course, the main election where they will decide the Presidency.

Interviewer: Going back to the mutinies against Tadiar, did he addressed the issues that Atienza brought up?

Aquino: Of course. If he didn't, then the Philippines would certainly not have received different fighter aircraft that the Philippine Air Force can experiment on, that totalled around $35 million US dollars. By then, the Philippine economy was becoming strong enough to expand its own manufacturing sector, which naturally expanded to the defense industry. At that time, Loren Legarda was working for the Philippine Air Force as a consultant for technical research, before her political career took off. It was she who would be the brains behind the attempt to build the first indigenous Filipino fighter plane, which was a painful process with the tools they had, but they pulled it off. In 2019, well into her own presidency.

Interviewer: What of the other issue Tadiar had to address?

Aquino: At some point, Tadiar realized that his diplomatic isolation would not serve him well in the long run, so he took steps to gradually end it by establishing diplomatic relations with Argentina, India, New Zealand, and even the East Slavic Federation, as well as Thailand and Burma. His strong support for Thailand until the Patani War was the motivation behind the attempt to revive SEATO, but once the Thais rejected the Kozlowka Agreement that blackmailed them into giving more powers to the Patani region and give them autonomy, and the Burmese condemning it, Tadiar would also condemn the agreement as a form of diplomatic extortion. It was this symbolic gesture of support for Thailand, despite his earlier anger at PM Shinawatra's refusal to give autonomy to the Patani region, that later sowed the seeds for his own political collapse.

[stevep]

  TheRomanSlayer ,

  One question please.  How the hell is Tadiar getting hold of former RN ships?  I can possibly see Australian ones as that government seems to have tied itself to the Kemp-Tadiar 'bloc' but I can't see the British government, which is more linked toward Europe nowadays getting involved in such insanity.  Especially since its patently clear that any ships Tadiar gets will be used for piracy.  In fact not close how Tagiar is getting away with this at all given the limited forces available to the Philippines, especially compared to China as I would expect his ships to be pretty much sunk on sight.

  Plus come to think of it what happens to the crews of ships attacked?  Are they simply being murdered to leave no witnesses as otherwise its going to be clear who's responsible for the crimes?  Unless their being taken back to the Philippines as slave labourers which of course restricts the attacks that can be carried out and still leaves survivors as potential witnesses.

  Steve

[TheRomanSlayer]

Nov 20, 2021 12:10:36 GMT stevep said:

  TheRomanSlayer ,

  One question please.  How the hell is Tadiar getting hold of former RN ships?  I can possibly see Australian ones as that government seems to have tied itself to the Kemp-Tadiar 'bloc' but I can't see the British government, which is more linked toward Europe nowadays getting involved in such insanity.  Especially since its patently clear that any ships Tadiar gets will be used for piracy.  In fact not close how Tagiar is getting away with this at all given the limited forces available to the Philippines, especially compared to China as I would expect his ships to be pretty much sunk on sight.

  Plus come to think of it what happens to the crews of ships attacked?  Are they simply being murdered to leave no witnesses as otherwise its going to be clear who's responsible for the crimes?  Unless their being taken back to the Philippines as slave labourers which of course restricts the attacks that can be carried out and still leaves survivors as potential witnesses.

  Steve

I may end up retconning that part, but IOTL, those three frigates were given to the Philippine Navy. I think this time around they would have end up with either Thailand or India.

The worst case scenario when they were involved in the acts of piracy would have been to kill all the crew aboard the ship, after they secure it. If the goods aboard are valuable, they'd tow it back to the Philippines. If there are no goods aboard, then they'd probably lay booby traps in it. I will get to the part where an act of mercy on part of a Philippine Marine would also contribute to the trial of Artemio Tadiar and others.

[stevep]

Nov 20, 2021 17:00:37 GMT TheRomanSlayer said:

Nov 20, 2021 12:10:36 GMT stevep said:

  TheRomanSlayer ,

  One question please.  How the hell is Tadiar getting hold of former RN ships?  I can possibly see Australian ones as that government seems to have tied itself to the Kemp-Tadiar 'bloc' but I can't see the British government, which is more linked toward Europe nowadays getting involved in such insanity.  Especially since its patently clear that any ships Tadiar gets will be used for piracy.  In fact not close how Tagiar is getting away with this at all given the limited forces available to the Philippines, especially compared to China as I would expect his ships to be pretty much sunk on sight.

  Plus come to think of it what happens to the crews of ships attacked?  Are they simply being murdered to leave no witnesses as otherwise its going to be clear who's responsible for the crimes?  Unless their being taken back to the Philippines as slave labourers which of course restricts the attacks that can be carried out and still leaves survivors as potential witnesses.

  Steve

I may end up retconning that part, but IOTL, those three frigates were given to the Philippine Navy. I think this time around they would have end up with either Thailand or India.

The worst case scenario when they were involved in the acts of piracy would have been to kill all the crew aboard the ship, after they secure it. If the goods aboard are valuable, they'd tow it back to the Philippines. If there are no goods aboard, then they'd probably lay booby traps in it. I will get to the part where an act of mercy on part of a Philippine Marine would also contribute to the trial of Artemio Tadiar and others.

  RS

  Thanks for clarifying.  Given the nature of Tadiar's regime and that its a pariah state I suspect that - post Thatcher anyway - its very unlikely Britain would sell or otherwise transfer warships to Tadiar's Philippines.

  Towing cargoes back to the Philippines give a much greater chance of such ships being detected and the escorting forces being attacked on the way.  Too many ways of tracking large ships.  I would suspect, unless they have some reasonably secure base where they could transfer loads without being detected then destroying the ships would be by some way the safest option.  Especially since such operations by a state are a clear act of war.  Which means its an expensive operation as little/no material gain for the Philippines but Tadiar is enough of a fanatic to approve something like that.

  Steve

[TheRomanSlayer]

Nov 21, 2021 12:21:12 GMT stevep said:

Nov 20, 2021 17:00:37 GMT TheRomanSlayer said:

I may end up retconning that part, but IOTL, those three frigates were given to the Philippine Navy. I think this time around they would have end up with either Thailand or India.

The worst case scenario when they were involved in the acts of piracy would have been to kill all the crew aboard the ship, after they secure it. If the goods aboard are valuable, they'd tow it back to the Philippines. If there are no goods aboard, then they'd probably lay booby traps in it. I will get to the part where an act of mercy on part of a Philippine Marine would also contribute to the trial of Artemio Tadiar and others.

  RS

  Thanks for clarifying.  Given the nature of Tadiar's regime and that its a pariah state I suspect that - post Thatcher anyway - its very unlikely Britain would sell or otherwise transfer warships to Tadiar's Philippines.

  Towing cargoes back to the Philippines give a much greater chance of such ships being detected and the escorting forces being attacked on the way.  Too many ways of tracking large ships.  I would suspect, unless they have some reasonably secure base where they could transfer loads without being detected then destroying the ships would be by some way the safest option.  Especially since such operations by a state are a clear act of war.  Which means its an expensive operation as little/no material gain for the Philippines but Tadiar is enough of a fanatic to approve something like that.

  Steve

Funny you mentioned the post-Thatcher era, since I was thinking of doing a UK centric update where there might be a certain kind of political party that may want to get chummy with Tadiar.

Another problem with sinking the ships is that the country that it came from might assume that something went wrong if it didn't arrive at their intended destination on time. So for example, Tadiar's Marines attack a merchant ship that belongs to say, Qatar. The Qatari authorities will immediately sense that something went wrong on the trip when their ship was supposed to arrive in Hong Kong. I could also cover this in another update when they actually try to pull off a trojan horse style terror attack.

[TheRomanSlayer]

Chapter Eighty-Eight: Action and Reaction

Portions from the Sky News Interview with Former Russian President Gennady Burbulis
Sky News Australia Interview, May 14, 2008

Discussing the ESF's War in Central Asia and Additional Diplomatic Restorations

Interviewer: When we last spoke, the ESF had been relatively new in the international arena, but already we have critics who labeled the new entity as the new Russian Empire. In particular, the Polish government and Polish President Andrzej Olechowski had denounced the emergence of the ESF as the new Russian Empire, and even labeled it to the Anschluss between Germany and Austria. The comments were not well received in the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian public, despite the solidarity that was demonstrated when both Polish and National Redemption Army forces had liberated Moscow from the Soviet government. What did you think of Poland's sudden change in its behavior?

Burbulis: I think that the lustration policies that Poland also applied to former communist officials had been expanded to include anyone who was a leftist, which resulted in the gradual decrease of popularity for socialism in Poland. Even as our government had confessed to the Soviet role in the Katyn massacre, and paid reparations to the families of the officers who were killed, the Poles never trusted us again. Even more so, the Olechowski administration had become one of the most pro-American governments in Eastern Europe. They did not really trust the unified German Federal Republic, nor did they trust German Chancellor Wolfgang Schauble after he won the elections in 1998 on a platform of systematic economic integration of the former East German state. At the same time, Schauble was also a bit distrustful of the East Slavic Federation, but came to a pragmatic solution that they had to form diplomatic ties with them. It also helped that German firms have invested in what was the former Kaliningrad Oblast before it become Krolevetsk Autonomous Krai. However, it was the Netherlands that actually become the most vocal supporter of the East Slavic Federation, but for a different reason.

Interviewer: You are of course, referring to the ESF's acceptance of the Boer refugees that were expelled from South Africa, right?

Burbulis: Correct, and the Boer population in the ESF had reached over 500,000 and still expanded to the point where they were given land in Orenburg Oblast, as well as the areas around Tatishchevsk, formerly called Tolyatti. The Ural Republic's creation was necessary because we had started to recognize the Boers as a settled minority, and that we also want to showcase the diversity of the Ural Republic. Moreover, we also supported expanding the borders of the Ural Republic to include the Priuralye Free State of Western Kazakhstan, but this ran into difficulties due to the war in Central Asia.

Interviewer: The Kazakh opinion of the ESF improved after the expulsion of Al-Qaeda from the region, but resentment and distrust from the Second Russian Civil War lingered. Moreover, once the liberation of Central Asia was complete, some of the more vocal critics of the ESF's conduct in Central Asia had clamoured for the reintegration of the entirety of Central Asia as a new socialist federal republic. It was however, seen as a pet project of the Chinese, since the Chinese New Left was influential in the creation of these Islamo-Maoist movements. Do you agree that the Chinese influence in Central Asia had been so strong that the ESF nearly doubled its military expediture in the event of a war with China?

Burbulis: I agree wholeheartedly, and also it was the ESF's initiative to pursue closer relations with the ECA that allowed Dutch Prime Minister Fritz Bolkestein to travel to Moscow for a visit with ESF officials. That was also followed by the state visit made by Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and the main purpose was to facilitate a series of diplomatic, economic, and military cooperations between the ESF and the NATO member states. President Azarov agreed to allow NATO expansion into Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovakia, but insisted on keeping the Baltic States neutral. Rasmussen however, was hesitant to agree on that promise since the governments of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania had wanted to join NATO as well, to protect themselves from the ESF, but Azarov had told Rasmussen that the ESF had already settled their debts with those nations.

Interviewer: That's good. Now, let's get into the main topic of today's discussion, which will be the ESF's military operation in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Was there any problem with the military operations in the region?

Burbulis: I didn't receive reports from those conflicts, so you may have to ask Defense Minister Lebed for that. I could say though, is that FSB Director Sergei Smirnov had instructed his SVR and GRU counterparts to share some information with Chinese and Iranian intelligence on the activities of Al-Qaeda in the Central Asia region, so at the very least, we're witnessing a thaw in the diplomatic relations between the ESF, Iran, and China.

Interviewer: As I understand it, the Kemp administration had withdrawn its ambassadors to the ESF when it was first formed, but diplomatic ties were restored during the Presidency of Carol Moseley-Braun, before her untimely murder and the rise of Acting President Dick Gephardt. How was the ESF government able to survive the American cold shoulder?

Burbulis: The Azarov government only had a short amount of time to improve its diplomatic standing, but by apppointing Natalia Zarudna as the new Foreign Minister of the ESF, we were somehow able to shore up our own team of diplomats. To our surprise, she was well adept at her position. In her first few years as the Foreign Minister of the ESF, there was the ongoing dispute in the Yugoslav autonomous province of Kosovo, where the majority of the population wanted to become independent and join Albania, but the Serbian minority in the northern regions of Kosovo wanted to remain a part of Yugoslavia. President Vladan Batic, who had been in power since 1997, was subsequently re-elected in 2002 on the platform of settling the Kosovo issue. However, he needed help with the mediation, and he turned to the ESF for the issue.

Interviewer: Ah yes, I distinctly remember the part where the Albanian delegation nearly walked out of the meeting at Zbarazh castle, which served as the site of the Kosovo-Yugoslavia Summit. Within the ECA, there were those who wanted to support a Greater Albania, while extremist elements within the ESF wanted to preserve Kosovo as a part of Yugoslavia, on the condition of expelling the Albanian population. The Kemp administration was interested in obtaining a foothold in the Balkans for the purpose of containing the ESF. How did the name of Natalia Zarudna become a household icon of diplomacy?

Burbulis: Zarudna's soft spoken stance was the main reason why the negotiations went for a bit longer, because she took into consideration on several issues facing Kosovo. The other minorities that resided there like the Bosniaks, Croats, Turks, and even the Roma population were unsure of whether or not they want to become a part of Kosovo or remain in Yugoslavia. Everyone except for the Croats and Roma opted to allow Kosovo to join Albania, while the latter had migrated to other parts of Yugoslavia. What was important however, was that the lands surrounding the former seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church at Pec was recovered and placed under direct Serbian control within Yugoslavia. Once that proposal was pushed, both sides agreed on the condition that they put it on a referendum. Needless to say, in Yugoslavia, the proposals of the Zbarazh Agreement was ratified, but it was only ratified with 53.8% in favor and 46.2% opposed. In Albania and Kosovo, the Agreement was accepted with a 94% in favor of it.

Interviewer: The diplomatic success in the rump Yugoslav Republic was in contrast to the ESF's military operations in Central Asia, where the fight against Al-Qaeda had turned in a rather brutal direction, as captured Al-Qaeda fighters and operatives were sent to the notorious Black Dolphin prison, where prison abuses were rife and the torture of the inmates had been a hotly debated topic within the Duma. In the end, the captured agents were forced to give information on other activities that Al-Qaeda were committed to. The interrogation was helpful, but the only success that it brought was the international community's criticism of the ESF's human rights violations against prisoners. Did the ESF government actually respond to these criticism?

Burbulis: We did, and President Azarov had to defend himself when he was being asked about the mortality rate of the captured Al-Qaeda prisoners. He didn't sugar coat his words, and simply said that terrorists don't deserve mercy. If he showed mercy, then how will he answer to the families of the victims that were killed by Al-Qaeda fighters.

Interviewer: OK, so let's drop the issue and change the subject. (Pauses for a moment) What do you know of the Mikhail Trepashkin Affair?

Burbulis: (sighs) The Trepashkin Affair was a scandal that affected the entirety of the FSB, and it nearly costed Director Smirnov his position. Before the Affair had been publicized, Mikhail Trepashkin was serving as the FSB bodyguard in the ESF Embassy in Australia. He also had an MBA in Entrepreneurship and Financial Management, which allowed the FSB to create a cover for him, in order to insert him into the Philippines. Even Director Smirnov didn't know the mission that his subordinates had given to Trepashkin, but one other guy did: Deputy Director Aleksander Litvinenko. He started to receive credible intelligence from Iran and Turkey on the departure of the former Iraqi Ba'athist officers who left for the Philippines, and brought the chemical weapons to the Tadiar regime.

Interviewer: But the scandal broke out when it was announced that Trepashkin had announced his defection to the Philippines and began to work for Artemio Tadiar.

Burbulis: (nods) That would be correct, if the official version was to be believed.

Interviewer: What do you mean?

Burbulis: The scandal was allowed to be broken out because Trepashkin and Litvinenko didn't want to draw attention to the fact that the Philippine government had somehow researched and improved on the chemical weapons they acquired from Iraq. While Tadiar did hand over the majority of the chemical arsenal to the US government, he kept a few of them. In fact, it was thanks to Trepashkin's double crossing of Tadiar that he was able to warn Chinese intelligence of the Philippine government's completion of several chemical experiments, namely the mixing of both anticholinergic compounds and vomiting agents like adamsite. In addition, Phosgene and soman gases were detected by the ESF Combined Aerospace Force 12th Reconaissance Squadron during the Korean Continuation War, which confirmed both Trepashkin's report and the Chinese government's fears that Tadiar was able to use chemical weapons against the PLA volunteers. Unfortunately, Trepashkin committed suicide before he was captured by Philippine intelligence, and Litvinenko was sacked as Deputy Director of the FSB, and his replacement by Dmitri Pavlichenko as the Deputy Director. For saving China from additional chemical attacks, Litvinenko was instead demonized for his insubordination, while Director Smirnov almost lost his position. Eventually, Smirnov resigned as Director in 2011, and was replaced by Pavlichenko, while his position was filled by Ihor Drizhchany. Smirnov eventually went into politics, and was recruited by the Movement for National Redemption as one of their candidates. While the MNR was run by collective leadership, they put forward a candidate that became so controversial, his political presence triggered a public backlash that resulted in protests, chanting "ne nash prezident", or not our President. I mean, how can the ESF public consider Igor Girkin the most controversial politician in the entire country?

---

PATRIARCH DIOMID ANNOUNCES PROPOSAL FOR MERGER OF RUSSIAN, UKRAINIAN, AND BELARUSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCHES UNDER THE NAME "KIEVAN EASTERN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ALL RUS'"
Moscow Times
November 12, 2001


An Orthodox Christian procession occurs, with the Orthodox priests leading the procession close to the borders with the Autonomous Republics of Ukraine and Belarus. The rise of Patriarch Diomid as the head of the Russian Orthodox Church prior to the merger with its Ukrainian and Belarusian counterparts had taken the Orthodox faithful in a traditionalist direction.

(Kiev) - In a dramatic act of radical change taking place within the Eastern Orthodox Churches of the three ex-Soviet republics, Patriarch Diomid has announced his proposal for the merger of the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian Orthodox Churches under a new name of the 'Kievan Eastern Orthodox Church of All Rus'', with the subsequent restoration of the Patriarchate's ceremonial seat from Moscow to Kiev as a symbol of reconciliation between the three Orthodox Churches that operate inside the territory of the East Slavic Federation. In addition, Patriarch Diomid had also written a letter to Patriarch Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, asking him to recognize the legitimacy of the Kiev Patriarchate and its restoration and subsequent dissolution of the Moscow Patriarchate. The announcement also comes at a moment when Patriarch Diomid has also started to develop his own network of clerical diplomats who would negotiate with the clergy of other Orthodox Churches. Moreover, his attempts at reconciling with various sects that departed from the mainstream Russian Orthodox Church were met with skepticism by the mainstream clergymen of the erstwhile Russian Orthodox Church.

"We are fast approaching the era when we should confront the evil forces of international globalism and the Luciferian spirits behind such latest heresies that have come under the guise of modernism," says Patriarch Diomid during a sermon in the recently restored Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, which had been restored to the control of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Kiev and All Rus'. "In addition, we cannot support the cooperation between our church and the heretics who have deviated from the true teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is for this reason that I would give support to those Orthodox faithful that are spearheading the efforts to bring the lost sheep who were forced to join the Papist sect, back towards the Orthodox Church."

While pan-Slavic solidarists have supported the move, other nationalists felt uneasy with the attempted assertion of the Orthodox clergy on the secular political arena of the East Slavic Federation. In addition, Patriarch Diomid's sermon back on July 17, 1998, when the former Tsar of Russia and his family were buried in a ceremonial burial, had explicitly condemned Bolshevism as the most evil ideology that had walked the surface of the Earth. Furthermore, his continued unabashed condemnation of the communist ideology had attracted both support and opposition to his sermons, with the support coming from ultranationalists and the opposition coming from secularists and non-Christian minorities, especially Jews and Muslims. However, Patriarch Diomid was also careful to not criticize those who followed the Jewish and Islamic faiths, calling them spiritual friends who also follow the word of God, but had cited historical tensions between the various religious communities as justification for soft criticism. Yet, his other sermon condemning the practice of usury that all the nations of the world had apparently practiced was criticized by the Anti-Defamation League as 'incendiary', and 'deeply rooted in anti-Semitic prejudices'.

"We condemn the words of Patriarch Diomid, in his speech that attacks the Jews for no reason at all. His depictions of Jews and their connection to international finance signifies the creeping return of anti-Semitism in the East Slavic Federation," says ADL founder Abraham Foxman. "Moreover, the ADL believes that the separation of Church and state must be maintained, and that clerical theocracy has no place in this modern society."

---

Excerpts from "Zarudna: The Diplomatic Mask of the East Slavic Federation"
by: Armen Boghosian
Far Eastern Federal University printing press, published 2019

Chapter Three: The Zbarazh Agreement and its Legacy

The appointment of Natalia Zarudna as the new Foreign Minister of the East Slavic Federation was without fanfare, even within her own country, as well as the international community. However, her first real test came when in early 2000, the Kosovar Albanian population had began to agitate for greater autonomy, and even called for separation from Yugoslavia and to join with their ethnic brethren in Albania. Hardline Serbian nationalists within Yugoslavia had opposed the idea of allowing Kosovo to separate, due to its historical significance to the Serbian people. However, the 2000 demographic survey had revealed that over 91% of Kosovo's population had been of Albanian origin, while only 5% of Kosovo's population were of Serbian origin. The Serbian population in Kosovo was mainly concentrated in the north, and in areas around Pec, where the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church was located. Several protests broke out throughout Kosovo between March of 2000 and November of 2000, with subsequent counter-demonstrations that broke out throughout Yugoslavia, especially in the Serbian region of Sandzak, opposing the independence of Kosovo. Several terrorist campaigns were launched by the newly formed Kosovar Liberation Army, which began much of its campaign against Yugoslav troops stationed in Kosovo, and the retaliatory punishments against KLA troops by JNA soldiers.

Afraid of a potential NATO intervention in the western Balkans, both the Yugoslav and Albanian governments had called for the United Nations to intervene in the conflict, but the UN Security Council was deeply divided over this sensitive issue. For one thing, the United States wanted to force Yugoslavia to relinquish its control over the entirety of Kosovo, regardless of what the Serbian minority wanted. At the same time, Britain and France were more cautious of the situation at hand and urged both sides to restrain themselves from committing to a wider conflict. However, it was the East Slavic Federation's initiative to host a peace summit in the Ukrainian town of Zbarazh that proved to be a popular decision, as it was requested by both Yugoslav President Vladan Batic and Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano. The summit did not however, start off smoothly, as one would hope. The delegates from both countries had argued with each other before Zarudna herself arrived at the scene. For a moment, the international community had criticized the ESF's rather hands-off approach to the Kosovo issue at hand, and even accused the ESF government of delaying the process. Little did they realize that Zarudna had intentionally allowed the delegates to vent their energies out on each other, so she could mediate in a manner that would bring the delegates to work together. Zarudna first allowed the Albanian delegation to explain their side of the Kosovo issue, which was followed by her permission to allow the Yugoslav delegation to say their piece. In addition, Zarudna's diplomatic team brought out the map of the Balkans and carefully marked the territories of both Yugoslavia and Kosovo where they had each other's population that resided there. She also took into account the historical significance of the Serbian and Albanian peoples in the region, before coming to a decision. Her proposal was brought to the delegates, which was the following:

- Kosovo will cede the northern and northwestern regions that are populated by the Serbian minority to Yugoslavia, in exchange for;

- Yugoslavia will cede the areas of Presevo, Medveda, and Bujanovac to Kosovo

Furthermore, population exchanges would be optional for those other ethnic minorities who don't wish to live in either Albania or Yugoslavia, as well as various treaties that govern land traffic between the two nations, and prisoner exchanges will be completed as well, should the fighting between the Yugoslav Army and Kosovar rebels cease.

The Zbarazh Agreement was subjected to a referendum in those two nations in question, and while the Albanians accepted the Agreement overwhelmingly, there was deep division within Yugoslavia over the provisions of the agreement. While the pragmatic moderates wanted to solve the Kosovo issue before proceeding with the wider European integration, hardliners were opposed to the Agreement due to their insistence on keeping all of Kosovo, while expelling the Albanian population to Albania or Turkey. To break the deadlock between the Yugoslavs and Kosovar Albanians, Zarudna would also call upon German Foreign Minister Ernst Burgbacher and Turkish Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller for help with convincing the Yugoslavs to accept the deal. While Vladan Batic's government warned that there would be a civil war within Yugoslavia between the loyalists and returning exiled ultranationalists, many of whom had fought in the Second Russian Civil War and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the threat of civil war was ultimately dissipated when Zarudna was told by ESF President Azarov that unless peace and stability is maintained in the Balkans, there is no guarantee of ESF military protection should NATO get involved in the conflict. Moreover, Azarov and Zarudna had also warned that a conflict in the Balkans would give the United States an excuse to establish their military base on foreign soil. Indeed, the Kemp administration had kept a secret plan, codenamed Bondsteel, in the event of a NATO involvement in the Balkans. Thus, reluctantly, the Yugoslav government accepted the Zbarazh Agreement. Unfortunately, as predicted, the ultranationalists who were in exile in the ESF protested at the agreement, and voluntarily left the ESF for Armenia, where they were instrumental in helping the Armenian military retrain some of its soldiers. However, the exiled ultranationalists would soon find themselves in service of a foreign power for a different purpose, which was the Patani War. It was the conflict in Patani that the Thai government had hired the Serbian exiles to help fight against the Muslim Patani rebels, and even introduced to the royalist circles of a Thai-style royalist dictatorship for a possible monarchist restoration in Yugoslavia.

The legacy of the Zbarazh Agreement was that while Yugoslavia and Albania managed to prevent a wider war from breaking out, it unfortunately could not stop a conflict between the Albanians of northwestern Macedonia and the Macedonian government under Prime Minister Ljubco Giorgievski from breaking out, leading to the Tetovo Crisis.


The Balkans after the Zbarazh Agreement, and prior to the Tetovo conflict between the government of North Macedonia-Dardania and the Albanian rebels of the National Liberation Army.

---

Excerpts from "An American Family in Tadiar's Philippines"
by: Kimberly and Beatrice Ramsey
Published by University of California Los Angeles Printing Press

Chapter Six: Home Sweet Home (Beatrice's Entry)

When news of our dad's recall to the United States was relayed to him in the Philippines, he knew that it was only a matter of time before we had to go back home. Fortunately, the dean of Goyo Academy had understood our situation, and had written a recommendation letter for all of us that attended the school, including Tommy Tebow. By now, we had arrived back on American soil in late June of 2001, we knew that we had a long way to go before we can readjust back into American society. While Dad was going to be posted in Langley, Virginia, Mom agreed to enroll us in a school in a town close to Langley, called Fredericksburg, Virginia. Harry on the other hand, was a bit lonely, as he wasn't going to be able to play with his old friends from the Philippines, but we told him that he can make new friends in Virginia. It also became apparent that Kimberly started to develop a crush on Tommy, and he was oblivious to her feelings, but then again, teenage boys took a lot longer to mature than teenage girls. At the same time, Tommy was going to move to another neighborhood within Fredericksburg, but at least we get to go to the same school, which was James Monroe High School. Originally, our mom wanted to enroll us in Saint Michael the Archangel High School, but realized that it was a Catholic High school. Finally, we settled on Fredericksburg Christian School, which was a private school. Moreover, Harry was impressed by the Varsity Boys Baseball program, and wanted to join the baseball program there. Tommy also enrolled in this school too, as he was more interested in football, but at the same time he had experience in baseball and soccer as well.

We were assessed when we first enrolled in FCS, and the principal there was a bit nicer than the dean of Goyo Academy. She saw our old transcripts and the letter that the Dean of Goyo Academy had written to anyone who would want to see it. In addition, she also saw the letter that dad wrote to the school, explaining our situation at hand, and urged her to keep it quiet. She agreed to heed dad's request, but cautioned us against revealing our earlier experiences in the Philippines. It was the same situation with Tommy's parents as well, although when Liz heard about what happened, she suggested to our parents that we should have gone through the home schooling option, as our exposure to the Tadiar regime would have made things worse in high school. Additionally, there were many Filipinos in Fredericksburg, and the majority of them were refugees who fled from the Philippines after Tadiar came to power. Yet, for some odd reason, they wanted to ask us how it went during Tadiar's position in power.

Finally, after several more tests, the principal came back to us and handed the curriculum for the upcoming school year.

"There's going to be plenty of catching up to do, so I would suggest that you all attend the summer school here," the principal suggested. "We know that there isn't really a summer school program, but because of your situation, I am responsible for your ability to catch up to the other students."

"We understand," Kimberly told her. "I think only History and Geography would be the subjects that we might have a tough time with. When we were in the Philippines, our teachers there taught the basic sciences, but they were advanced enough to resemble junior high school science courses."

The principal sighed as she looked at our transcripts once again. "I see. I also understand that you've also taken various math and social studies courses there as well. However, I'm a bit scared that you've also taken military preparation courses, despite not being a Filipino citizen."

"Well, it was recommended by the dean there, and our parents agreed that we had to learn how to defend ourselves. We would never imagine that our exposure to the military training regimen would be a main issue here," I told the principal.

"Beatrice is right, ma'am," mom told the principal. "The students at the academy in the Philippines were taught basic military marches, as well as weapons handling. At least our children will grow up to become responsible gun owners."

The principal winced. "I know that might make some of you popular with the gun nuts that we have around here, but that isn't something that anyone should be mentioning openly."

"We understand that part too, but it was either that, or our kids wouldn't be able to attend any schools in the Philippines at all. All the other schools there were closed due to the war," mom explained carefully. "Besides, they've also been exposed to sports as well, and Harry here." She pats Harry in the head. "He wanted to get into the varsity sports team as well."

"That's a good sign, and honestly, that is for the best," the principal said.

***

The next two months proved to be much of a challenge as we were sent to a special summer school program just outside Fredericksburg, though it was a program that was sponsored by the Virginia educational system. We studied hard during our tenure in the summer school, but at the same time we were bored with our studies and wanted to explore more of Fredericksburg. We went on a weekend trip to Richmond, for sightseeing and many other things. Tommy was with us, as did Harry, who wanted to see more of Virginia than we do. We came upon this large university with an equally large football field. We stayed for a moment as Tommy started watching the football team practice until they were finished. Just as we were about to leave, one of the guys approached us with a curious look on his face.

Upon seeing the athlete in question, we noticed that he was rather stocky, especially his arms. His cheecks was painted with black single bars on each cheeck, and he was carrying a practice helmet. Although our noses crunched up at the stench coming from his helmet, we knew that this kind of athlete must have been talented.

"I don't think I've seen you all before. What brings you here to VCU?" the athlete asked us.

Tommy's mouth was open in surprise. "Wait, this is a university?"

The athlete snorted. "Didn't you read the sign over there?" He pointed at a rather large sign that says 'Virginia Commonwealth University'.

"Sorry about that. We've just arrived in Virginia a couple of weeks ago," Kimberly told the athlete.

Just then, another athlete waved him over as he shouted, "Yo, Ben! We gotta get back to practice! You can babysit later!" We heard light laughs in the background.

"That's me. I'm Ben," the athlete said as he shook our hands, including Tommy's and Harry's as well. He looked around Tommy and nodded. "You look like you are built for football."

"Oh, yeah. I've been an avid football fan, so I wanted to try out for the football team in FCS," Tommy admitted. "Tommy Tebow's my name."

"Kimberly." I pointed at Kim, before pointing at myself. "Beatrice."

"Ben Roethlisberger. It's nice talking to you all!" Ben shouted at us as he walked back inside the football field.

---

CABRUTA FALLS TO CHACIN'S REBEL FORCES AS LOYALISTS BEGIN TO DESERT OR SURRENDER, AMIDST REBEL ADVANCE
Los Angeles Times
November 16, 2001

(Cabruta, VENEZUELA) - Adding to the woes of the Venezuelan loyalist forces who continued to struggle, amidst the worsening morale within the anti-Chacin camp, the Chacin-led rebel forces have managed to capture the strategically important river city of Cabruta as various loyalist soldiers have begun to surrender or desert from their positions. While the operation only took four days to complete, news from Chacin's forces had revealed that there was tension and division within the loyalist camp, as the supply of food had dwindled to the point where loyalist Venezuelan soldiers had started to starve, and there were already 7 loyalist soldiers who died from starvation. Upon the capture of Cabruta, the Venezuelan loyalist soldiers who surrendered were given medical aid by the rebel forces before Chacin personally took charge of them and sent them into a makeshift hospital within southern Venezuela.

"I'm starting to think that President Caldera doesn't care at all about the regular soldiers here. Half of my family crossed the Orinoco to the rebel-held territories where Chacin is organizing the rudimentary form of the alternative government for Venezuela," says Private Lorenzo del Monte, whose unit was almost wiped out, with him being the only sole survivor. "Coupled with the late payments we've received from the military, it might be more suitable for me to surrender and join the rebels. At least they're taking care of me."

Other rebel forces have converged on the two minor river towns of Parmana and Requena, which held only a token garrison amount of loyalist soldiers. However, those towns quickly fell to the rebel forces when the rank and file soldiers of the loyalist forces had mutinied and captured their loyalist commander as they surrendered and turned over the cities to the rebels. Three squads of ex-MRTA soldiers had accompanied Chacin's forces along the Orinoco as they continued to consolidate control of the entire banks of the Orinoco, to prevent loyalist forces from landing behind enemy lines. In addition, the entirety of the Venezuelan Navy had remained loyal to the President, but the Venezuelan Air Force was deeply divided between loyalist and rebel. With the capture of Cabruta, the open path to the more densely populated areas of northern Venezuela is open to Chacin's rebel armies. At the same time, President Caldera had also given a speech in which he made an appeal to the rest of the Organization of American States, pleading for more aid to combat Chacin's armies.

"Venezuela has been a stable ally of the United States for a while now, but recently the rebel forces are gaining the upper hand. We are witnessing another attempt at a communist revolution, and unless this is stopped, we risk becoming another Cuba and Nicaragua," Caldera said, during a speech in the OAS building in Washington, DC, much to his frustrations, as the more outspoken delegates from hostile Latin American nations had jeered and mocked him. "We must stop the sscourge of communism, before it destroys the Americas."

Inside the United States, many of the political opponents of the Kemp administration had taken to the streets in protest of the American military's heavy handed tactics used against Cuban and Nicaraguan resistance forces. Veterans who returned from those conflicts have also marched alongside demonstrators, with four of the veterans that are on wheelchairs being wheeled around by fellow veterans, in a scene reminiscent of the Vietnam War. However, in various American cities where anti-Kemp demonstrations have broken out, riot police were deployed to keep the peace, but their presence has triggered a hostile reaction from within the demonstrators.

"President Jack Kemp is a bloodthirsty criminal whose hands are stained with the blood of innocent Cubans and Nicaraguans, and the war crimes continue on while the honor of the American soldier is being besmirched on all fronts!" says Social Progressive Party founder Lyndon LaRouche, during one of the anti-Kemp rallies in Boston, Massachusetts. "If he can get away with killing those working class in the nations under our control, how much more will he use the power of the state to launch a violent assault on our own working class?"

---

"The rise of the Social Progressive Party was not by accident, as they were a minor force in the New England region since the Jesse Jackson presidency. However, as former Republicans and former Democrats alike had been disillusioned by the growing ineptitude of those two major political parties, they soon explored options for joining minor parties, with the Social Progressives and Libertarians. The Libertarians gained support from those ex-Republicans who were fed up with the Kemp administration's lack of restraint with the Cuban and Nicaraguan caretaker governments, which have lost a sense of legitimacy in the eyes of the Cuban and Nicaraguan people. At the same time, the Social Progressives have also gained support from those disillusioned ex-Republicans and ex-Democrats alike who saw the Kemp administration's brutality towards Cuba and Nicaragua as proof of a so-called 'Crypto-Nazi Deep State' that has emerged. Among the Social Progressives, Elizabeth Warren had openly called for the International Court of Justice to investigate war crimes committed by both the US military and the collaborationist governments. It was not by accident that the 2002 Mid-term elections saw large Republican losses in the House of Representatives, with Missouri experiencing over 34% of its Republican seats being taken by either Social Progressives or Democrats. In Ohio, where James Traficant came from, the National Revival Party had campaigned on a hardline anti-usury platform, as well as a promise to impeach the President, should he continue to ignore the increasing number of war crimes and human rights violations that were committed by American soldiers while they're in Cuba and Nicaragua. As a result of that, the NRP would capture only 7% of the popular vote within the Mid-terms for Ohio, but it was enough to scare the Republicans into asking the President to take it seriously the demands of the National Redemption Party. By far the biggest political shock to come out of the 2002 Mid-term elections were in California and Texas, two biggest states with the most amount of electoral college votes. California had become split, with the Bay area becoming a Social Progressive stronghold, while the Los Angeles area would become evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. Northern California on the other hand, became split between the Democrats, Social Progressives, and Libertarians, with the Libertarian support in California coming from disaffected college students who refused to enlist in the US military. Texas on the other hand, would be most affected, with the revelation of the scandal that resulted in the impeachment and removal of Governor Ross Perot, resulting in the growing support for the Libertarians and Democrats alike. It is in Texas that future Senator Alex Jones will begin his political career, though he started off as Press Secretary for the Texas Libertarian Party, before running for the position of House Representative for Austin in 2006, eventually winning it with the support of influential backers who saw him as a moderating force for the Lone Star State." Issac Feldman, on "The Brutal Collapse of the Republican Party", sponsored by the American Cause.

---

Portions from the Interview with Former Magna Britannia Party Leader Malcolm Pearson, the Lord Peason of Rannoch
BBC Three
May 21, 2017

Discussing the Rise of the Magna Britannia Party and its Leadership

Interviewer: Not many of us were brave enough to have this rare chance at interviewing a member of the recently declining Magna Britannia Party, but on this day, I have a rare chance of interviewing the Lord Pearson of Rannoch. How are you doing, my Lord?

Pearson: I'm doing fine, thank you.

Interviewer: Now, I was going to ask you what the party was, and how it became a thing. How did it become popular in the first place when the European Continental Association wasn't gunning for closer political integration?

Pearson: Well, there was certainly infighting within both the British National Party and the National Front, and with the increasing presence of Filipino refugees in the United Kingdom, immigration quickly became a hot topic that we needed to address. In addition, there were also immigrants from the former Soviet Union that have settled in the United Kingdom, especially disaffected Baltic peoples like the Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians. On top of that, the Second Russian Civil War had polarized the extreme camps within Britain, with the far-left and the far-right joining the two opposite sides of the civil war. We saw what happened in Swindon and Coventry, where two separate incidents occurred between the far-left and the far-right.

Interviewer: In your manifesto, Magna Britannia Party was basically a merger between the British National Party and the National Front, and indeed in the 2002 British elections, your party only captured 7.4% of the popular vote. Yet, that percentage was enough to frighten the political establishment. How was that?

Pearson: Well, we had to resort to drastic measures when we needed to put an end to the political infighting within both the National Front and the British National Party. To this end, we had to expel John Tyndall from the movement, causing him to re-establish the United Albion Party, which had an even more neo-Nazi bent, while Magna Britannia was moderated into a party esposuing British nationalism along Spanish Falangist lines. We soon started to campaign for Britain to leave the European Continental Association, due to its growing interaction with the East Slavic Federation, which the British government saw as the reincarnation of the old Soviet Union. Like the United States, we did not recognize the validity of the merger between the former Union State of Ukraine and Belarus with the Russian Federation, but we did not openly call for those two states to separate, because we feared that a weakened Russia might open up to a more assertive Chinese influence in East Asia.

Interviewer: All right. In one of your political rallies, there was another incident in Barrow-in-Furness where Nick Griffin had made a speech, praising Artemio Tadiar for standing up to Chinese communism, which aroused a furious reaction from the Filipino residents in the area. Many of the Filipinos that live in Barrow-in-Furness were refugees who were originally temporary foreign workers in the Middle East that were lucky enough to settle here instead of Yugoslavia. Hearing a British politician praise this brutal dictator was enough to cause a riot, in which anti-fascists later joined. However, Combat 18's thugs was deployed in response, causing fights to break out, and for the rally to be cancelled for the rest of the day. What was your opinion on that incident?

Pearson: Needless to say, I had to give Nick Griffin a dressing down that lasted for an hour and a half. I get that he was trying to give lip service to Tadiar because of his abolition of the Central Bank of the Philippines, which Griffin wanted to replicate with the abolition of the Bank of England. While I admire his initiative, getting to that radical part was a bit too much, and I had to pull him off from the campaign for a while. It was because of Nick's idiocy that we lost the support in Cumbria and Northumberland, and that was to the Conservatives. In addition, we also faced a growing challenge from another right-wing populist party in 2008 that advocated for Britain to leave the ECA, and that was Gerard Batten's Union of British Patriots. Needless to say, it was the 2010s that was dominated by these emerging splits within all political parties in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage too, entered politics, but under the banner of the Labour Party. He originally had this capitalist mindset, until meeting a syndicalist activist who handed him several pamphlets on syndicalism. He had also borrowed books that were written by Oswald Mosley, and eventually wrote a book, detailing his political proposals for Britain and Europe as a whole. Yes, he was a Euroskeptic, but after 2005, began to preach for an ideology called Sovereign Syndicalism, which is essentially National Syndicalism coated in civic nationalism. He modeled his movement on both Franco's and Action Francaise, and that earned him a punch from an anti-fascist activist before he was pelted with stoned by vigilantes.

Interviewer: Oh yeah. I remember the time when in the Labour Party leadership debate, Farage and Jeremy Corbyn were at each other's throats over the direction that Labour should go, and Farage thought that Corbyn's overt Marxist rhetoric might scare off the traditional British working class that normally voted for Labour. Moreover, Corbyn was also accusing Farage of promoting sectarianism when the latter was encouraging the Filipino migrant community in the UK to embrace Anglicanism and Protestantism to help integrate into British society, to which Farage had doubled down on the assimilationist policies that targeted the Filipinos. Why was it a controversial topic within Labour Party, and what was Magna Britannia Party's stance on Farage's assimilationist proposals?

Pearson: To be honest, Farage as leader of the Labour Party was a frightening prospect, because he attracted more support from the middle and working class, as well as ethnic minorities who felt more comfortable with Farage's call to integrate closer into British society. Thankfully, Labour had split between pro-Corbyn and pro-Farage supporters, with the Corbynites merging with the Socialist Party to form the Socialist Labour Party, and the Farageans essentially infiltrating and later subverting the Union of British Patriots. Or rather, it was basically the Faragean faction of the Labour Party joining the Union of British Patriots and changing it from a neo-Nazi like movement to a Sovereign Syndicalist movement. We were also fearful of Farage, since he's trying to shape himself to be the British Mykola Azarov, and thankfully, he lost the 2015 UK general election to the conservatives around Andrea Leadsom.

Interviewer: Back to the Magna Britannia Party. Could you explain to the audience what your policies were?

Pearson: Basically, our economic policies called for the reformation of the British finance sector, which included the lowering of the interest rates on all loans taken by small businesses. We also advocated for empowering small businesses that were being threatened by the rise of shopping mall chains like Tesco's and Morrison's, which we needed to stimulate the local economies of the smaller towns around Britain. Our economic policy revolved around being able to negotiate for free trade agreements with other nations around the world, and it was the ECA's restrictions on it individual member states' ability to negotiate a separate trade deal with the nations they wanted to trade with that was the cause of Brexit. On that part, we spearheaded the efforts for Britain to leave the ECA, and surprisingly enough, former LibDem leader Paddy Ashdown had thrown his support behind our efforts, because Britain was desperate to trade with Canada and the United States, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and India. Of course, Bremain was a bit stronger due to Lynne Featherstone's pleas for Britain to stay in the ECA. Ultimately though, Britain chose to remain in the ECA, but demanded for the ECA to remain an economic trading bloc, and not go for political integration. That, and the fears of the ESF becoming the biggest trading partner of the ECA had caused the Eastern European member states to make a plea for Britain to stay. Ultimately, Bremain would benefit the United States and the East Slavic Federation, as the former had practically accomplished former President Kemp's goal of keeping the Euro-Atlantic alliance intact, and the latter has accomplished the goal of diversifying its trade deal options. However, the ESF reaped the bigger benefits, as they were able to negotiate trade deals with China, Iran, and India, which accounted for much of their increased GDP. That is, until the world has witnessed a serious political challenge within the ESF when the National Redemption Movement fielded Igor Girkin as its Presidential candidate, causing protests throughout the ESF. Luckily for us, Girkin lost the election badly to one of Olha Bohomolets's allies in Alena Kupchyna. She ran as part of the Party for Spiritual Renewal, and one of the Prime Ministers that she chose was Maria Zakharova, who was also a key Bohomolets ally as well.

---

Excerpts from the Documentary: "What is the 28th Amendment?"
by: The American Cause
November 30, 2004

"The 28th Amendment was a rather controversial proposal to hold two elections, one for the first round in which they get to select the top two candidates to run off against each other, and the second round will decide the Presidency. The electoral reform proposal occurred when on November 2, 2004, for the first time in American history, there was no clear winner in the Electoral College vote, and the popular vote was worse, since the top three or four political parties that managed to scrape enough votes were as follows: the Democrats (Moseley-Braun/Gephardt) only managed to win 40.6% of the votes, the Republicans (Alexander/McCain) scraped around 32.2% of the votes, with the Social Progressives (LaRouche/Warren) scraped around 22.6% and the Libertarians (Campagna/Badnarik) with 9.6%. Translating that to the Electoral college votes would be difficult enough, but it did herald the start of the Republican Party's collapse from political power, and would not pose a threat to the Democrats between 2004 and 2020. The loss of trust from the American people towards the Republican Party was noted by Jack Kemp's desire to act the opposite of Jesse Jackson, but this backfired badly when his attempt to become Jackson's opposite translated to resorting to a Nixonian-Reaganite rhetoric that ultimately tarnished the reputation of the Republican Party for a while. The only positive side to the Republican Party is that they could still rely on support from the Deep South, and among the Filipino and Vietnamese communities. However, even they would be drawn towards both the Libertarian Party and the controversial National Revival Party of James Traficant. Why did the Republican Party began to lose support from within those communities it sought support? Mainly because after the Second Korean War had ended with the reunification of the Korean peninsula, the truth about the atrocities were leaked to the international press, that Jack Kemp was collaborating with Artemio Tadiar in forming a mercenary unit that also doubled as a penal battalion. Those soldiers who served in the infamous Berdugo Brigade were given parole after the war was over, on the condition that they renounce a life of crime and they be allowed to join a program called Life Outside the Gang, in which they would renounce their gang ties, in exchange for being given new identites and new jobs. The Berdugo Brigade was notorious for several things: participating in the massacre of North Korean and Chinese POWs, shelling civilian centers on the Sino-North Korean border, with Dandong being hit by those artillery shells, and human trafficking of captured North Korean women and selling them to organized crime groups. It was not an accident that these mercenary thugs were also hired by the business owner of the bankrupted Pyeonghwa Motors to besiege the factory plant where striking workers held their ground against attempts by Pyeonghwa Motors' top management to bring order to the factory, and to kill the ringleaders who organized the strikes in the first place. That was the spark that infuriated the former Provisional Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the point where they made an alliance with the factory workers who launched the strike in the first place, and various ex-South Korean nationalist and leftist parties who were furious at the treatment of the Pyeonghwa Motors workers who were facing job losses. The man who was chosen to lead a post-unification movement was Huh Kyung-young, and he dropped the bombshell when he announced that the owner of Pyeonghwa Motors had colluded with the Tadiar regime and the Kemp administration to put down the labor strike in exchange for setting up a manufacturing plant in the Philippines, a scheme that ultimately failed when Ashok Leyland purchased the bankrupted firm and relocated its facilities to India.

The decline of the Republican Party was in contrast to the growing popularity of the Social Progressive Party and that of the Libertarian Party, mainly because the Libertarians promised a small government that would scale back on many of America's military missions everywhere, and to empower the Cuban and Nicaraguan caretaker governments as they simultaneously built a transitional government that will take over from those caretaker governments. The Social Progressives on the other hand, campaigned on scaling back the power of multinational corporations by calling for wage increase in manufacturing and construction jobs, thereby making it a bit more expensive for multinationals to operate within the United States. However, they also took measures to prevent those same multinationals from simply offshoring their jobs in Third World countries as punishment for their involvement in the empowering of right-wing military dictatorships in Mexico, Chile, and the Philippines. In a way, the Social Progressives had gained popularity in the West Coast, where left-wing sentiment was traditionally strong. Moreover, the same communities that used to vote Republican also started to join Traficant's National Revival Party, despite them being a minority in that movement. They joined the NRP, mainly because of Traficant's proposal to shift the responsibility of currency circulation from the Federal Reserve to the US government itself, and to also scale back on American military commitments everywhere. Soon after that, the 2008, 2012, and 2016 elections would witness the declining popularity of the Republican Party as the average American voter was exposed to more choices. In addition, the inclusion of LaRouche and Campagna in the Presidential debate also helped to expose their party to the American public, as they were getting tired of the same two political parties getting into power. Ron Paul summed it correctly when he said in 1988 that:

Ron Paul: The American people are given the freedom of choice, but it's merely an illusion of choice when we're forced to choose between Republican and Democrat. There's no real choice.

Ron Paul would later join the Libertarian Party due to his growing appeal among many students and agricultural landowners in the rural parts of the Midwest and the South. It was the Libertarians of Ron Paul and Alex Jones who put the Libertarian Party on the political map of the United States in later elections, but the most important thing is that the Republican Party had to do a soul searching to cleanse itself from the corrosive influence that Jack Kemp held on the party. His death in 2008 was commiserated by the Republican old guard, but there was massive celebration in nations affected by his policies. Of course, it also helped Congressman Jones's image when back in 2002, Alex Jones had married his longtime girlfriend in Monica Lewinsky in an interfaith ceremony that John Hagee presided over, which was controversial enough, but there was criticism from both the Christian and Jewish communities over this publicized event. Still, a few LIbertarians would joke that it was Monica who held the real power while Alex was the public face as a Senator."

[stevep]

Nov 21, 2021 23:28:49 GMT TheRomanSlayer said:

Nov 21, 2021 12:21:12 GMT stevep said:

  RS

  Thanks for clarifying.  Given the nature of Tadiar's regime and that its a pariah state I suspect that - post Thatcher anyway - its very unlikely Britain would sell or otherwise transfer warships to Tadiar's Philippines.

  Towing cargoes back to the Philippines give a much greater chance of such ships being detected and the escorting forces being attacked on the way.  Too many ways of tracking large ships.  I would suspect, unless they have some reasonably secure base where they could transfer loads without being detected then destroying the ships would be by some way the safest option.  Especially since such operations by a state are a clear act of war.  Which means its an expensive operation as little/no material gain for the Philippines but Tadiar is enough of a fanatic to approve something like that.

  Steve

Funny you mentioned the post-Thatcher era, since I was thinking of doing a UK centric update where there might be a certain kind of political party that may want to get chummy with Tadiar.

Another problem with sinking the ships is that the country that it came from might assume that something went wrong if it didn't arrive at their intended destination on time. So for example, Tadiar's Marines attack a merchant ship that belongs to say, Qatar. The Qatari authorities will immediately sense that something went wrong on the trip when their ship was supposed to arrive in Hong Kong. I could also cover this in another update when they actually try to pull off a trojan horse style terror attack.

  Once terrorist inspired piracy starts people could find out a lot earlier that a ships been attacked than when it fails to arrive in its planned port.  When regular communications are lost - assuming that their not able to get out any distress call -, when they diverge from their planned course or related tracking beacons are switched off possibly as well.

[TheRomanSlayer]

That is true, and the risks become greater. Of course, Tadiar’s piracy is more brutal than the OTL Somali piracy, but may ultimately be more costly in the long run.

[kyuzoaoi]

Also, any description as to how that indigenous Filipino jet fighter look like?

[gillan1220]

Here's the POTUS list.
Click on the picture for larger.

[TheRomanSlayer]

Nov 23, 2021 16:38:00 GMT gillan1220 said:

Here's the POTUS list.
Click on the picture for larger.
View Attachment

This is great. Thanks.

The funny thing is that, only Dole and Kemp are actual Republicans. The rest are Democrats.

[TheRomanSlayer]

Chapter Eighty-Nine: To Rise Against Tyranny

BREAKING NEWS! SANGLEY POINT AIR BASE IN REVOLT AS ATIENZA LEADS MUTINEERS IN MARCH AGAINST TADIAR GOVERNMENT
Sydney Herald
December 25, 2001



Sangley Point Airbase, which is the center of Danilo Atienza's mutiny against the Tadiar dictatorship.

(Sangley Point, CAVITE, PHILIPPINES) - The entire Philippine nation awoke to a chaotic morning, as various Philippine Air Force personnel, accompanied by disgruntled Philippine Army soldiers, have staged a mutiny and a revolt against the Tadiar regime. The mutineers, led by famed war hero Danilo Atienza, had aroused the anger of the mutineers when he told them that there wouldn't be any more new fighter aircraft that will arrive in the Philippines due to the difficulty that the Tadiar regime encountered with aicraft procurement. However, he won over the mutineers by promising to launch a revolution against the increasingly despotic and corrupt junta. Simultaneously, various students from the University of the Philippines and the University of Santo Tomas have also walked out of their classes to protest the growing loss of their civil rights and freedoms, which were followed by workers who have walked off their jobs in frustration at the lack of economic prosperity that Tadiar promised to deliver, but has failed to do so far.

"Our military has constantly faced issues with equipment and a lack of replenishment for those parts. Meanwhile, Tadiar is busy giving more attention to organized crime groups that have established themselves here in the Philippines? Has he forgotten that he needs to take care of the military first?" Atienza asked furiously when he addressed the mutineers in Sangley Point AIrbase. "We are the new Magdalo, the revolutionaries that will overthrow the inept regime of Artemio Tadiar. We will put a stop to his ties to organized crime groups once and for all!"

The increase in interactions between the Tadiar regime and organized crime groups had a negative effect on Philippine law enforcement, as they were ordered to leave certain crime lords alone, and only focus on the lesser criminals. Philippine National Police senior officers criticized the move, calling it 'giving a license to commit crimes', according to PNP Chief Jose Antonio Leviste.

"Artemio Tadiar has essentially placed handcuffs on our wrists, making it harder for us to tackle the rise in crime, especially if it's related to the organized crime groups like the Yakuza that have operated here in the Philippines," says an unnamed PNP officer who is stationed in Baguio City, on condition of anonymity. "I know a few colleagues who joined the mutineers, and this should send a message to Brigadier General Tadiar that we don't approve of his collaboration with the Yakuza."

It is unknown if and when Tadiar will address the mutiny, but already there is a confirmed report that pro-junta loyalist forces are being deployed to the Philippine capital, and to Kabankalan, which will become the capital of the Philippines, starting on January 1, 2002. The Kabankalan garrison forces were being deployed under the command of Colonel Edgardo Doromal, while Brigadier General Billy Bibit has sent his troops to block the mutineers on the border between Cavite City and the town of Noveleta. Moreover, five platoons of Philippine Marines and the Luzon Maritime Fleet of the Philippine Navy have been deployed to the waters surrounding Sangley Point Airbase, awaiting instructions from Tadiar himself, should the situation get out of hand.

"The mutineers have dared to launch a revolt against this government. As far as I am concerned, they have betrayed this nation when they dared to challenge my authority," says Artemio Tadiar, during a press conference at Malacanang Palace. "I am placing the Philippines under a state of emergency, with a 24 hour curfew imposed on the entire nation until the mutiny is resoved. To the Filipino people, I know that you have to feed your families, and your children need to be educated, but allow me to say that this is the reason why I have placed the welfare of the Filipino people above all else: because there are traitors who are willing to sell our Fatherland to our enemies."

---

PROTESTS IN MANILA SPIRALS INTO CHAOS AS VARIOUS PROTEST BANNERS ARE VANDALIZED OVER THE GROWING MUTINY
Manila Times
December 26, 2001



Protesters placed 'Philippines - Province of China' banners throughout the capital of Manila, as a sign of provocation against the Tadiar regime. Other banners have been held up, like 'Philippines - 51st US State' and 'Philippines - Southern Sea Region, Japan' as a sign of protests as well.

(Manila) - Amidst the growing mutiny that erupted from Sangley Point Airbase, various protesters have been seen flying banners that have mockingly labeled the Philippines as various parts of foreign nations, with the most common ones being the "Philippines, Province of China" banner, the "Philippines, 51st US State", and most controversial of all, the "Philippines - Southern Sea Region, Japan", which also depicted a scaled down version of what the pro-Japanese supporters called 'the Second Japanese Empire'. The tarpaulin banners were unfolded throughout various parts of the Philippines, and not just in Manila alone. Cebu and Davao City were dominated by the 'Philippines - Southern Sea Region, Japan' banners, alluding to the fact that those cities were primarily settled by the Japanese, prior to WWII, while the 'Philippines, Province of China' banners were flown throughout Metro Manila. Most importantly, in Kabankalan and various parts of Luzon, the banner of 'Philippines, 51st US State' was flown, especially in the city of Cabanatuan, and in the towns of Platero and Balincarin. Those three towns and cities in Casiguran Prefecture are significant, as they were the sites of the first successful American rescue mission that saved the lives of 552 Allied POWs held by the Japanese during WWII.

"I am proud to fly this banner inside Cabanatuan City, if only to pay tribute to our own guerrilla fighters who helped the Americans liberate those POWs from Japanese captivity. I am disgusted with Artemio Tadiar's flirtation with the Japanese, as he insults the memories of those soldiers who died in the liberation of the Philippines," says Casiguran Prefecture Governor Tomas Joson III, during an anti-Tadiar rally in Cabanatuan City. "If that is what it takes to depose Artemio Tadiar, then I would rather see the Philippines become an American territory again instead of a Chinese province or a Japanese colony once again."

Although the banners were intended to be a parody of the current Tadiar regime's foreign dealings despite its official stance of diplomatic isolation, the Tadiar regime was not laughing, and in fact various Philippine Marines soldiers had actually shot and killed the protesters waving the 'Philippines - Province of China' banners, while merely arresting those who waved 'Philippines - 51st US State' and 'Philippines - Southern Sea Region, Japan' banners on charges of hooliganism. The protests, along with Danilo Atienza's mutiny, has been the biggest anti-government protests that the Tadiar regime faced since the 1986 EDSA Revolution, when Tadiar himself was thrusted on the spotlight in the international press. The mutiny has exposed the deep divide within Philippine society that has not been resolved since Tadiar's rise to power. Moreover, the radical nationalists that dominate the Philippine rank and file nationalist movement had emerged as the key power broker within the Tadiar regime, and they also served as the foot soldiers of the junta, putting down any attempts by opposition figures to even organize protests against Tadiar.

"We call upon the Tadiar regime to exercise caution and restraint when dealing with the protesters, and to acknowledge some of their legitimate grievances in order to move the country forward," says Australian Prime Minister John Howard, during a Parliamentary session. "Moreover, we also condemn the violent methods that have been used by both sides in this emerging mutiny that has broken out, and we will also look into the possibility of fulfilling the Philippines' aerospace defense needs as well, which will fulfill the demands of the mutineers."

---

KEMP ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES JOINT DEVELOPMENT PROJECT WITH AUSTRALIA ON THE OVERHAUL OF PROTOTYPE NORTHROP YF-17
Washington Post
February 11, 2002

(Washington, DC) - US President Jack Kemp has announced today that the US Department of National Defense has consulted Northrop on the resumption of the development of the Northrop YF-17 Cobra, which would become one of the few American fighter planes that will be earmarked for export to other countries. The announcement comes at a time when various American allies are looking to upgrade their air force, or to replace some of the unneeded fighter planes that are set to be decommissioned. In addition, one of the reasons for the mutiny that broke out in the Philippines back in December of 2001 was the lack of progress in the Tadiar regime's procurement of fighter planes to replace the lost F-5s that were shot down during the Spratlys conflict. Although the Philippines was interested in purchasing the JAS 39 Gripen, the Swedish government refused to approve the sale, and instead it had sold at least 3 units to Japan for research and development purposes. However, the JAS 39 Gripen units that was used by the South African Air Force was later sent to Australia, in defiance of the post-civil war South African government as the pilots of those fighter craft had formerly served the apartheid government.

"I believe that the improvements needed to be added on the Northrop YF-17 would be necessary for the sole purpose of exporting these finished product to our friendly allies. Our key allies that we will focus on selling these fighter craft would be Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the Philippines," says US President Kemp, during a press conference in Washington, DC. "In addition, we are also looking at revisitng some of the other canceled designs that we would like to revive and bring it to the forefront of American aircraft design."

The Kemp administration is looking at revisiting some of the canceled military projects that were abandoned in the 1990s, as they were looking to streamline some of the designs that became too cumbersome for mass production, and therefore it was shelved. Among the other prototypes that are being examined, the canceled Northrop YF-23 stealth fighter plane was designed to counter the Soviet Su-27 and MiG-29, but the ESF Combined Aerospace Forces had also announced that they're revisiting the canceled Mikoyan-Gurevich Project 1.44 fighter planes, as it struggled to streamline its own experimental fighter planes as well. The US Navy has also been looking at upgrading its VFAX arsenal, and had recently accepted the F-18 Hornet as its mainstay fighter craft, but has expressed interest in collaborating with Northrop on creating an export version of the YF-17 Cobra for naval aviation. This was announced in response to the attempted development of the Yak-141 VTOL fighter aircraft that was in its development stage, until the ESF's decision to scale back on its production of aircraft carriers in favor of developing an effective carrier-killer strategy, plus the production of missile destroyers and frigates.

---

GOVERNOR OF CASIGURAN DECLARES PREFECTURE TO BE IN STATE OF REBELLION AGAINST TADIAR REGIME, PROCLAIMS FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NORTH LUZON WITH CABANATUAN CITY AS 'CAPITAL'
Vancouver Sun
January 14, 2002

(Cabanatuan City, CASIGURAN REGION, PHILIPPINES) - Adding to the growing anger against the Tadiar regime, a prominent governor of Casiguran Prefecture named Tomas Joson III had openly declared a rebellion against the government in Manila, and backed by other mutinous soldiers who are not working in tandem with Danilo Atienza and his mutineers, had declared the formation of a breakaway state called the Federal Republic of North Luzon. The attempted secession of not only the entirety of the Casiguran Region, but revolts in the Samtoy and Cagayan Valley Region had been declared by rebellious military governors of those regions and had joined Joson in the formation of the breakaway state. Upon the formation of the breakaway state of North Luzon, Joson had called for new elections to see who will become the new president of North Luzon as he also intended to not only gain international recognition, but to also formally ask US President Jack Kemp to admit North Luzon as a US state, citing the historical American control of the entirety of the Philippines as justification.

"The people of North Luzon, many of whom had different political backgrounds but are of diverse ethnic origins, have been neglected by the Tadiar junta. Moreover, we do not approve of his growing ties to organized crime groups that have unfortunately settled in the Philippines," says Joson, during a press conference in Cabanatuan City. "We also call upon the representatives of the Philippine government-in-exile to return to the Philippines, but not only to overthrow Artemio Tadiar, but to also restore the Republic. The so-called Federal States of the Philippines is in a reality a nation run by military officers that act like regional warlords."

The likely chance of Joson's attempt to gain recognition from the international community might be a bit higher, thanks to Tadiar's diplomatic isolation, but there is also a chance that Tadiar might have loyalists waiting within the shadows as only 12% of North Luzon's population supported the secession. In addition, the Admiral of the Luzon Fleet, Roberto Empedrad, whose original name was Robert, but Hispanicized his first name to make himself more acceptable by the junta, had been ordered by Tadiar to restore order first in Sangley Point Airbase, before proceeding to put down the rebellion. Additionally, Felimon Santos Jr. was ordered by Tadiar to send the 5th and 7th Infantry Divisions to regain control of the breakaway regions, and to allow Nicanor Faeldon's newly formed Special Strategic Group (from the Philippine Marines), which consisted of battle hardened veterans of the West Philippine Sea piracy campaigns.

"We cannot tolerate the actions of these traitors who want to destroy the sovereignty of the Philippines. Perhaps now is the time to refresh our land with the blood of the traitors who seek to undermine the nation," says Colonel Saulito Aromin, while addressing the 5th and 7th Infantry Division soldiers that are being deployed to the breakaway region of North Luzon. "Show no mercy to your enemies, even if they were your comrades at one point. They betrayed their country, and there is no room for traitors here."

---

Excerpts from "The Evolution of Modern Warfare"
by: General Eric Shinseki
Department of Defense Report, published 2016

The post-Cold War era had been dramatically marked by the Second Russian Civil War, in which it was also a clash between the old Soviet military doctrine and a newly emerging doctrine that was formulated by the Russian and later ESF Defense Minister Aleksander Lebed, which emphasized the need for less reliance on the conscription system and a transition to a more professional fighting force. Yet, Lebed's doctrine had been seriously challenged in the ESF's invasion of Kazakhstan, where their troops had performed a bit poorly, despite the overwhelming advantage that they had. It was in the intervention in Central Asia that the Voynik Program was launched. In contrast, while we also intervened in Cuba and Nicaragua in the late 1990s, we also noticed that our own doctrine had grown rather obsolete, which we had to counter it with the Future Trooper Program. There are similarities between the ESF's Voynik Program and the American Future Trooper Program, in that the military equipment and infantry tactics were given a massive overhaul. It was at this point that both the US and the ESF had seriously considered the idea of developing a bullpup weapon that would eventually replace their conventional assault rifles, though it was a costly process. For one thing, the United States military was already awashed with M16s, and the M4 carbine had been recently introduced in 1994, though that weapon was faced with jamming issues when it was deployed for jungle warfare, which led to the development of its upgraded version in the M4A1. Both the US and the ESF would extensively use their combat experiences in the Caribbean and Central Asia respectively to develop the Voynik and Future Trooper Programs as well.

One notable difference between the Voynik Program and the Future Trooper Program however, was that the former had also invested in special night fighting equipment for its troops, which was crucial for certain operations by the Spetsnaz during the closing stages of the conflict in Central Asia. The latter on the other hand, had invested in communications equipment which can track down enemy soldiers in real time, though these equipments were primitive when it was first deployed in 2007. By 2019 however, the night fighting equipment and the communications gadgets had improved to a certain degree. Joint Challenge Infinite Stratos also demonstrated the effectiveness of the communications gadgets that all participant nations had used, as well as the necessity of deploying night fighting equipment during night operations. A similar program was launched for the US Marines and the ESF's famed VDV, or paratroopers, and while they may look the same, they were not employed as extensively as it was for the ground forces. That is because the US Marines normally fight where there's water, and the ESF's paratroopers have often been dropped behind enemy lines, making the idea of carrying such gadgets not only impossible, but vulnerable to damages as well.

Armored warfare was something that I had repeatedly said that the military leadership shouldn't neglect, as it was still a key component of our military's ability to wage war against anyone around the world. The M8 Armored Gun system was originally built as a proposed successor to the M551 Sheridan, but the prototype was costly to make. Instead, I approached Defense Secretary Paul Van Riper on his intake of the proposal to replace the M551 Sheridan. His response was that while the Sheridan was suitable for the US Marine Corps, ultimately there must be a solution that could cut down on the cost of the M8 Armored Gun system. What came out of it were two things: the M1128 Mobile Gun system, which was adopted by our military, and the M551A2 Sheridan II, which was basically the M1128 Mobile Gun System turret that was modified to fit in an M551 Sheridan chassis. That fusion of the MGS on a Sheridan chassis was the M551A2 Sheridan II, and that was the tank that became the new light tank of the US military, as well as an export model that was mainly sent to the former South Korea, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, India, and the Philippines. So far, the only medium tank that the US military has employed is the M1 Abrams series, but there was also a push to develop a scaled down version of the Abrams that was going to be slated for exports as well. The reports of Albania selling all of its tanks was confirmed, with Vietnam obtaining most of the Albanian T-54 and Type 59 tanks as well. Fortunately, we extended a helping hand to the Brazilian tank engineers in improving the capabilities of the EE-T1 Osorio tanks, which was eventually adopted by the Brazilian and Chilean militaries, with their plans to return their Leopard tanks to Germany, but the Canadian military was interested in purchasing more of the Leopards before we included them in the Sheridan II program. Of course, since I proposed to transition the heavy brigades into lighter brigades, the need for heavy tanks and other heavy weaponry was going to become obsolete at some point.

---

Excerpts from the Wikipedia Article on the M551A2 Sheridan II:

Development:

By the late 1990s, it had apparently become obvious that the M551 Sheridan was becoming more obsolete, but several of these amphibious light tanks were sent to the Philippines in the aftermath of the Spratlys conflict. Moreover, General Eric Shinseki's proposal of a transition from heavy brigades to light brigades was seen as necessary in response to the East Slavic Federation's attempt at reforming much of its military doctrine. Finally, there were some prototype tanks that were abandoned during previous administrations, until the Kemp administration saw these abandoned prototypes as potential future export models. Data that was acquired from testing the M8 Armored Gun System was applied to the M1128 Mobile Gun system, but there were still a few Sheridans with only the chassis intact. Chrystler's solution was to modify the size of the turret, so it can fit inside the chassis of the M551 Sheridan. The result was that it became an upgraded Sheridan, but to prevent confusion, it was christened as the M551A2 Sheridan II. Other data gathered from the M1128 Mobile Gun system and the M8 Armored Gun system was implemented on the Sheridan II, and various features found in the Stingray light tank was applied to it as well, but the most important feature of the Sheridan II was the installment of the panoramic sight that was placed on the Sheridan II, and later on all active American tanks. The ESF's T-81, T-99, and later T-00 Sotnia tanks also installed the panoramic sight as well, but the Sheridan II's use of the panoramic sight was crucial during the 2002-2004 Second Korean War when 30 Sheridan IIs used by the Australian and Canadian militaries were used to knock out the heavier North Korean tanks. There were also Sheridan II tanks that were used by the Philippine military, but inefficient training of its crews had led to several of them being destroyed by the better trained North Korean and Chinese tank crews that operated the Chonma-ho and the Type 88 & 96 tanks respectively.

Production started in 2002, but only a few batches were successfully completed within the end of the year. However, the Kemp administration had ordered that new factories where the Sheridan IIs were built should be handled by Chrystler, which expanded its manufacturing plants into Virginia, Georgia, Texas, California, and Washington State. Before the outbreak of the Second Korean War, over 1,400 Sheridan IIs were being produced, and over a half of them were exported to Canada, Australia, the Philippines, and Mexico, before news of its successful performance had led to other nations placing more orders for the Sheridan IIs. While the Sheridan II was heavier than its original counterpart, it was successfully used in land battles. Unfortunately, its weight had also been an issue, as it struggled to swim as well. Thus, an amphibious variant was developed called the Sheridan IIA, with the A standing for amphibious, with the turret's weight being cut down by a bit, and the gun's length was also reduced by a third of its size. The only weakness of the Sheridan II is that it is vulnerable when it's on a body of water, as its inability to evade incoming enemy attacks makes it ideal for enemy troops to knock it down while it is on a body of water, causing the crew to also drown as well.

---

CABANATUAN FALLS TO TADIAR LOYALIST TROOPS AS JOSON IS CAPTURED BY UNDERGROUND NETWORK OF LOYALISTS
Vancouver Sun
February 18, 2002


Loyalist troops are standing on the truck as they're being deployed to the breakaway entity of the self-proclaimed 'Federal Republic of North Luzon'.

(Cabanatuan City, CASIGURAN REGION, PHILIPPINES) - The short lived breakaway republic of North Luzon had died a violent death, as pro-Tadiar loyalists staged a coup against the rebel government of Tomas Joson by capturing said leader and delivering him straight into the arms of troops loyal to Felimon Santos Jr., who also arrested the former Governor of Nueva Ecija Prefecture on charges of treason, subversion, and sedition, as well as inciting a rebellion. The fall of Nueva Ecija Prefecture also signalled the end of the Federal Republic of North Luzon, as other pro-Tadiar soldiers operating within the breakaway entity had also arrested the rebellious governors and sent them straight to Manila, where Artemio Tadiar will oversee the court martials of a few military officers who revolted as well. The capture of Tomas Joson marks the beginning of the end of the attempted revolt, which also coincided with the capture of Danilo Atienza, as he and his followers were surrounded by loyalist troops in the Bataan Peninsula, before surrendering. The capture of Atienza marks the tragic end of the Sangley Point Airbase Mutiny, which had the best shot at deposing the Tadiar dictatorship, and various other soldiers who managed to evade capture have already sailed for the island of Palau, where Palauan authorities have announced that they will take in Filipino soldiers who wanted to flee from their countries.

"This is a tragic day for our people, because we underestimated the brutality and extreme measures that Artemio Tadiar will resort to, in order to cling on to power," says Secretary of Overseas Filipino Community Affairs Jovito Salonga, who heard about the news of Atienza's capture. "However, the heroic sacrifice of Danilo Atienza will not be in vain, as there are many Filipinos who still want democracy to return to their nation, and they're prepared to fight for it. At the very least, the Tadiar regime will now pay attention to what the people wanted."

However, Salonga's comments were met with derision back in the Philippines, as the junta criticized the government-in-exile, which is based in Whistler, British Columbia.

"We have more than enough evidence that Atienza's revolt was orchestrated by the traitors who live comfortably in exile, and as we had always said, the government-in-exile claims to represent the will of the Filipino people, but in reality they are puppets of the Chinese Communist Party. We never forgot that they wanted to make peace with China when we suffered from their barbaric bombing campaigns," says Tadiar, during a session in the Bayanihan. "Because we are still at war with China, what Atienza did was treason, and that he has declared himself to be a Chinese catspaw."

As for Tomas Joson, no one knows what will happen to him, although the military leadership has already decided on how they will punish him, along with many other prefectural governors who sided with him in the attempted secession of North Luzon.

"The idea that we will allow someone like Tomas Joson to break our country apart, just so they can join another nation is completely idiotic. Even US President Kemp has announced that it will not admit North Luzon as a state, even if it seceded from the Philippines due to us," says Colonel Edgardo Doromal, during the same session in the Bayanihan. "Even the Japanese were flattered when signs that said 'Philippines - Southern Sea Region, Japan', but the Chinese must be laughing at us when certain idiots put up the 'Philippines - Province of China' banners."


Nicanor Faeldon addresses the members of the Fatherland Freedom Party and other troops of the Philippine Marines as they're waiting to be deployed to Sangley Point Airbase to crush the mutiny.

---

"Listen to me very well, for those of you who want to kill me. Go ahead and do it, and do not miss the shot! If you do, I will come back to get my revenge on you and the criminal boss you call a leader. I have no regrets in what I did. Yes, the aircraft issue was legitimate, but you know something else? I fired the first shot that will eventually lead to the end of the Tadiar dictatorship. We've all survived the Marcos dictatorship, and we'll survive Tadiar's tyranny as well. However, you will never suppress the Filipino people's thirst for freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and individual liberty! God is my witness, and I'm sure that He will forgive me and those who chose to die alongside me as martyrs, for the sins that we have committed. Down with Tadiar! Long live the Philippines!" Danilo Atienza, shortly before pro-Tadiar troops executed him and 12 more ringleaders of the failed Sangley Point Airbase Mutiny. [Danilo Atienza - Born: April 24, 1951, Died: March 14, 2002]

---

FILIPINOS COMMEMORATE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF MARTYRS' DAY, EVEN AMIDST GROWING TENSIONS BETWEEN LEGARDA GOVERNMENT AND FAR-RIGHT EXTREMISTS
Sydney Herald
March 14, 2017



Cardinal Tagle addressed the faithful in the special Martyrs' Day church mass.

(Kabankalan, PHILIPPINES) - The 15th anniversary of the failed Sangley Point Airbase Mutiny had been a sorrowful affair, as Filipinos around the world commemorated the deaths of 13 ringleaders of the Mutiny, including Danilo Atienza himself, who sacrificed his life in order to challenge the Tadiar regime. However, the anniversary commemoration is marred by protests by loyalists of recently deposed military dictator Artemio Tadiar and nationalist firebrand Nicanor Faeldon, who threw eggs and petrol bombs at the people who placed flowers on the memorial in Trece Martires, in Cavite Prefecture, just miles from Manila Bay, where Atienza and twelve others were machine gunned down by the Philippine Navy, and their corpses were thrown into Manila Bay, to be fed by sharks. The commemoration ceremony was led by President Loren Legarda and Vice President Jejomar Binay, who had to hire extra bodyguards to stop any possible assassination attempts on their lives. The ceremony did start off peacefully, before pro-Tadiar loyalists had attempted to disrupt the ceremony with chants and throwing off fascist salutes that were used by Spanish Falangists, although it was Faeldon's faction that did throw the fascist salutes.

"The memories of Danilo Atienza, and twelve other martyrs will be cherished in the memories of the Filipino people, but let us not forget the hundreds, if not millions of Filipinos who perished during the Tadiar dictatorship. His crimes have surpassed even that of Ferdinand Marcos's crimes, to the point where many of us would say, 'Marcos stole millions, but Tadiar killed millions'."

The presence of a few diehard loyalists of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos in Trece Martires was negligible, but they were soon engaged in fistfights with both Aquino loyalists and Tadiar supporters. Some of the former Marcos loyalists had flown the Philippine flag used during the last stages of the Marcos dictatorship, while Aquino loyalists flew the flag of the Sixth Republic, and Tadiar supporters flew the Tadiar-era Estelada style flag of the Federal States of the Philippines. In addition, former Marcos loyalists had sung the song used during the Marcos dictatorship, while Aquino loyalists had sung a popular song called 'Bayan Ko', which translates to 'My Country', and Tadiar loyalists sung the anthem used during the Tadiar regime, 'Tindig Aking Amang Bayan', which translates to 'Stand My Fatherland', which in itself is a modified version of the anthem sung during the existence of the Japanese-sponsored Second Philippine Republic. However, what really started the fight was Faeldon's Fatherland Freedom Party members attempting to hold a torchlight march with tiki torches and wearing baskets over their heads.

"I cannot believe that there are supporters of those two dictators in our country. It's like they're spitting on their graves!" says Gisela Talavera, whose relatives were murdered during the early stages of the Tadiar dictatorship. "Marcos stole millions of Pesos from the Filipino people, but it was Artemio Tadiar that committed mass murder against innocent Filipinos who refused to bow down to his dictatorship!"

The recently remerging Filipino-Chinese community in the Philippines, which were aided by the recent arrivals of ethnic Chinese from Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan as a result of President Legarda's relaxation of its immigration policy towards the rest of Asia, had also been furious at the presence of the Tadiar loyalists. In turn, the Japanese community that have resettled in the Philippines during the Tadiar era had also made up over 12% of the population that supported the former Tadiar dictatorship.

"Everywhere I see now, all the businesses are owned by Japanese. Even the Binondo district, which was the oldest Chinatown in the world, has been transformed into another Japantown. From Makati to Binondo, it is populated by ethnic Japanese, and one could not go by those neighborhoods without hearing a Japanese language conversation," says Peter Leung, whose family recently settled in the Philippines from Hong Kong. "My Filipino friends told me that the Japanese had become the biggest minority in the Philippines, thanks to Tadiar's Sinophobia and his aggressive policy towards the local Chinese community here."

[stevep]

Nov 23, 2021 18:16:03 GMT TheRomanSlayer said:

Nov 23, 2021 16:38:00 GMT gillan1220 said:

Here's the POTUS list.
Click on the picture for larger.
<button disabled="" class="c-attachment-insert--linked o-btn--sm">Attachment Deleted</button>

This is great. Thanks.

The funny thing is that, only Dole and Kemp are actual Republicans. The rest are Democrats.

  Was Reagan a Democrat here or did you mean after him?

[TheRomanSlayer]

Nov 23, 2021 21:36:47 GMT stevep said:

Nov 23, 2021 18:16:03 GMT TheRomanSlayer said:

This is great. Thanks.

The funny thing is that, only Dole and Kemp are actual Republicans. The rest are Democrats.

  Was Reagan a Democrat here or did you mean after him?

I meant after Reagan. You would notice that a good chunk of the US presidents that came after Reagan, a majority of them were Democrat.