As his reconnaissance unit finished their final preparations, he felt excited and anxious. “I wish I could be with them as they cross the border,” he thought, “but whether or not I like it, my place is here at the headquarters unit, managing the battle.”
Pulling the Trigger
As President Petrov surveyed the faces of the advisors seated at the conference table before him, he felt confident in what he was about to say next. “Gentlemen, it is now time to initiate Operation Red Storm,” he announced. “Our military is in position, and so are our political operatives throughout eastern Ukraine. Our agitators are going to start their operation in Kiev tomorrow morning.”
The men before him were not generally very expressive, but Petrov could see a few smiles. This put him in a good mood as he continued, “I have spoken with our Chinese colleagues, and they have also begun to initiate their own plans. The Americans are about to be blindsided in the Pacific, just as we move to liberate eastern Ukraine from the fascist government in Kiev.”
The President gestured towards his foreign minister, “Minister Kozlov will deliver our message to the world during his news conference tonight. Our ambassador to the UN will also present our resolution for a free election in eastern Ukraine for the people to decide whether or not to leave the central government to form their own government. The resolution will be backed by the Chinese UN ambassador, along with five other nations who support us on the security council. Once the resolution and ultimatum are delivered, our forces will cross the border as ‘peacekeepers’ to keep the central government from disrupting the vote. Once the vote is completed, we will issue our ultimatum to the NATO forces; they will have ten days to withdraw across the Dnieper River, and ten more days to withdraw from Ukraine altogether,” Petrov said excitedly. This was the first step in rebuilding Russia as the predominant world power.
His advisors all ate up his words like candy. As the meeting broke up, President Petrov signaled for Minister Kozlov to stay behind. “Sergey — are things really in place and ready with the Chinese?” he asked, looking for reassurance that the Chinese would hold up their end of the arrangement.
Minister Kozlov was resolute in his response. “Yes, Mr. President. The Chinese are in agreement; once our forces cross into the Ukraine, they are going to start to dump their US Treasury notes and begin to call on the United States to repay its debt. This will cause the US markets to go into a tailspin and force the Americans to have to deal with their own domestic financial mess. The Chinese will also issue their own declaration, stating their intent to reestablish their Greater China initiative.”
Petrov smiled devilishly. Operation Red Storm was a complex operation that had taken years to develop in secrecy. He was excited to see that it was finally starting to fall into place. They had nearly called it off when President Gates had won the election, but the incredible success of the hacking stories and complete fascination by the American people with their attempted intrusions led Petrov and the Chinese to believe they could get away with just about anything.
No Good Options
President Gates was meeting with Senators Jim McGregor from Arizona, Benjamin Grandy from South Carolina, Levi Leibowitz from New York and Timothy Warbler from Virginia to discuss the latest Russian ultimatum and what to do about it. Senator Timothy Warbler was the first to speak. “Mr. President, I urge caution when dealing with President Petrov. We do not want to push him into a corner and potentially cause a shooting war with them.”
Scoffing at this, the Senator from Arizona interjected, “Mr. President. You need to stand strong against Vladimir Petrov. The Russian army cannot be allowed to enter Ukraine and impose a referendum on the people there. This is tantamount to war, and we need to stop him.”
Before Senator McGregor had barely even finished, Senator Grandy was chomping at the bit to add his own two cents. “President Petrov is a thug,” Grandy asserted. “He’s a dictator that needs to be stood up to. We cannot let him walk all over us and think he can get away with this. It’s bad enough that they shot down four NATO aircraft and we still haven’t responded to them. We need to tell the Russians that if they cross the border into Ukraine, they will be met by NATO and American Forces,” he demanded of the President.
Gates took it all in, not saying much at first. He was letting them do all the talking and have a chance to try to present their case. He wanted to know their concerns, and he did genuinely seek their advice. He turned to Senator Leibowitz, “Levi, what’s your take on this? How do you believe we should respond?” the President asked of the Minority Leader.
Senator Leibowitz leaned forward, pausing for a minute before responding. “Mr. President, the Russians interfered in our elections. They have shot down two of our jets, and now they threaten the very survival of another nation. At some point, we have to stand up and say enough is enough. I don’t agree with the good Senators from Arizona and South Carolina often, but in this instance, I do.”
Gates thought about that for a moment. This was a rare moment of true bipartisanship, something he wished he had an opportunity to see more often. “I want to pose a question to everyone. What if the Russians don’t back down? Are we willing to go to war over Ukraine?”
He sat back after asking his question, letting it hang there for a minute to see who would answer the question first.
Of course, it was Senator McGregor who responded first. “Yes. Yes, Mr. President. We should go to war over Ukraine, if it came to that. I do not say that lightly, but NATO was attacked. We cannot let that stand. Petrov is a menace; if we do not stop him in Ukraine, he will make a move on Europe. Right now, his military is weak. He does not have the capability to project force beyond his border, let alone for any extended period of time. He will bluster, but I say we call his bluff, and if we need to, we hit them hard. That will force them to back down,” he said with full confidence in the US and NATO’s ability to stand up to Russia.
Inwardly, the President was shaking his head. “There was never a country that Senator McGregor hasn’t wanted to fight or invade… yet, he could be right about Russia in this case.”
“Mr. President, I disagree with my colleague,” said the Senator from Virginia. “If we push Russia into a corner, they will fight. We need to leave Petrov an out. Perhaps we look to ease sanctions in exchange for them leaving eastern Ukraine. A show of force only works if we are willing to use it, and I do not believe the American people or the rest of Europe would support a war against Russia. Also, we have this burgeoning threat from China in the Pacific that we have not even begun to discuss.” His opinion stood in contrast to the three other senators in the room.
“Senator Warbler brings up a good point concerning China,” Gates responded. “While we are so focused on dealing with Russia, are we getting blindsided by the Chinese?”
The room was silent for a moment as everyone stopped to consider all the different angles to the world situation. The quietness lasted long enough that it almost became awkward before the President spoke again. “My greatest concern is that if we do end up in a fight with Russia, our NATO allies may not stand with us. This may turn into a war that we have to fight on our own, or our allies may only reluctantly halfway support us. You have given me a lot to think about, and I value your input. If you will excuse me now, I have a meeting with the national security council shortly to figure out what they believe our next steps should be.”