Russian President to inform him of the pending nuclear attack on the Salafi Jihadist Military Caliphate (SJMC) in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Sinai, Algeria, Nigeria, Philippines, and Libya. Russia agreed to make several similar attacks on SJMC related terrorists in Chechnya and Dagestan. Powers did this because Edward had received calls from several nuclear powers about not being informed prior to the use of these weapons on North Korea. Edward would contact China, France, and Great Britain in the hours just before the attacks. Edward forgot to call Israel, nor were there any warnings of coalition partners with military forces in Syria. We do have information that the Russians had informed the Syria government about six hours before the scheduled attack to take precautions – some of the Syrian military leaders leaked this information to terrorist cell leaders, so about a dozen were able to leave the targeted zones.
Within six hours of the call to the Kremlin, the Russian Embassy in Washington provided Edward with a hard copy of their suspected SJMC locations in Syria, which he forwarded to the Pentagon. There was some delay, as the watch officers failed to notice that the Russians were using their GLONASS coordinates instead of GPS. A FLASH message from the commander of American Special Forces in Syria to Edward demanded that these additional Russian targets not be attacked, as they were all American supported rebel forces with no evidence of the Salafi Jihadist Military Caliphate (SJMC) being located there. In fact, these Russian targets included the locations of all Special Forces units. At his war crimes trial in 2040, Edward told the startled judges that he “just decided to ignore that Colonel’s message because he intended to replace him anyway.”
Thus Powers’ first hundred days ended, and a period of rapid events began.
THE SUMMER OF CHAOS (MAY 2033 – SEPTEMBER 2033)
In the early hours of May 1, 2033 (local time), the United States attacked actual and suspected SJMC positions in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Sinai, Algeria, Nigeria, Philippines, and Libya, while Russia attacked positions in Chechnya and Dagestan. All Russian attacks used conventional weapons, while much of the American attacks used low-yield nuclear weapons. The attacks began with combinations of loss of electric power, loss of internet access, and a small scale (100 miles in diameter) electromagnetic pulse powered by non-nuclear sources.
The attack on the town of Al-Raqqah in Syria, the defacto capital of the Salafi Jihadist Military Caliphate (SJMC) was typical. Five low yield (ten kiloton) nuclear cruise missiles hit known or highly suspected headquarters targets. They typically killed everyone immediately within 250 meters of the strike, unless they were surrounded by concrete walls. Even those individuals were likely to receive high doses of radiation that they would succumb to in a matter of days. The blasts also called substantial damage to buildings out to an average of 500 meters, depending upon terrain. After battle damage assessments, there were likely several follow-up smart conventional munitions conventional by drone and other weapon systems attacks during the next couple days. If the location was subject to an electromagnetic pulse, much electronic and computer equipment was now useless.
The American-developed target list tried to minimize civilian deaths and infrastructure damage. Still, there were medical and other facilities that the American military would not normally target that were in the blast zones of the nuclear attacks. Some of this was caused by elements of the Salafi Jihadist Military Caliphate (SJMC) being co-mingled in a populated area. Investigations afterward showed that the American targeting kept civilian deaths to below 200 in each town targeted. There were similar results in Yemen and Libya, and few civilian related deaths (mostly family members of SJMC terrorists) killed in other countries.
The situation with the Russian-developed targets in Syria was much different. 76 American special operations forces were killed and 17 wounded, over 90% of the deployed force. Over 6,000 Syrian rebels and Arab coalition military were killed. The United Nations estimated later that over 55,000 civilians were killed, and a total of 750,000 Syrians were homeless immediately. There was a universal condemnation of the United States and Russia for their actions across the world. Voices in Congress joined this, and several Representatives proposed that impeachment proceedings be commenced against the President. After receiving classified briefings by the Secretary of Defense, who omitted several key facts, the House leadership did not pursue any impeachment efforts, though a bi-partisan effort in the Senate opened up an investigation.
The result of these attacks eliminated the Salafi Jihadist Military Caliphate (SJMC) as a significant terrorist organization, though it would take law enforcement efforts over the next several years to round out active cells outside the areas of attack and the few that were able to escape. The attacks confirmed upon a large group of young Muslims in the Middle East, Indonesia, and the world, that the West was not their friend, and spurred the creation of the new extremist terrorist groups, like the terrorist group The League in the Palestinian territory. It also caused Saudi Arabia and Iran to put aside their historic and significant religious differences, signing a secret treaty around August to fight Israel and the West. But the actions of the Saudis and Iranians were more to do about an unfortunate and unanticipated action of the American and Russian attacks in the Middle East.
Israel quickly detected the nuclear strikes in Syria, Iraq, Sinai, and Yemen with great alarm, as they were unsure who was attacking who. Their immediate calls to the American military and diplomats went unanswered. While some targets were clearly against known Salafi Jihadist Military Caliphate (SJMC) locations, the other locations against even American military locations confused them, and they made assumptions that Saudi Arabia and/or Iran aided terrorists were behind some of these (or even these countries), or this was led by Russia.
Four Israeli missiles were launched; two apiece at Saudi Arabia and Iran, one to each country’s capital and another to their major military headquarters, and fifty kiloton nuclear strikes killed an estimated 100,000 and 350,000 in Saudi Arabia and Iran, respectively. After the launches, the Americans then called the Israelis, and eventually the Russians, Egyptians, Saudis, and Iranians, to cease these attacks or any counter-attacks. Iran initiated an air strike of ancient F-4 jets on Israel, all of which were shot down by the Americans over Iraq. Israel eventually paid reparations in the billions to the two countries for this attack, paid for in part by increased American foreign military aid to Israel by the Powers Administration.
Conservative House members used the Al-Zahabi truck attack as their argument for keeping the repeal of native-born birthright in the proposed 28th Amendment. On May 4th, the special election to fill a vacant Senate seat in North Dakota elected a former Conservative Governor after a strong effort by his Progressive opponent. Oklahoma’s special election would not occur until May 25th. Senate Majority Leader Turner decided to begin confirmation hearings of all remaining Powers nominees. In light of this opening, President Powers announced that he was nominating Stephen Forman for the vacant Supreme Court Justice position. In early May, the Department of Commerce identified about $12.4 billion in intellectual property stolen by China from American businesses, and a bill was sent to be paid by the end of June. China never paid a dime.
The economic crisis in Mexico had reached a breaking point, and its federal government leadership collapsed. A temporary group of three former Mexican Presidents called for new elections in August. At a speech to the National Guard Association, Powers again called on Mexico to pay for the wall. A NBC News crew was given access to the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities by the local commander, and discovered over 600 illegal immigrants housed there. After the May 6th telecast, dueling Senate and House Committee hearings grilled the ICE Director. He revealed the existence of secret Executive Orders on immigration and visas. Edward, the Secretary of Homeland Security, testified the next day, and also announced a new ICE Director that the President would be nominating.
The multiple nuclear attacks by the United States caused many students to field protest
s at graduations and other events. Popular Senator Amy Andrews, a former Progressive presidential candidate, was invited to provide anti-nuclear speeches at several universities. China convened a United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss the nuclear attacks, and on May 13th, Secretary of State Edward (as there was yet to be a confirmed United Nations Ambassador) vetoed the resolution condemning the actions of the United States, Israel, and Russia.
On May 29th, President Powers gave a three hour speech on the state of the world during the graduation ceremony at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He stressed that the United States will no longer be the world’s peacekeeper, it would look out for its interests first, it would seek out new relationships with countries willing to give it respect, and it reserved to utilize all of its military and economic power to grow, protect itself, and protect the interests of its allies.
The special election in Oklahoma was not called until Thursday morning on May 27th. A Conservative was elected to the United States Senate by 45 votes, and Powers flew him immediately to