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
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.”