by James Rosone
“Sir, with your permission (and with Congressional approval), we will slowly raise the Army to 550,000 troops over the next two years, and likewise push for similar percentage increases in the other services,” responded Eric.
President Stein replied, “Again, I will talk to the Speaker of the House and we’ll work on getting it pushed through Congress. I have a feeling that we are going to need to really step up our military build-up over the next few years, perhaps even higher than 550K. You should have your planners put together a plan to raise the Army to two million if needed.”
There was a small gulp before the response… “Yes Mr. President.”
Comrades
The Stein Administration spent most of its time and effort on domestic issues and the American economy. The tax code had been rewritten, hundreds of thousands of regulations covering the entire economy had been revised and rewritten to streamline the regulatory environment in the US with an aim at improving the economy and making life simpler for the average citizen. Tort reform had taken place limiting the number of malpractice lawsuits and lowering the costs of healthcare. Unfortunately, world events continued to draw the administration into the complicated international web.
“Mr. President, we have a situation developing in Moscow right now,” blurted Mike, the National Security Advisor, as he walked over and turned on the TV in the Oval Office.
“What is going on, Mike?” asked the President.
“Sir, it would appear that Russian President Zubkov was just assassinated. His motorcade was attacked with a car bomb, killing him instantly.”
“Do we know who is responsible for the attack yet?”
“Yes, Sir. We do. We have very reliable intelligence that suggests the people involved in this attack originated from the Caucuses, the Dagestan/Georgian area to be exact.”
“Great… so we can expect a heavy response from the Russians then.”
“Yes sir, I would suspect the Russians will respond very quickly.”
“Please send our condolences and offer any assistance we can. Perhaps we can help defuse or diffuse? the situation (at least slightly), though I highly doubt it.”
*******
September 2038
Russia
After the death of the Russian President, the newly appointed President, Mikhail Fradkov, went on a tirade for the first couple of weeks, whipping up nationalistic anger over the death of President Zubkov. He appeared on a nearly endless loop on several major television networks, making speeches that could mostly be summarized in the following: “Russia will no longer tolerate these dastardly attacks by separatists from the Caucasus. Soon we will begin to bring the fight to the enemy.”
President Mikhail Fradkov was Zubkov’s protégé before he died. Fradkov was being groomed to take over Russia and lead it into the future once President Zubkov’s term as president ended. Fradkov had served in the Russian Army and later with the FSB before being pulled into public office. He was young for a major world leader, late 40s, and extremely aggressive. Now he was President and in charge of a country that was being attacked continually from its border regions.
Like the US, the Russian economy was starting to boom again as the Great Global Depression gave way to a global economic boom. The numerous high-speed rail networks connecting China and Russia were starting to have a real impact on both economies. The Islamic Republic was having their own economic renaissance, which was driving Russian exports through the roof, especially in the defense and manufacturing sectors.
Despite the economic improvements taking place in Russia, the Caucus region continued to fight against the government. The provinces of Dagestan and Chechnya were rich in oil and fertile farmlands, in addition to a burgeoning manufacturing base. Like Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, they wanted to become their own countries. After nearly 50 years of fighting against the central government, the situation had finally reached a precipice of violence that neither side was going to turn away from.
The Republics of Georgia and Azerbaijan both had their disagreements with Moscow, and though neither country could directly stand up to President Zubkov, they could support, sponsor and train separatists from the region to fight against the central government. As tensions between Moscow and these two nations rose, so too did the support they provided to the separatists.
It was the end of September when the Russians began their “Red October” campaign designed to root out and eliminate what they perceived as separatist safe havens and supporters. The Russians decided that if Georgia and Azerbaijan wanted to support the separatists, then they would need to be dealt with. Tens of thousands of troops began to pour into Dagestan and Chechnya to confront the separatists and to secure the region. Though some separatists chose to stay and fight the Russians, many fled the region into their safe havens in Georgia and Azerbaijan.
As it became clear that the separatists were fleeing into Georgia and Azerbaijan, the Russians quickly expanded their operation into those countries as well. In the twilight hours of the morning, over 6,500 Russian paratroopers attacked the Tbilisi and Baku airports in Georgia and Azerbaijan. At the same time, the Russian 2nd Shock Army invaded both countries as twenty thousand soldiers arrived in Dagestan and Chechnya. The most intense fighting was taking place at the Tbilisi airport, with Russian paratroopers having seriously underestimated the strength and determination of the Georgians.
Though the paratroopers caught the Georgians off guard, they quickly rallied and re-secured the airport, forcing the paratroopers to take refuge in neighboring buildings and houses while they called in air support and waited for reinforcements. The Russians rapidly followed up the invasion with 30,000 additional mechanized and armored forces. The 2nd Shock Army separated into two prongs, one focused on securing Tbilisi and the other Baku.
The Georgian and Azeri armies were quickly being cut to pieces by not just a numerically superior Russian force, but by thousands of Russian light drone tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. Nearly one third of the armored vehicles in the 2nd Shock Army were light and heavy drone tanks and fighting vehicles, which were proving to be extremely effective. As one vehicle was destroyed, the drone operator could quickly take control of another vehicle and continue the attack. With a second operator manning a separate machine gun or cannon, they were able to continuously attack the Georgian and Azeri soldiers, only stopping to rearm.
Despite the losses, Russian forces met heavy resistance from the Georgian military, who had been receiving training from the US Army for decades. However, the Georgians, though well-trained and full of fury, were outnumbered and underequipped; the resistance collapsed after 96 hours of intense fighting and began to turn into all out guerrilla warfare against the invaders. Within the first couple of days, Russian forces had advanced to the outskirts of Tbilisi and were pushing hard towards Baku, the Azerbaijan capital. Intense house-to-house fighting was taking place throughout Tbilisi and Baku as the Georgians and Azeri turned their capitals into meat grinders for the invaders. Thousands of civilians were being killed, but so too were soldiers on both sides.
While things were heating up in the Caucuses, the Russians launched an all-out offensive against Kazakhstan and the other “Stan” countries. The Russians were making their final move to secure their former satellite states, and more importantly, the minerals and resources held by those former allies. With another 230,000 troops and over 1,000 T14 Armata tanks racing across the “Stans,” it was only a matter of time until the Russians would fully occupy their former republics.
By the end of October 2038, the Russians had fully dominated the countries of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, along with the vast majority of the Stan countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kirgizstan. This redrew the map along old Soviet Union lines, and put Russian forces at the border of the Islamic Republic.
Russia deployed an additional 300,000 troops to these newly acquired regions and began a systematic purge of anything Islamic. General Dmitri Putin, the
son of former President Putin, was in charge of putting down the separatists and establishing the new occupation. Like his father, he was a stone cold killer and ruthless in his pursuit to crush the opposition, resorting to public executions and hostage taking until rebels turned themselves in. The Russians were intent on building a new and stronger country by restoring the former glory of the old Soviet Union.
It’s estimated that over 200,000 civilians died in the first 30 days of the occupation. By the winter of 2038, things began to calm down with the realization that the Russians were not leaving, and they continued to consolidate their positions in the occupied territories. Hundreds of separatists and insurgent leaders had been captured or killed and Russian Special Forces (the Spetsnaz) were relentless in their pursuit of insurgent cells and groups operating in the various cities and countryside. Continuous drone coverage and strikes throughout the region ensured around the clock surveillance and provided the Russians with the ability to attack anything that moved, if they chose to do so.
Whole Grains
March 2039
Washington, DC
White House Situation Room
The President was having his national security team keep a close eye on military developments within the IR. With Russia and China building their armies for war, it was imperative to keep tight surveillance on the IR to determine if perhaps the three countries were planning to initiate a war together. Stein sat down in the Situation Room for a briefing with the National Security Advisor.
Mike Williams picked up a folder and opened it before beginning. “Now that the Russians have consolidated their gains during the Red October campaign, they are in a better position to help the IR continue their military buildup. During the last six months, the IR has received a number of drone tank battalions from Russia and China.”
“They are protecting the industrial belt of the Republic (and their nuclear weapons capability) with their new land-based laser anti-ballistic missile shield near Riyadh. They are also expanding that shield to Tehran, Baghdad, Ammon and Cairo. Once operational, it will make it virtually impossible for our cruise missiles to hit targets around those areas; it will also make it impossible for our aircraft to conduct an air raid.”
“The most alarming report we have, and the main reason we have called this meeting, is that we have intelligence showing a massive troop movement by the Islamic Republic. As you have already been made aware Sir, they have been spending the last six months building up their military capability and troop levels. Well, last night, our satellites picked up a significant migration of troops in Indonesia towards several ports. When looking closer at the ports, we discovered over eighty large transport vessels anchored at the docks. Our only conclusion is that the Islamic Republic is moving a large number of troops from Southeast Asia to the Middle East,” Mike said.
General Branson spoke up, “It may be nothing, but I get the sense that something greater is afoot, Mr. President. The Chinese, Russia and now the IR are all building massive militaries. Armies are expensive to maintain, and you do not create an army of this scale without having a purpose for it. These sizeable troops would simply be too expensive to maintain for peaceful purposes.”
The President responded, “That is my thought as well. What we do know for sure is that Russia ultimately wants to overtake Europe, China wants to conquer Southeast Asia and dominate the Pacific, and the IR wants to destroy Israel and us. Given this development, we should start orchestrating war plans for how to deal with these known threats.”
“In the meantime, Monty, I want you to get in touch with the EU Chancellor and the British PM and let’s see if we can arrange for a meeting between their defense ministers, national security advisors and ourselves. I also want the NATO EU leadership involved in the meetings. We need to go over some of these events with them and get our countries working together.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“All right gentleman. If you’ll excuse us, Monty and I have to meet with our economic team to discuss some new initiatives and devise some new plans on how to speed up our own recovery.” Stein stood up and began to walk out of the Situation Room. The other men in the room stood out of respect to their Commander in Chief.
Within a few minutes, Henry Stein was in the Oval Office, ready to face his next meeting. “Gentlemen, sorry for the delay. We were detained in the Situation Room. Now it’s time for me and Monty to turn our attention towards the economy, so I am hoping you all have some good news for me,” said the President as he sat down.
Jeff Rogers, the White House Senior Economic Advisor, jumped right in. “Mr. President, we do have good news to report. As you know, tomorrow the GDP numbers will be released, and so will the jobs report. I’m proud to say that the economy grew at 5.6% during the third quarter and the unemployment number dropped from 16.9% to 12.3%. More and more people have been getting hired into the jobs program, and the private sector has also recorded 653,000 new jobs added this month.”
Jeff Rogers had been the CEO of Proctor & Gamble prior to joining the Presidential staff, and brought with him years of experience in job creation and innovative ways of solving difficult economic problems as he guided P&G through the Depression. One of the hallmarks of the Stein Presidency was his ability to surround himself with successful people from both the private and public sectors. There were no political appointments made based on political donations or to garner favor. The President was absolutely intent on appointing people who were subject matter experts (SMEs) in the area they were being appointed into. In several cases, individuals who had not performed (or who were not up to the tasks required of them) were asked to step down or were replaced. The best and brightest from the private sector were being poached to work for the Stein Administration.
The President was very impressed so far with the work that Jeff had brought to the table. He acknowledged, “This is good news gentlemen, great news indeed. We need more improvements like this, and we need to keep growing the economy. This should be the main focus in the media; we need to do everything we can to let people know things are getting better and help them to believe that there is hope. If people start to feel good about the country and our prospects, it will not only cement the FP as the party of growth and change, but also inspire the rest of the nation.”
The other people in the room nodded in agreement.
The President continued, “I also have an idea I’d like to float past you all to see what you think. As you all know, our country is still in massive debt--over 30% of our country’s yearly income goes towards servicing our debt. The new sin tax has made some headway in paying it down, but I have two thoughts on how help to pay it down even further,” he said with a smile.
“Mr. President, we are all ears. What do you have in mind?”
“I have given this a lot of thought, and there are two areas I would like to discuss. The first is a national lottery system that would help to pay down the debt. For every $1 NAD paid into the system, 40% would go towards paying down the national debt, 10% would support and sustain the national lottery system itself and 50% would go towards the prize for the winning number. A drawing would be held every Tuesday and Friday.”
“Lottery systems have traditionally raised a lot of money for the states; I see no reason why the federal government should not leverage this as well. Once the debt has been paid down, then I propose the funds be transferred to the Social Security fund. We could finally fix the solvency issue and protect our seniors for generations to come.”
Jeff sat there for a second, thinking to himself before responding, “I do not see why we couldn’t establish something like this. We can create a subsidiary company under AFC to manage and handle the system. I’ll start to discuss it with my team and get back to you during our next meeting on the feasibility of it,” he said as he made a few notes on his tablet.
The President smiled and knew if Jeff thought it was a viable option, he would not exude praise until his team had examined the i
dea first. “Excellent, Jeff. This next idea is an idea I thought should have been enacted decades ago; it’s a radical approach but something that will in time help to stabilize global food levels. I would like to propose the development of a Grain Consortium.”
Stein linked his tablet to the interactive holographic projector on the ceiling of the room. Instantly, a floating image of the world displayed. The President began to highlight specific countries and then turned to face his advisors. “The oil producing countries have OPEC…I do not see why the large food producing countries of the world cannot form a Grain Consortium to both stabilize the price of commodities and also ensure enough food is being produced to feed the world. These countries represent our greatest potential for membership in the Consortium.”
Jeff sat back in his chair and stared at the map as it floated in a circle just above the center of the table. He was thinking about what the President had just said. “I do not see why we could not look into this; however, the trick is making it work. That will be the hard part. First, we have to get enough of the large food producing countries to participate in the Consortium, and then we need everyone to stick to the prices and food production quotas. It would definitely be hard to enforce.”
Grabbing a pen and writing some notes in her notepad, Katelyn Smith, the President’s senior trade advisor, asserted, “At a minimum, we need to get Canada, Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand and Australia to be a part of the Consortium if it is going to be effective. We will also need to stop producing corn ethanol entirely and ensure our farmers are running their farms at full production. No more subsidies to farmers who do not grow and sell crops.”
Katelyn Smith had been a commodities trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for several decades before she started her own financial firm. When it came to international trade, particularly in the area of commodities, she knew her stuff. The President had chosen her to be his senior trade advisor because she was sharp, honest and direct--qualities he respected. He knew he needed help to turn the economy around.
