Events which can lead to a Second American Civil War This is a work of fiction and is not intended to be defamatory about any person. Real persons are mentioned to make this scenario more realistic, and not because any of them might really act like this. Copyright 1996 Summer 1996 Dole selects Pete Wilson, among other things, viewed as pro-abortion as his VP candidate: Buchanan and approximately 25% of GOP leave the convention to form Christian Republican Party. Reform Party (Perotistas) choose Lowell Weicker as candidate, with Schwartzkopf as VP. Russian communists win presidential election: Yeltsin and Gorbachov retire with warnings of civil war and collapse. 1996 NOV Clinton-Gore ticket wins 34% of popular vote and 320 electoral votes; Dole-Wilson 35% but only 200 electoral votes, CR (Buchanan-North) 22% and 5 electoral votes, Reform 6%, Libertarian 2%, Other 1%. Recounts launched in 12 states: riots in California, Illinois, Pennsylvania. Republicans return to power in both Senate (70 seats) and House (251 seats). In an unwelcome foreign development, a coup in Mexico City splits the PRI and brings President Salinas to power in an attempt to restore national stability. Border crossings increase significantly. 1997 JAN Electoral College meets: Buchanan urges his electors to vote for Dole-Wilson, and five Clinton electors from Illinois (where he received 50.3% of the vote) also vote for Dole: final count is Clinton-Gore 325, Dole-Wilson 210. Despite election split, Congressional Republicans form a de-facto coalition. Gingrich-Gramm team passes up-dated "Contract with America" package in first fifty days, including law mandating that a state's electoral votes be divided based on percentage of total votes for top three candidates. Clinton vetos entire package but Congress overrides vetos. 1997 FEB Bosnian Muslims launch a series of attacks against Croat and Serbian targets, warning NATO IFOR troops to stand aside: they do not, and NATO forces engage Muslim units: more than 500 NATO troops die, including 230 US soldiers. Iran calls for a Jihad against the West: Russian troops are attacked in more than fifty cities and towns in southern Russia by Muslim rebels. Various Russian commanders begin planning for spring coups. Two Clinton cabinet members caught in sting operation by Virginia State Police. Video tape of sting is bootlegged to a half-dozen media outlets, including Rush Limbaugh. 1997 MAR Speaker Gingrich is killed in an automobile accident in Georgia: Republican Coalition in Congress starts to unravel. Right-to-Life Coalition initiates "Summer of Civil Disobedience" to blockade clinics and abortion supporters. Air Force jets shoot down a drugrunner aircraft over Gulf of Mexico as part of expanded "War against Drugs" mandated by Congress: investigators examining wreckage find documents tying several Administration members: Clinton denounces "discovery" as work of Christian Republican extemists. Fighting continues to increase in Bosnia: advance elements of a second NATO Corps, including a US division, begin deploying from Germany. US troops are deployed from CONUS to backfill in Germany. Russian president Zikarov declares Martial Law. Five Russian generals and about fifty other officers are arrested for "plotting to overthrow democratic institutions." 1997 APR Congress passes Resolution condemning further US involvement in the Balkans and any intervention in Russia, and requesting President Clinton to withdraw US troops from Bosnia within 60 days. Clinton announces he will ignore the Resolution. Armey Tax Reform Act passes House and Senate, but only by 52 votes: eighteen GOP vote against it. Clinton vetos bill but Senate sustains veto. Bill of Impeachment filed in the House, citing Balkan Resolution, drug charges and other corruption, and refusal to enforce 1995 HIV military separation law. Five Russian divisions in southern and western Russia revolt and establish "Government of Democratic National Salvation" Ukrainian and Belorussian troops cross borders to assist GDNS. Clinton pledges support of "legitimate Government of Russia;" this becomes another charge on the Bill of Impeachment now in hearings. First federal prison camps for drug-war detainees and convicts are established at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas and Fort Stewart, Georgia. 1997 MAY Three Christian Republican representatives are arrested by National Park Police for charges of drunken driving and possession, when cocaine is found in their car on George Washington Parkway. Justice Department has three moved to a federal prison in Ohio for "protection" the next day. When House and Senate pass resolutions condemning the arrests and action, President Clinton throws "drug war" in their face, saying: "these men and woman must be treated like any other American who violates our drug laws, to set the example." Justice Department initiates forfeiture actions against all three and against the car-rental company. Major fighting is reported in Moscow and throughout western and southwestern Russia. US Marines are deployed to Moscow and St. Petersburg with other NATO forces to protect western people and property. NATO air raids against Belgrade and other Yugolavian targets expands war: Turkey and Greece announce plans to withdraw from NATO within six months. Forty-five people are arrested in a nationwide operation to enforce anti-obscenity laws on the Internet. 1997 JUN US Delta Force conducts raid in Ural Mountains to seize nuclear warheads supposedly being sold by commander of site to Iranian and GDNS militaries. Representative brought back to Virginia for trial: Jury finds not guilty and judge declares mistrial. Three other members of House (all Republican) arrested for disturbance and charged with contempt of court, a US Senator (Regular Republican) is killed "resisting arrest" by a DEA task force in Arizona: Justice Department claims they found drug money payoffs in his possession; moves to seize his property under forfeiture laws and obtains federal warrants to search GOP offices in Arizona, New Mexico, and California. In other, less-publicized incidents, anti-government sources report that twenty-two people have died in drug raids by DEA, FBI and BATF units in eight states, including preachers, and three children, in the last month alone. DOD announces April casualties in Bosnia were 415 dead, 795 wounded. Two more CONUS divisions deployed to Germany and Netherlands for possible deployment to Poland and Baltic States. Antiwar protests held in fifty US, British, and Canadian cities: protests in Boston and Seattle turn violent: twenty protestors and police die. Bill of Impeachment passes House, 235 to 190. Senate Majority Leader Gramm announces Impeachment Trial will start in August. Five abortion doctors and nurses are killed in two separate incidents in Missouri and Tennessee. A pro-choice activist rams his car into a crowd of anti-abortion protestors at a clinic in Cleveland and kills nine, wounds twelve. Driver is shot to death by a police officer. Two more people die, twenty more injured in riot around area. Violence flares around eighteen more Right-to-Life protest sites, while leaders call for continued nonviolent civil disobedience. 1997 JUL On the 4th of July, more than 600 various protest marches occur in US cities, involving anti- and pro-abortion groups, anti-war groups, anti- and pro-Clinton groups, free- speech groups, and anti-violence groups. At least two hunded end in violence, and more than eighty deaths are reported, though some groups claim there were several hundred deaths. In Berkeley, CA, violence continued for two days and spread to Oakland. National Guard troops were sent in. On 5 July, a car bomb explodes between the Senate Office Building and the Capitol, killing 78 people, including six US Senators, 5 GOP and 1 DFL. Five claims for the suicide bomber are made: two Islamic groups, a drug-cartel, a white-supremist militia-type group, and a anti-anti-abortion group. Gramm announces a one-month delay in the Impeachment Trial. Late in the month, six new senators are appointed: three Regular Republican and three Democratic, making the balance now 48 Regular Republican, 20 Christian Republican, one Independent, and 31 Democrat. Two cargo ships carrying supplies to Bosnia explode in the mid-Atlantic and sink with all on-board. DOD announces a delay in releasing May casualty lists from Bosnia and Latvia, where US troops are now reported to have been in combat against "Russian outlaw groups." Internet groups trying to compile lists estimate that at least five hundred troops died in May, and probably more than seven hundred in June. Internet groups also estimate that there were between eight hunded and one thousand drug raids by federal and state agencies in the US in May and June, with more than two hundred deaths. Targets of raids have included anti-abortion groups, "wise-use" land groups in the west, and many small businesses. Since the May Internet Raids, there have been at least one hundred more people arrested, including the operator of a religious bulletin board and a Libertarian who owns a net-server. On 15 July, a Denver federal jury find Terry McVeigh and two others guilty of conspiracy, murder, and other charges in the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995. Sentencing is set for 15 August. A cheering crowd fills the streets around the courtyard, cries of "Lynching!" are heard. On 20 July, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado announced his immediate resignation due to deteriorating health, and immediately left for Scotland with his family, refusing to talk to anyone. The state's Demo governor appointed former Senator Tim Worth, a Democrat, to replace Campbell. By month's end, at least thirty people died in violence related to abortion protests, and three trials of anti-abortion arrestees were disrupted by mass sit-ins, in one case involving more than three thosand people. On 26 July, three Democratic senators from the Great Lakes and West held a press conference in which they announced that they had each been approached privately by various individuals making offers of payoffs to ensure that they would vote for Clinton's aquittal in the upcoming Impeachment Trial. Challenged, they named names of prominent administration staffers. The Clinton Administration immediately claimed they were all having to lie because of threats either to the senators or the staffers by "religious fundamentalists in league with certain elements in the Congress." In what is either an assassination attempt or a botched attempt to arrest him, Pat Buchanan, former presidential candidate, is involved in a confrontation and scuffle with his bodyguards, Secret Service agents and FBI agents. In a series of confused announcements, it was stated that Pat Buchanan was wanted for questioning regarding the attempted Impeachment Bribery, that there had been death threats against him, and that he was wanted for questioning regarding the "Abortion War." Buchanan visited friends in Toronto, denied all accusations, and quietly asked for political asylum. 1997 AUG On 5 August, while his plane was taxiing to leave LAX after a speech at a fundraiser for his legal defense fund, President Clinton and sixty-three people, including seven Democratic congressmen and one Democratic senator, were killed in Air Force One when a nearby charter aircraft, loaded with napalm, exploded. The entire aircraft was engulfed in flames within seconds and firefighters were unable to approach the aircraft for nearly twenty minutes. In DC, accompanied by Tipper and Hillary, President Albert Gore took the oath of office and declared Martial Law, stating that the murderers would be found and executed. Stunned, the nation watched as National Guard units nationwide were federalized and active Army troops were deployed into urban areas and to defend key communications points. Hundreds of people filled the airwaves with sympathy for the families and the nation, and calling for an end to violence, while blaming hatemongers and opponents of the Administration for encouraging such actions and creating a situation in which this could happen. Within hours, five Regular Republican senators made a joint announcement that they blamed the Religious Right for creating a climate of fear and hatred, and the Christian Republican Party with them, as well as the Religious Right's sympathizers in the Regular GOP. Therefore they were leaving the GOP immediately and forming the Moderate Unity Party, and offered their full support to President Gore in this time of crisis and tragedy. Within hours, two more senators, including one Democrat, joined them, and twenty-two representatives, all but two Regular Republicans. When a few tele-evangelists announced that "the Antichrist was dead" and said that this served "as a warning to would-be dictators" the new President acted quickly, arresting several dozen conservative and religious broadcasters as "hatemongers and accessories to killing hundreds." Ater suspending habeus corpus, he ordered the FBI to round up hundreds of "terrorists, instigators, and unamerican trash." This eventually totalled several thousand people, including many state legislators, militia members, and known mob members and urban gangsters. On 15 August, the President addressed a Joint Session of Congress with an "Emergency State of the Union" message, to explain his actions, report results of the investigation of the death of the President to date, and to propose emergency legislation. That day, two other events rocked the nation. The first was a series of protests in dozens of cities against Gore's actions and in support of the detainees. In more than a dozen places, violent confrontations led to hundreds of deaths as police, National Guard, and regular military troops clashed with protesters, counterprotestors, and observers. In several locations, ominously, police and National Guard troops pointblank refused orders to disperse mobs or to fire on them. That afternoon, while reports of rioting and gunbattles filled the airways, an Iranian submarine fired six torpedos into the USS Carl Vinson, twenty miles off the Adriatic coast. The submarine was sunk almost immediately, but by the time the President began his address, the entire aircraft carrier was engulfed in flames and explosions were ripping the ship apart. Less than two hundred of the crew were rescued. President Gore reported this to a hushed Congress, then went on to accuse thousands of Americans of betraying their country by protesting the Bosnia Intervention, peacekeeping efforts in Europe and Russia, and attempts to restore peace at home by detaining known agitators and sympathizers. He announced that the death of President Clinton and the others in Los Angeles was the result of a vast conspiracy that stretched across the nation and to overseas interests, and that though thousands of investigators were tracing leads and some one hundred arrests had been made of persons directly connected to the holocaust, that they had no where come near finding the true roots of the conspiracy. However, there was enough evidence to link many leaders, both political and religious, of "the extreme Religious Radical Right" to the conspiracy that he was asking for extraordinary measures to be taken. He claimed that these men and women had enflamed the nation and continued to fan the flames, leading to such things as today's rioting. Unless steps were taken, they would sink the entire nation into a bloodbath. Furthermore, some of these conspirators and their sympathizers had connections in this very chamber. He had already signed papers asking the UK for extradition of one former senator who was involved, Senator Campbell, and would ask Congress tonight for a show of hands to allow the detaining of six more members of Congress who were implicated in this situation. At this point, Texas Representative Kiki de la Garza, a longtime Democratic stalwart, stood and in the hushed room, denounced Gore as a would-be Caesar and mad to believe these things. Gore, in a voice still more wooden than not, denounced de la Garza as a traitor to his country and his party. De la Garza spit on the floor and left the room, followed by a dozen others of all parties. In a hastily-counted show of hands, a bare majority of about 270 approved the detention of some of their own number. It was not until some hours later that Gore announced the six names, all Christian Republicans from western states: four senators and two congressmen. During his speech, Gore instead asked for a show of national unity and formation of a defacto "coalition" government. He asked Congress to ratify his choice as Vice President, Congressman John F. Kennedy Jr., a living reminder of the last time a president was killed in office and a loyal American. He also announced that he was asking the Senate to confirm Republican John Danforth as Secretary of the Treasury and maverick businessman Ross Perot as Secretary of Commerce to replace the two men killed with President Bill. He would be inviting other loyal men and women of all loyal parties to join his cabinet or take other tasks in the work to rebuild the nation. In the meantime, he also asked Congress to pass the omnibus legislation he was calling the Emergency Anti-Terrorism and National Defense Act of 1997, which included: full funding of the 100,000 police long needed by local communities, funding of an additional 100,000 police to be assigned to federal agencies, mostly to a proposed consolidation of several agencies into the new Federal Police Force under the Department of Justice, to include almost all of BATF, DEA, Customs and Immigration, and much, but not all, of the FBI. This new FPF would include all federal law enforcement except for military, the presidential protection provided by the Secret Service, the Federal Marshalls Service under the Judicial Branch, and the new Congressional Protective Service, a three-thousand man force intended to protect Congress itself; establishment of a special, separate system of federal courts to deal with terrorism and related activities, including ten district courts and three appellate courts; expansion of the prison system for minor offenders, to create an environment where they can be rehabilitated, and establishing the death penalty for a wide range of more serious crimes, which would be retroactive. The president then asked them to police their own houses, to remove those who were sympathising with the killers and aiding and abetting them by disrupting the unity of the nation, who had not done anything yet which was against the law but by their very attitude engendered disrespect for the Constitution and all else truly American. It was not known at that time, but three Representatives had already been arrested and charged with conspiracy that afternoon. A fourth, like two of those arrested from California, found out and escaped Washington to California, where through very good luck he was able to go into hiding. The three were soon joined by three more representatives and two senators: another representative escaped to Austrailia, where he applied for political asylum. Congress passed the Act on 28 AUG, by a vote of 287-148 and 57-43. At President Gore's urging, every governor had appointed replacements for the dead members of Congress within two weeks, and it was at that time that the names of those arrested were released in public, and shock reverberated across the nation. At the same time, the borders were sealed and extradition actions initiated. Before the borders were sealed, an estimated 60,000 people had fled the United States. At the same time, another two divisions were deployed to Europe and readied to be fed into the maw of wars in Bosnia and Russia. For the first time, these were National Guard units, and despite some individual refusals to deploy and some cases where soldiers simply did not report one day, the units did deploy successfully. By the end of August, enough nodes had been shut down for one reason or the other that information was not available to estimate casualties in Europe, at least for most Americans, on the Internet. Federal police agencies were busy tracking down net-criminals by this time, and it only illegal use of the net by many of those same men and women of the Federal police and military forces that kept any part of the Internet alive for unofficial use. 1997 SEP In early September, the new court systems were established and began processing various cases. The sentencing of the Oklahoma City bombers convicted in July had been delayed but was handed down as a death sentence and after mandatory review by the new appellate courts, the three convicts were electrocuted on 15 SEP. They were the first of a long series of executions, mostly conducted at the new Federal Prison at a former Air Force Base at Roswell, NM, where one of the appellate courts had been placed to expedite matters. Meanwhile, other suspects continued to pour into the constellation of new prisons, many at othervery quickly reactivated military bases. At the same time, a steady stream of legislation poured out of Washington, written by a battery of White House lawyers and rubberstamped by acompliant and fearful Congress. One by one, Christian Republicans and others began to withdraw from Washington, leaving a roomful of Gore sycopants and a very small hard core of various conservative opponents. A series of Grand Juries indited more and more people in various conspiracies and more and more people disappeared, either into the hands of the FPF or into hiding. Congress approved a plan for individual soldiers to be seconded into police forces, and this became a major source of manpower, even when the draft was reintroduced because it would be months before the system was functioning. By the end of September, more than 150,000 troops were tied up in Southern Europe, and almost 100,000 in the Baltic theatre, while the Civil War in Russia raged on, and 150,000 more supporting troops in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and the UK. In the Pacific, Japan and Korea was stripped to the minimum, and Hawaii was also short of troops. In CONUS, by the end of the month, all individual ready reserve personnel were called to duty and many of the retired reserve as well. Congress approved a minimum six months for all National Guard and Reserve units. These troops were rushed to major urban areas and key targets, but despite this, violence over various issues continued, with an ugly racial tinge, not present previously developing as a hot summer turned into a hot winter. The month of October showed a steady increase in violence and lawlessness in the inner cities, and a rapid increase in violence in suburban areas and rural areas as more protests, arrests, and opportunism wracked the nation. By late in the month, the Administration had to make the difficult decision not to deploy more troops overseas, as being too dangerous to internal security. At the same time, relations with Mexico were deteriorating, both because the US had established a virtually closed border, trying both to keep illegals out and keep fugitives in, and because of the disruption caused by both forced returnees and refugees from the US. On 25 October, Southwest Command, a joint-service command, was established to take control of two Armored Cav Regiments, a Mech Division, and three brigades worth of Border Police, as well as two wings. Mexican army units were deployed along the border "in coordination" but also in definite fear of a US "incursion." The only things crossing the border or the Gulf of Mexico on a regular basis were drugs. In Europe, there was some hope of a reining in of the dogs of war, as the combatants in Russia and the Balkans slowed down to prepare for the hard winter ahead. But in the Pacific Rim, Kim the younger began sword-rattling and there was talk of a new alliance between Pyongyang and Beijing. South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines met in a secret conference on Okinawa on 30 OCT, with several unofficial but very interested observers: businessmen and gangsters from Hong Kong, and the US Pacific Fleet Commander. On 31 OCT, as the officer debarked from his plane at Pearl, three Secret Service agents arrested him on a warrant for treason. Shore Patrol and Marine guards looked on bitterly. NOV 1997 The new Secretary of Human Resources, Robert Reich (DHR was a merger of the Departments of Health and Human Services and Labor) announced the formal establishment of a new Civilian Conservation Corps program, actually expanding an already-established but little publicized program, which would relocate people from high-crime and costly areas to locations where job-training and immediately productive work were readily had. The new CCC program would absorb the old Job Corps and other programs, for more efficiency. To encourage and promote families, the new CCC camps, unlike the old ones, would be for the whole family. Thirty-five, in rural areas of Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, were already established, and by the end of the year would have about fifteen thousand trainees and families in each camp. In addition to job training, they would begin conservation work in newly-federalized lands, which were reverting to federal control under the newly-signed Abused Agricultural Lands Emergency Restoration Act. Under AALERA, more than a million acres of land abandoned by former farmers and ranchers or purchased for property taxes had come into control of the USDA. By the end of 1998, it was estimated there would be more than five million acres in the program, with more than two hundred camps and over three million trainees and a half-million staff. Trainees from urban areas throughout the country were already being sent to the camps. While conditions in Europe continued (relatively) calm, and Asia tottered on the brink of war, it seemed like war on the Mexican border. Daily reports detailed battles with drugrunners and escaping fugitives, but clandestine reports on the truncated Internet reported many planes, trucks and others made it through if proper arrangements were made with local security officials. There were also reports and rumors of engagements, accidental or otherwise, between US forces and Mexican troops. This led, at the end of the month, to an invitation by Governor George Bush of Texas to fellow governors of New Mexico, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas (these being states of Mexico), to a summit at San Antonio, to try and calm tensions along the Rio Grande and to present alternatives to their respective federal governments. The meeting began on the Monday after Thanksgiving, and in the opening press conference, the Texas governor's father spoke briefly, urging the attendees to do their best to promote peace and open borders and urging Presidents Gore and Salinas to stop a "headlong plunge into a senseless war." Less than an hour later, a federal judge in Dallas issued an arrest warrant for two serving governors and a former US President on charges of treason. Faxed to San Antonio, a Deputy US Marshall and a group of FBI agents, backed up with two platoons of FPF, went to the Hemisfair Plaza to perform the arrests. At least four or five FBI and Deputies refused to have anything to do with the action, according to later reports. At the large assembly hall at the site of the 1968 World's Fair, the Federals were denied entry by a group of Texas Rangers, other DPS (Department of Public Safety) officers, and San Antonio police. In the confrontation, one of the DPS officers recognized a FPF platoon leader as a former BATF officer who had been involved at Waco, and told him in a loud voice, "No kids to burn here, bud." Enraged, the FPF man gestured with his submachine gun and a battle erupted. Fighting ranged throughout the Plaza for almost an hour, ending only when Rangers, assisted by a few volunteer National Guard troops, tracked down and killed or wounded the last of the federal agents holed up in various kiosks. When FPF reinforcements from the former Kelly AFB tried to assist, San Antonio police, acting on orders from a local DPS commander, blocked exits from the base, though no shots were fired. When the Federal District Attorney called for aid from USAF and Army units in the bases around the city, local commanders "were unable to comply immediately with requests for assistance until instructions from higher headquarters were received." However, many military personnel started leaving their places of duty without permission. A battalion of FPF at Del Rio was being loaded up as a relief force when instructions came from Washington, relayed through Region V at Dallas, to cease the confrontation. By that time, the various governors were back in their respective capitals. The Mexican governors were escorted by a mixture of Mexican F-15s and Texas Air National Guard F-15s, supposedly federalized but under orders from Governor Bush. A photo from the period shows newly-painted large Texas symbols painted conspicuously beside the standard USAF marking. In Washington, the response seemed to be in disarray: orders were given for several military units, regulars, to be dispatched to Fort Hood, only to be countermanded, and various federal law enforcement agencies began preparing large reassignments to Texas and New Mexico. After being "unable to connect you to the President" for most of the day, the Texan and New Mexican governors finally had short and rude phone conversations with both the President and Vice President. Recordings indicate both men apologized for a misunderstanding and overzealous federal law enforcement agents, and a lack of belief on the part of the state officials. Late that evening, while several planeloads of federal agents landed at the former Bergstrom AFB in Austin and were bussed to Camp Bullis, other federal agents began a roundup of state and city police in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. An appeal for assistance by the Capitol Police in Santa Fe to the New Mexico National Guard State Area Command led to ad hoc units of National Guard personnel (including a squad led by a Brigadier General) intercepting and in turn detaining federal law enforcers in Santa Fe, but by dawn Albuquerque had been totally federalized. In Austin, however, the Governor, after receiving word of the landings at Bergstrom, and others at NAS Dallas, Randolph AFB and Houston Hobby Field, declared a state of martial law, and in a midnight press conference, ordered County Sheriffs, DPS officers, Texas Rangers and other state forces to begin taking federal police, FBI and others into "protective custody" and called for an immediate emergency session of the Texas Legislature. By dawn, the New Mexican governor had taken similar steps, but went further in asking New Mexico National Guard troops on federal service to voluntarily report to New Mexico State Police offices for "more critical assignments" and asking private citizens to form volunteer watch and patrol committees. Both states also received calls of support and caution from various other governors and a few federal officials. Utah's governor, in particular, called to offer support to both states. By noon the next day, a quorum of both houses of the Legislature had assembled in the newly refurbished statehouse in Austin under very tense and tight security. Federal agents had been rounded up and were at former Bergstrom AFB and Camp Bullis, surrounded by makeshift barricades and the watchful eyes of various local and state police and volunteers. The Texas Adjutant General was in a conference call with various federal base commanders, trying to negotiate an agreement to accept the seven or eight thousand federals now in custody, and praying for a miracle to bring the 49th Armored Division back to Texas from Serbia. The governor was accompanied by his father, suddenly looking very old after the previous day's events, to the podium of the House Chamber to address the gathered Legislators where they were greeted with yells and applause. His speech was broadcast throughout Texas, and to much of the central part of the country, as well as by satellite. He briefly described the previous day's events and went on to tell of his consultations with the governors of New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma and Nebraska, and then told what they had jointly decided upon. It was so important, that he felt he must have the agreement of the Legislature today to proceed, for he felt that delay would lead to a complete breakdown of law and order in Texas and to fighting in the streets. Wryly, he added that fighting in the streets might still be the result of his proposal, but that something had to be done. In a statement that stunned his listeners, he said that nothing he was proposing was intended to be considered as a bid for seccession by Texas or any of the other states; that Texas had long ago surrendered its right to secede from the Union and that Texas' sons and daughters had died for the Union and continued to love and honor the nation. He then explained the proposal in a few words: All federal law enforcement agents and personnel must be withdrawn from Texas and the allied states. Control of all federal prisons and camps must be transferred to state control, but no prisoners would be released from those facilities without approval of a federal court. All Regular military and Federalized National Guard from other states must be withdrawn from anything other than permanent military installations in the various states, to be replaced by those own states' National Guard units, still Federalized, but their own troops. This would require the withdrawal from Europe of those National Guard troops from Texas and the allied states as quickly as possible. All border patrol duties, including drug interdiction, were to be turned over to state police, with federal officials present to observe and ensure that federal policies and laws were properly carried out. The surrender to state authorities of all federal employees, including police and military, accused of crimes upon issue of a state warrant reviewed by federal courts. An end to the CCC camp program in the allied states and return of all "trainees" to their home states. An agreement by the states to serve federal warrants on their own citizens and officials after review by an appropriate state court to determine the validity. At this point the Governor grew angry and said "I will be eternally damned if I allow a man who has served his country in time of war and peace for fifty years from combat to the highest office in the land, my father, to be treated like a common criminal and called a traitor because he tried to reestablish peace with our friends across the Rio Grande." He received a standing ovation. He went on to say that if the President and Congress would not agree to these reasonable and constitutional requests, that he needed the Legislature to authorize the following actions: Detention and disarming of any and all federal agents, law enforcement and military personnel remaining in the state. Halting of all transportation of federal equipment, materials or personnel across the state by any means. An immediate halt to payment of all federal taxes, including social security withholding, and placing such funds in special trust accounts under state control. The peaceful occupation of all federal facilities in the state, including permanent and temporary military facilities. The raising of a "State Guard" of at least 100,000 men and women volunteers to carry out these actions and ensure law and order were maintained in Texas. An appeal to other states to join the five allied states in this "strike" or "embargo" or "lockout" against the corruption of federal power. Almost three hours of bellicose debate followed, with order only barely maintained. Similar speeches were made in Santa Fe, Oklahoma City, and Salt Lake (the Governor of Nebraska had delayed one day in assembling that state's unicameral legislature), and similar debate followed. In Austin and Santa Fe, in particular, debate had to stop several times when several members attempted to introduce bills of secession or calling for conventions to vote on secession. Even while debate continued (and continued to be broadcast), many state governors called the White House to announce they were supporting the federal government and had nothing to do with the madmen on TV. But voting on the proposals did finally come, first in New Mexico where a two-thirds vote of both houses approved them, followed quickly by a similar vote in Austin and then a unanimous approval of the joint resolution in Salt Lake City. Only in Oklahoma City did debate continue for some time, and finally, after midnight, a vote of just one person more than a 60% majority, as required by Oklahoma for emergency legislation, was taken in favor of the proposals. But by that time, the die was cast. Already, President Gore had signed a presidential proclamation of states of insurrection in Texas, New Mexico, and Utah, and orders were being cut by DOD to start withdrawing Regular Army combat units from Poland and Germany to back up units now in Missouri, Louisiana, and California, preparing to deploy into the four states. 15 DEC 1997 Salt Lake City (AP) NO RELEASE US: FOREIGN PRESS ONLY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRIORITY FLASH Following a brief conversion via radio-telephone at Stateline between the Utah State Guard Commander and the Commander, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, in which both the Utah State Guard Commander and the Governor of Utah appealed to Colonel Barry Whittier, Commander 1st Brigade, not to enter Utah in violation of the embargo, tanks and soldiers of the 1st Brigade deployed on both sides of Interstate Highway 80 and crossed the state line into Utah, led by attack helicopters. The advancing helicopters and tanks were immediately fired upon by Utah State Guard soldiers, Utah Highway Patrolmen, and other police officers, using shoulder fired anti tank and anti aircraft missiles. Several aircraft were immediately shot down and several tanks caught fire and burned. General shooting commenced as the federal troops advanced slowly into Utah. Jet aircraft were seen engaged in flyovers near the scene of the fighting, but it is not known if they participated in the fighting or were flying reconnaissance missions. Both sides in the fighting almost immediately took casualties, but the number of deaths are unknown. MORE TO FOLLOW DEC 1997 (SHORT VERSION) The first two weeks of December were spent in tentative moves by the Federal government to contain and reduce the states in "insurrection." At the same time, more states decided which way to jump. By the second weekend in December, the allied states included Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, Utah, Mississippi, and Wyoming, with Nevada and Nebraska divided and Montana and Louisiana still undecided but expected to join within days. Kansas and California were secured but Colorado, according to Justice Department evaluators, was "iffy" and Missouri would probably go with the "rebels." The Dakotas seemed firm, and the east was solid, except for the fact that with no way to deport the criminal elements to the new CCC camps, mostly in the "rebelling states," that the East Coast and Rust Belt could expect massive rioting and disruption of services in the Spring of 1998. Despite any "large-scale" fighting, this had not happened without bloodshed. A third of Oklahoma was under federal control. Nebraska, though it had voted to join the embargo, had been rather quickly brought to heel by the quick action of local federal police officials. Idaho had essentially gone through a coup, with the pro-embargo governor and many leading citizens of the state killed by a bomb and the Lt. Governor-now-Governor asking for and receiving massive federal aid. Wyoming's governor had been assassinated: an act blamed on both anti-government militiamen and an FPF attempt to prevent the state from joining the allied states. Nevada had about two-thirds of its legislature assembled in Ely and pro-embargo, while the Governor and the rest remained in Carson City in full cooperation with the Federal government and the gradually-building military forces in the "Western Military Zone" which Reno and other cabinet members urge President Gore to use to deal a decisive blow against what they were already calling an "insurrection." Gore authorized Operation Secure Loyalty for the following Monday: a very fast, surgical strike with minimal bloodshed. At the same time, he approved recommendations by Reich and Vice President Kennedy to begin massive public relations campaigns over television, both broadcast and cable, to Texas and the surrounding states, accusing their leaders of racism to estrange the Afro-american and Hispanic populations, and promoting the idea that drugs were one of the main reasons the states' leaders were resisting Washington. Meanwhile, the Mexican threat, encouraged by the same fundamentalist religionists that were the cause of problems in Russia, the Balkans and even here in the US, would be the emphasized for the rest of the nation. When the VP pointed out that Mexicans were Catholic, not muslim or protestant fundamentalists, the President shrugged it off. The public wouldn't notice. Interior Secretary Babbitt, increasingly handling this type of work, agreed. SECURE LOYALTY was probably doomed from the start: a cobbled-together division was used to conduct the main advance on I-80 into Utah from Nevada, supported by a brigade moving north on I-15 from Las Vegas, and another brigade to keep the Nevada rebels, now concentrated in the Ely area, from doing anything foolish. It was expected that a quick show of force would not be seriously resisted and would cause the "embargo" movement to collapse with minimal bloodshed. The move into Utah was to be followed by an immediate thrust along I-70 and I-80 into Colorado and Wyoming. Considerable effort was spent on negotiation and public relations. It did not work. Instead of panicking and surrendering, Utah prepared and defended itself. The attack force had lost 10% of its troops just in moving across Nevada, and did not approach the defenses in the Bonneville Salt Flats with much eagerness. Though the southern force briefly occupied parts of southern Utah (where locals were instructed not to resist), after the main force was defeated, the southern brigade withdrew. But the daylong battle on the flats was bloody: 1400 federal and 2200 Utah/volunteers dead or wounded. This included several hundred FPF dead after one federal brigade refused to follow the first attack. The "Rump Legislature" in Ely celebrated the victory by announcing they were impeaching the Governor and joining the allied states. Nevada volunteers began harassing the SECURE LOYALTY forces stretched out along I-80 and the force began a fighting withdrawal across Nevada. Some loyal units and FPF units opened fire on civilians, including non-resisters. By Wednesday the 16th, the Federal commander had used the troops of the Fort Irwin/National Training Center OPFOR Brigade to establish defense lines along the north edge of Las Vegas while the remnants of his forces in the north regrouped on the eastern edge of Reno. Three of the Nevada governor's bodyguards and two state troopers showed up in Ely with the Governor in tow, and a legislative committee started impeachment proceedings. By Christmas, despite a lack of any further large-scale fighting, it was obvious even a much larger single blow would not end the "Embargo." Montana, Missouri, Colorado and Louisiana all declared they were joining the allied states, though Missouri's legislators and governor had to flee Jefferson City within hours of their vote on the 23rd to escape federal units in pincer movements from Fort Leonard Wood, St. Louis, and Kansas City. Temporarily setting up government in the tiny city of Nevada, they passed the famous "Shoot on Sight" resolution and urged Kansas to reconsider supporting a tyrannical government. Despite the season, violence was spreading in major cities in the east, especially after the president announced activation of the Selective Service. No one had much of a Christmas. JAN 1998 The aftermath of the Utah/Nevada fiasco seemed to be a disaster for the Federal forces. Even while Whittier's troops established a defensive perimeter east of Sparks, reinforced by a new Brigade from Fort Lewis, and the OPFOR Brigade continued to fortify Las Vegas, the center of events was moving east, to Colorado and Europe. In Cheyenne, a defector from the federal police in Montana revealed explosive information which caused Colorado, Wyoming, and the other ten allied states to pause and reevaluate. Word of Montgomery's revelations soon leaked out. Meanwhile, US units were leaving Europe as fast as possible, seemingly obeying DOD orders to withdraw to stateside to prepare for operations to suppress what was now officially by presidential declaration "a state of insurrection and rebellion" in the west and south. However, that was not necessarily what the units themselves had in mind. While most of the units were mixed, many were National Guard units from a single state or group of states, and had a far better picture of what was going on than the general population on the Coasts had. More than one commander and unit toyed with the idea of debarking with full weapons and vehicles at Norfolk or Wilmington and marching on Washington, though most chose instead to head for home. Even while moving back into Lithuania, Italy, Germany and the UK and preparing for the transAtlantic crossing, units were trading people and dividing themselves up. Perhaps the best example of this were the two National Guard armored divisions, both withdrawing from Russia by way of Lithuania. One, the 49th Armored (Texas), would return to join the allied states: the other, the 50th Armored (NJ), would join the loyalist forces. Both, as it turned out, found and brought foreign volunteers with them as they left Europe. Urged on by Missouri and news of harsh repressive measures in Nebraska, plus rumors of Montgomery's revelations, the Kansas Senate impeached the governor, chose a new one, and passed the embargo resolution on the 15th, one month after the Battle of Bonneville Salt Flats. Several hard storms hitting the Great Plains and Great Lakes one after another prevented much from happening the rest of January, but in their fifth and final teleconference on 22 JAN, bouyed by news of the 49th and 35th ("Santa Fe Division": Kansas-Missouri) landing safely in Houston and New Orleans, the governors (now numbering fourteen including the Nebraska government-in-exile in Cheyenne) held an electronic press conference to announce the creation of a "Coordinating Council" with two bodies, one of the Senators of the fourteen states, and one of the Representatives. (In many cases, replacements would have to be appointed by the respective legislatures or governors.) The Governors themselves, or their lieutenant governors, would form a "Defense Board" to carry out the decisions of the Coordinating Council and also try to negotiate with the Federal government and other states to end the de facto state of war which now existed. In addition, they were asking each state's Supreme Court to appoint one of their number to constitute a Special Tribunal and establish a temporary system of lower courts to both replace the federal courts in the areas under their control and also to try various people, mostly federal or former federal employees, for what they discribed as "crimes against humanity" but would not elaborate on publically. When asked by a reporter if this was not in fact a secession from the United States, the Utah Governor, acting as spokesman, stated emphatically that it was not. "We are not leaving the United States, and in fact urge the other thirty-six states to join us. We are a temporary defensive alliance, an alliance of free states, resisting the illegal tyranny of Washington and the federal government, a servant which has become our master. We have not given up we are not rejecting the Constitution, we are willing to negotiate. But until we have someone willing to negotiate with us, in good faith, on restoring freedom, decency, and peace, to this nation, we must protect and defend ourselves against tyranny." The description he used, the "Alliance of Free States" was picked up by the press and public and soon became the defacto name of the states which still officially only were participating in an "embargo." Three days later, Oregon's governor, claiming individual consultation with the entire legislature, and invoking emergency conditions, became the 15th state to join the embargo. South Dakota's legislature, meeting in a "normal" session, killed a similar resolution in committee. On 30 January, FPF raids in Pierre netted twenty-five legislators who had supported the resolution. The next day, after repeated warnings on all frequencies, a Colorado Air National Guard F-15 fired on and shot down a US Navy F-14 recon aircraft over Colorado Springs. Other fighting followed in Colorado, Kansas, and resumed in Nevada. General war had come. FEB 1998 Though fighting was widespread in the west, little was known about this in the East and California, thanks to hard work by Federal public relations personnel while "temporary communications problems" which were "due to the weather" continued to plague civilian and business communication. State governments were "protesting recent federal actions" and preparations for "imminent attack from Mexico" explained more of the problems, at least in public discussion. Prices soared, both accidentally and intentionally, but word of the embargo or rebellion in the West spread. February became a month of small, but significant events: the various Allied States began quickly taking over or closing federal agencies. Enclaves developed, not just in the border states, of pro- or anti-embargo populations, and there was movement. Many states were significantly divided: Nevada, Oregon, Oklahoma, Kansas (a patchwork), and Nebraska (west now under control of the Nebraska "Government in Exile" in Scottsbluff) and the rest still federal. Other Allied states, including Texas, Colorado, and Montana had federal enclaves, and some fighting caused changes in these boundaries. Ottawa closed the border with Montana because of the streams of refugees. More bloody tales came out of Montana in favor of both sides, but the original revelations were still reasonably secret. Incidents in Montana became more common and more bloody. More and more zealous federal agents were sent there, and more radicals from the Allied states were drawn to help. Oklahoma showed a similar, if less violent, pattern. Neither Washington nor Denver (the de facto capital for the Allied States) seemed to want to initiate any drastic actions. Washington seemed to hope it would collapse, and was also waiting for the reorganized units from Europe to be ready for a spring offensive (called a spring "security operation"). The exception to this was a small but powerful and growing cliche in the Departments of Justice and Human Resources, which began a dirty war in both the Allied States and the loyal states. Larger and larger areas of the loyal states were placed under martial law, and more and more police forces and new personnel were incorporated into the FPF. During February, more than eighty new internment camps were set up in order to hold the increasing number of detainees. Denver, meanwhile, was buying time, trying to get additional states to join, trying to establish a functional military from bits and pieces, trying to build ties with Canadian provinces and Mexican states, trying to build support from overseas, and creating a military, much of which came from the 1/3 of the US Armed Forces which had deserted. By month's end, the Alliance had (on paper, at least), a "Combined Defense Force" with each state raising at least one division and support troops (20,000 troops) for its own defense and one brigade and support troops (10,000 troops) for a "Reaction Force" to put out fires. The brigades, of course, varied, in order to form two Army Corps. The problem was, how to pay for this? It was not just defense that needed to be paid for, but other basics of life, which were coming through Mexico and the Gulf ports, some smuggled via third parties from federal zones. In DC, a group of retired Congressmen and others filed an appeal to the Supreme Court to issue an injunction against further Federal actions to attack the "embargoed" states and to end other actions. The arrests which followed included two two Supreme Court justices, while another, from Arizona, escaped to political asylum in the UK. 28 February, Vermont and New Hampshire, in a surprise move, both join the embargo. But they added to it: they (for lack of another word) "denationalized" all federal land in their states, and immediately placed it on the private market, at market prices but long- and easy-terms. Second, they called for an end to all federal taxes, a more extreme stand than any other state had taken. Third, all their citizens went into their National Guards. The war was spreading to the East. MAR 1998 Stung by this latest defection, the President let the leash loose on DOD, DOJ and DHR: New England would not go without a fight. DOD chose the 50th Armored (NJ) and the 28th Infantry (PA) to lead, backed up by 25,000 FPFers. At the same time, it was decided to clean up Montana: two divisions from Washington State (the 81st Infantry (CA) and the 1st Marine) and one from Minnesota (the 25th Infantry), together with a brigade of the 82d Airborne, were to crush the "wierdos and extremists" of Montana. The action against Vermont and New Hampshire, "ETHAN ALLEN," 12-18 March, "occupied" the two states but it was expected to be months before the area would be "pacified." For the first time, artillery was used. Casualties were high: the two divisions shared almost 7500 dead, wounded or missing, and the FPF force was estimated to have more than 5000 casualties. The defenders suffered far worse: estimates ranged from 23,000 to 31,000, with more than 100,000 homeless. The "restoration of legitimate government" in Montana, operation "BIG SKY" began just two days later, on 14 March, in a combined air and ground assault. The Air Force Base commander at Malstrom, outside Great Falls, declared neutrality because of the missiles under his command, but the federal government rejected a request by him and the mayor of Great Falls to make it an open city. Montana had five "defense brigades:" three in the east and two in the west, and several hundred small (platoon to company) volunteer units, though many of these supported the federal government. Combat was bloody. Airborne assaults and the attack in the east achieved early success. In the west, federals failed to advance more than a hundred miles before getting bogged down, and quickly found that despite Idaho's government being loyal, many of the state's people were not. By the 28th, most major cities and more than 2/3 of the state was in federal hands. But the long fight had given the other states time to prepare. On the 28th, two forces moving north out of Wyoming and one out of Utah through Idaho smashed the federal flanks and rear and Montana was saved. On the 30th, a Provisional Free Idaho Government was formed by former legislators and various county officials at Pocatello. Encouraged by the Vermont and New Hampshire acts, most of the Alliance state governments passed "Reversion Acts" which seized all federal lands inside their states and authorized selling or borrowing money against them to pay for defense measures and replacement of federal government services. The planned 150,000 troops were increased to 250,000 with the Defense Board requesting and receiving more volunteers. The Supreme Tribunal determined that the US Supreme Court was defunct, even while the US President appointed three new justices and the Court approved all measures necessary for "defense of the Union." The Coordinating Council approved "establishing informal contacts" with foreign governments but rejected an invitation by several third-world countries to appeal to the UN. Weapons were purchased overseas, and various governments, starting with the UK denounced the federal government. APR 1998 On 1 APR, two federal brigades in Montana surrendered, and by the 10th, zones of control were relatively clearly defined in Montana: federal control stretched from Great Falls and Havre east north of the Missouri River, and then a large circle south along the Yellowstone River and I-94 as far west as Miles City. The Feds also controlled an area of about 1500 square miles in Northwestern Montana. The new Free Idaho government reached a neutrality agreement with the USAF Base Commander at Mountain Home, another bomber base, which joined FE Warren (WY) and Dyess (TX). In the East, suppression and pacification continued in New England. A FPF force chased a band of rebels almost ten miles into Quebec, and the Canadian Forces raised their state of alert. Meanwhile, the 28th and the 50th were withdrawn to Fort Drum to begin refitting for Operation "REDNECK," the "restoration of legitimate government" to Mississippi. The European Parliament denounced the US Government, and Austrailia "temporarily suspended" diplomatic contacts with Washington. Other countries followed their lead. The remaining US troops in Europe, almost 75,000, negotiated terms with NATO whereby they would remain in Poland and the Balkans while supported by Europe, and with provision made for families and relatives to have shelter in Germany, the UK, Italy, the Czech Republic and Benelux. They would not have to return to CONUS to fight and kill their own people. But a hot summer was expected as the Russian and Balkan civil wars continued. On 11 April, Alaska issued its Declaration of Alaskan Independence. Two deplorable incidents marred the situation: a USN frigate, leaving harbor at Anchorage, opened fire on the Alaska State Government dock, killing almost fifty people, and a USAF captain crashed his F-15 into the Alaska state capitol at Juneau. Most formerly federal military remained in place, and committed to continuing continental defense duties. Secret talks between the Alaskan Command and Pacific Command continued. In Canada, British units, aided by a token French force, arrived to help defend the border with the US. Mexico, meanwhile, continued its own civil war, gradually being one by the coalition of free states in the north and rebels in the south.