I got a question regarding this TL: I wonder what are the firearms and vehicles are going to look like? I mean the nature of this cold war going on has changed from a Captialism vs Communism to a UIS against the world thing. I'm mighty curious since I have a liking for military weapons.
The world of "Zhirinovsky's Russian Empire"
- Thread starter Pellegrino
- Start date
Here you go everyone Despite everything going on in Iraq now.
PS next update called "the same thief leading the sheep" This is a three part arc
Part1: The road strait to hell
[FONT="]Fears of civil war in Iraq loom as election results delayed[/FONT]
[FONT="]The New Yorker [/FONT]
[FONT="]May 17, 2014[/FONT]
[FONT="](Beirut) Three weeks after voting in the fifth general election since the demise of the Hussein regime that violently fell almost twelve years earlier. Many Iraqi’s are still fed up about the country’s current direction. As basic services, security and the economy continue to take a beating from widespread corruption, the ineffectiveness of the Jafarri government, the constant squabbling among the politicians and what many Sunni and Shia Iraqis are calling the Kurdish issue. In independent polls conducted by the Al Ahrar news channel show that Iraqis want a return to the old days and prefer the dismantlement of parliament that many see as responsible for the countries many problems. [/FONT]
[FONT="]One resident by the name of Khalid said, “I voted for Allawi, even though I am Shia as I want something different, personally I wish they would get rid of the parliament and put in just a president”. “Because these guys they come to you from America, Canada and England and they say we will build this and that but when we elect them, they don’t even bother to answer our calls.” “You know the worst thing is I worked as a baker before the fall and now I have a 14 hour job as a laborer so I can feed my family and these guys show up get their rights, land and money”. “We don’t get anything, only squat and empty promises. I promise my self when I voted this is the last time if nothing changes I wont even bother next time”. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Khalid who didn’t give his last name is a laborer who does odd jobs to make ends meet. He fled the mostly Sunni Baghdad neighborhood of Al-Khadraa a few months after Saddam’s death when Shia militias from Iran began kicking out Sunnis from Shia areas. This in turn led to former Iraqi units to form and join different death squads and in July of 2002 Khalid received a death threat not taking it seriously as these were still stable times. A few days later masked gunmen shot at his house and although no one was killed he left along with his family to Al Khadamiya a mostly shite neighborhood a few days later.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Khalid’s story is similar to many others who had to flee their homes it also reflects a lot of his peoples frustration and helplessness. The days preceding the elections and after have been quite eventful with suicide bombings and car bombing happening across the country. The city of Mosul has been the hardest hit area where the government has lost near total control and rival militias are fighting it out against one another. The Peshmerga who want to expand control of Iraqi Kurdistan before a vote on independence backed by the UIS are currently battling the Jihadist Jaysh al Sunnah (Army of Al sunnah) funded by Saudi Arabia. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The UIS see the Kurdish people as having a right to “determine” their future. Mosul became a focal point after the “rape of Kirkuk” where Peshmerga aligned factions began a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Arab population. The remaining Arab populations of Kirkuk fled to Mosul and have been there ever since. In this election it is expected that the Hizb Al tawheed (Party of Union) a far right ultranationalists, pan Arab party is expected to be the king maker in the next election which is between former intern Iraqi Prime minister Iyad Allawi and Current prime minister Hassem Al Jaffari. Whatever the result maybe Iraq is in for more bloodshed and instability. With different sides being funded by many foreign powers in a region that all ready has more then its fair share of instability. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Excerpts from the Book “Iraq after Saddam: A trial by fire”[/FONT]
[FONT="]Imperial College London 2008 [/FONT]
[FONT="]Dr. Fawaz Gerges [/FONT]
[FONT="]Chapter 1: Early mistakes, the road strait to hell [/FONT]
[FONT="]In the immediate aftermath of the demise of Saddam’s regime the United Nations moved to fill the power vacuum left behind. As before Saddams end they were all ready there keeping Iraqis from starving through the oil for food program. Saddam and the UN were what really kept the country together as a decade of intense political and economic sanctions had crippled the country, decimated its middle class. The sanctions had left the country on a literally Spartan lifestyle with ordinary people getting only the basic to survive but not thrive, hospitals were crippled and medical supplies were running out. Basically the country was kept constantly on the verge of the abyss. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Following the demise of Saddam’s regime there was a wave of euphoria in the country unseen in decades. The joy that swept through the country didn’t last long as several factors contributed to the current state of the country. Immediately the UN Security Council passed a resolution that authorized it to launch a “stabilization mission” in order to re-establish law and order. The UN also established a “national transition council” made up of prominent dissidents; local individuals and people with experience governing but weren’t Ba’athists. They also setup a truth and reconciliation council similar to South Africa after apartheid.[/FONT]
[FONT="]On paper these were logical and morally good choices but in reality the people brought in either didn’t have the necessary experience or like Iyad Allawi weren’t in the country for decades so they really didn’t know what was going on. The problems started immediately as the army deserted its posts the borders were open and the Iranians began smuggling in thousands of fighters and individuals including People like Muqtada Al Sadr and organizations like Badr force and special operations groups. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Muqtada is somewhat of a joke in mainstream Iraqi society widely referred to as Muqtata meaning (pencil sharpener) for his crazy antics and his erratic behaviour. That includes changing political alliances and urging grocery store owners to separate tomatoes and cucumbers so that young boys don’t get “ideas”, also only allowing men to buy cucumbers. His “Mehdi” army a political and military force that controls several cities is ridiculed as the “Dartie army” meaning fart army in Arabic because of their perceived backwardness, lack of manners and general desire to cause trouble for ordinary people. [/FONT]
[FONT="]As 2003 entered the national transitional council made little progress in creating a constitution. Several members who represented the minorities like the Kurds and Assyrians only bothered to show up at the meetings after UN representative literally begged them to attend. The Kurds like the Assyrians had “gotten a better deal” under the UIS where the UIS would provide diplomatic and political support for them in exchange for them to cause a lot of headaches for the UN. In the meantime Allawi ran Iraq after being selected in a close and hot race that saw tempers flare. Allawi wasn’t bad he was just incapable of handling the job and Shia who believed he was a traitor by working with the Sunnis. [/FONT]
[FONT="]In late 2003 for allawi and the national council writing the constitution became the least of their worries after Kurdish Pashmerga began turning back families who were returning to Kirkuk to inspect their homes and try to rebuild their lives. Many Arabs were decided not to return after Al Jazzera that was becoming the most popular channel in the middle east reported that foreign men with thick accents were raiding Arab houses in the middle of the night and killing the men, while raping the women. Things got worse in early 2004 when the national council finally agreed to a “basic temporary” constitution that would run the country. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Elections were scheduled for mid 2005. On January 5th of 2004 Iraqis in Baghdad woke up to the sound of massive explosions. The news of the constitution didn’t sit to well with many people and extremists took advantage of the Sunni-Shite “problem” to make it permanent when over 50 car bombings targets dozens of locations across Sunni and Shia neighbourhoods. The bombings were so powerful that it felt like an earthquake was happening and by the end of the day an estimated 700 were killed and more then 2000 were wounded. [/FONT]
[FONT="]By the end of the day everyone was busy blaming the other that they didn’t realize that the Kurds were building up forces along Kirkuk. Arabs in Mosul began expelling Kurds en masse and so for Iraq these early mistakes were leading strait to the road to hell. There was no turning back. [/FONT]
[FONT="]A complicated story: The love and hate “relationship” of the UIS and the Middle East Routledge series on Asian and Middle Eastern affairs[/FONT]
[FONT="]By Mark Evans Weaver 2014 Routledge press,[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Union of Independent states had a hectic foreign policy in the Middle East under Vladimir Zhirinovsky it was basically start as many fires as possible. In the aftermath of the “Arab spring” that would turn into the “Arab winter” in 2007 after the end of the bloody civil war in Syria that resulted in the continuation of the Assad dynasty. Zhirinovsky during his time as president was clearly Islam phobic but after Saddams “we will drive the Kurds to the gates of Russia” Zhirinovsky became worried and fully supported the Kurds. The new Russian president Alexander Lebed continued that policy seeing the value of having an ally in the Middle East under a south Ossetia like arrangement. A policy Lebed would continue for both the republic of Dubai and the Palestinian Arab federation. [/FONT]
[FONT="]This relationship between the UIS and these breakaway semi-independent states would continue and become even more independent as the UIS would be semi isolated again in the aftermath of the Maidian revolution that took place in Ukraine. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Former UIS president Zhirinovksy wishes “That Zionist lover Stalin would have kept the Austrians under his boot because of Euro vision”. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The London Daily [/FONT]
[FONT="]May 15, 2003[/FONT]
[FONT="]He may still be under house arrest but Crazy Z is still making his antics. After a Hungarian transvestite won the Eurovision contest. Zhirinovsky called this the end of Europe, now there no men or women its just “it”.[/FONT]
One interesting tidbit...
My planned mini-sequel, the Massoud's Tajik Empire, was going to end up looking a lot like what we are seeing now in Iraq.
Basically, as Pakistan falls further into anarchy, Civil War in Pakistan breaks out after the militry nullifies another election. The Taliban quickly rout the Pakistani forces in the NW territories and establish a unrecognized Pashtun state.
From there the Pastun leadership in Afghanistan (I was leaning toward Haq but not sure) remains deeply unpopular with the Hazaras, Uzbeks, and Tajiks.
Haq, fed up with the two quasi-states to his north, unilaterally invade Massoud's Tajik region. This sets off a shit storm as the USA is afraid this could tear up the fragile peace in Afghanistan.
And then Lebed sees this as the golden opportunity to fix the "Tajik Problem."
Tajikistan, independent since being "kicked out of the UIS," partners up with the UIS and send troops to back up Massoud (think South Ossetia). Haq is routed.
He tried to rebound by taking out Dodstum (see Prelude) but the damage is done.
Taliban forces, from their quasi-independent Republic in Pakistan race up to Kandahar (see ISIS and Mosul).
From here Massoud moves into Kabul and takes "protective custody" of the city (which is in OTL a slight majority Tajik and is in TTL a large majority Tajik). (See Kuristan and Kirkut).
When all is said and done, Massoud declares independence, which the world recognizes since the alternative is the Taliban. This triggers...
well, I won't give it all away.
Awesome!
I think the movement to restore Japan's military would be stronger, even though Japan is on decent terms with the UIS. Keep in mind, in TTL North Korea is even more of a problem than in OTL . Unlike OTL, it has a much more pronounced power struggle going on.
And as mentioned in earlier posts, there may be a conflict between the UIS and North Korea shortly (it was hinted at in the final update). North Korea is ill equipped to strike at Russia, having spent 50-plus years preparing to strike at Seoul and Tokyo. I could see in such a scenario something akin to Saddam dropping SCUDs on Israel. North Korea attacks the nearest target they can reach: Japan. Japan is told by the United States to "hold back" since it sees the UIS-North Korea conflict as a potential human catastrophe about to explode, and it trying to calm the situation down.
Basically, the UIS is attacked in some way by North Korea. Unlike South Korea, or even the United States, they have more of a "Seoul be damned, we are going to kick some ass" mentality. So they shock the world (except China ) and invade North Korea. They claim they are not looking to overthrow the regime, just establish a "buffer zone" in the North East. This war, regardless of how it goes, would terrify Japan as well, and would almost force the PM's hand. Everyone in the country would be pushing for a military, especially if all the US did was say "hold on; don't do anything to escalate this. Just be cool and this will all blow over…”
Thanks! I figured a reboot of Magneto would have been in order in TTL...
Hmmmm, I hadn't thought about Compare the Meekrat. That give me something to consider for the future.
I think you are right. Metal Gear would look a lot different in TTL, as would a lot of other video games. I imagine that the UIS would be the perfect bad guy in a lot of game plots in TTL (hmmm, that could work into the Wreck-It Ralph angle
). One update I ultimatly dropped but may post here as a non-Canon deleted scene would have seen a major change the the back story of the Resident Evil games. Replace 'Soviet' with 'UIS'
snip
To be honest, I don't think we'll see many changes from OTL. The UIS realizes that the 21st century conflict is fought with AK-47s rigged up to the back of Toyota trucks...
however, the distaster in Chechnya would be an eye opener for them (just as it was for Russia in OTL). Look for the UIS to dump a lot of the old T-72 tanks and look to create a smaller, but more modern, military.
Thanks! Really glad you like it. I figured that there'd be definite pressure for Japan to re-arm, though I felt that even so, they'd try to be subtle about it - so 'Amphibious Defence Vessel' rather than dedicated carrier, etc. Actually, that was always one thing that struck me in Ghost in the Shell SAC, that even though it's clearly set in a time when Article 9 has ceased to have any meaning (Japan being recognised as a military power, one that's been involved in wars beyond its borders), they still keep the forms of language from the pacifist era, like Ground Self-Defence Force instead of Army. That was the kind of thing I was aiming for with Izumo - yes it's a blatant violation of the spirit of the Constitution, but it skirts coyly around violating the letter.
That scenario sounds really interesting - will that be part of the Lebed mini-TL you were saying you had planned? But yeah, I can see that playing havoc with regional security and Japan's internal politics. If SCUDs start falling on Japan, even the most pacifistic Japanese person is going to want protection...and if the PM is doing nothing, just acquiesing to American pressure not to escalate the situation (and America aren't sending forces to assist), then people are going to be more willing to listen to 'alternative' politicians like Shintaro Ishihara and the uyoku dantai. Especially if the SDF have been investing in new ships and weapons - people will be wondering why don't they use them. Though if NBC weaponry came into play, I have a feeling the PM wouldn't listen to a damn thing America had to say.
Also, I had an interesting idea regarding popular entertainment. I imagine that in TTL's Deep Space Nine, the Dominion War arc will be less about straight-up space battles, and the Changeling infiltration plot will be far more developed. I can see entire arcs about them encouraging anti-Federation elements on frontier colonies, like the Maquis, and among aliens who've only recently joined the Federation, and supplementing this encouragement by flooding them with cheap weaponry. Basically a space version of the 'billion Kalashnikovs and one nuke', trying to destabilise the Alpha Quadrant from within.
The Cosmonaut Cat
Banned
Interesting.One interesting tidbit...
My planned mini-sequel, the Massoud's Tajik Empire, was going to end up looking a lot like what we are seeing now in Iraq.
Basically, as Pakistan falls further into anarchy, Civil War in Pakistan breaks out after the militry nullifies another election. The Taliban quickly rout the Pakistani forces in the NW territories and establish a unrecognized Pashtun state.
From there the Pastun leadership in Afghanistan (I was leaning toward Haq but not sure) remains deeply unpopular with the Hazaras, Uzbeks, and Tajiks.
Haq, fed up with the two quasi-states to his north, unilaterally invade Massoud's Tajik region. This sets off a shit storm as the USA is afraid this could tear up the fragile peace in Afghanistan.
And then Lebed sees this as the golden opportunity to fix the "Tajik Problem."
Tajikistan, independent since being "kicked out of the UIS," partners up with the UIS and send troops to back up Massoud (think South Ossetia). Haq is routed.
He tried to rebound by taking out Dodstum (see Prelude) but the damage is done.
Taliban forces, from their quasi-independent Republic in Pakistan race up to Kandahar (see ISIS and Mosul).
From here Massoud moves into Kabul and takes "protective custody" of the city (which is in OTL a slight majority Tajik and is in TTL a large majority Tajik). (See Kuristan and Kirkut).
When all is said and done, Massoud declares independence, which the world recognizes since the alternative is the Taliban. This triggers...
well, I won't give it all away.
One thing you might want to look into to see if you can work into the TL is the Shrine of the Cloak and the Sacred Cloak of the Prophet: supposedly a Mosque in Kandahar contains a sacred Islamic relic, a cloak that belonged to the Prophet Mohammed himself. Would be interesting if as Afghanistan falls apart and there is three/four way battle between Massoud, Dodstum, Haq and the Taliban the various factions try to gain control of the cloak, like something out of an Indiana Jones film.
Also, I must ask again:
Angel Heart
Banned
Here's another piece of alternate in-universe fiction. Daisuke Satō basically decided to turn the in-universe anti-Russian sentiment in (Western) pop-culture to an absurd extreme while using Serbs as "surrogate Russians". The result is an even more absurd version of an already absurd zombie apocalypse anime.
HIGHSCHOOL OF THE SERBS
Teaser of Episode 1, "Spring of the Serbs"
EXT. FUJIMI ACADEMY ROOFTOPS
We see the rooftops of the academy being crowded with Serbs. Meanwhile three students are running towards the stairs. Those are TAKASHI KOMURO, a 17 year old boy with short and ruffled dark brown hair who is armed with a baseball bat, REI MIYAMOTO, a 17 year old girl with long light brown hair who is armed with a broomstick and HISASHI IGOU, a 17 year old boy with short gray hair who is wounded.
SERB SOLDIER 1
(greets the students with a friendly smile) Hej! [Hey!] (gets his head bashed by TAKASHI)
TAKASHI
Hisashi, are you okay?
Another Serb soldier is sitting at the staircase.
SERB SOLDIER 2
(plays the accordion, sings) Sneg je opet Snežana- [It's snow again, Snežana-] (gets impaled by REI’s broomstick through the accordion and his chest)
The three run up the stairs until REI is suddenly approached by another Serb soldier.
SERB SOLDIER 3
(sad) Izvinite gospođo, ali da li ste možda videli mog malog psa? On je jedini drug koga sam ikad imao- [Excuse me Miss, but have you seen my little dog? He is the only friend I ever had-]
HISASHI
(grabs TAKASHI's baseball bat, roars) LEAVE HER ALONE! (bashes the soldier's head until his brain is splattered all over the stairs)
REI
(looks at HISASHI with dreamy eyes) Hisashi...
HISASHI
Did you see that? We need to smash their heads to kill them.
TAKASHI
Hurry! This way! (looks briefly at REI tenderly helping HISASHI through the stairs before turning his head to the Serb army) Dammit...what the fuck?
MULTIPLE CUTS TO TOKYO, NEW YORK, PARIS, MOSCOW, BEIJING, ROME, SYDNEY AND BERLIN
These cities are crawling with Serbs and turned into post-apocalyptic warzones between the fanclubs of Red Star Belgrade and Partizan Belgrade.
TAKASHI (VO)
(screams) WHAT THE FUCK'S GOING OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON?!
CUT TO A SERB SOLDIER
We see the close up of a middle-aged Serb soldier wearing only an ushanka and dirty underpants while holding an empty schnaps bottle who has a nasty hangover and is groaning like a zombie.
[Cue the Opening Theme]
HIGHSCHOOL OF THE SERBS
Teaser of Episode 1, "Spring of the Serbs"
EXT. FUJIMI ACADEMY ROOFTOPS
We see the rooftops of the academy being crowded with Serbs. Meanwhile three students are running towards the stairs. Those are TAKASHI KOMURO, a 17 year old boy with short and ruffled dark brown hair who is armed with a baseball bat, REI MIYAMOTO, a 17 year old girl with long light brown hair who is armed with a broomstick and HISASHI IGOU, a 17 year old boy with short gray hair who is wounded.
SERB SOLDIER 1
(greets the students with a friendly smile) Hej! [Hey!] (gets his head bashed by TAKASHI)
TAKASHI
Hisashi, are you okay?
Another Serb soldier is sitting at the staircase.
SERB SOLDIER 2
(plays the accordion, sings) Sneg je opet Snežana- [It's snow again, Snežana-] (gets impaled by REI’s broomstick through the accordion and his chest)
The three run up the stairs until REI is suddenly approached by another Serb soldier.
SERB SOLDIER 3
(sad) Izvinite gospođo, ali da li ste možda videli mog malog psa? On je jedini drug koga sam ikad imao- [Excuse me Miss, but have you seen my little dog? He is the only friend I ever had-]
HISASHI
(grabs TAKASHI's baseball bat, roars) LEAVE HER ALONE! (bashes the soldier's head until his brain is splattered all over the stairs)
REI
(looks at HISASHI with dreamy eyes) Hisashi...
HISASHI
Did you see that? We need to smash their heads to kill them.
TAKASHI
Hurry! This way! (looks briefly at REI tenderly helping HISASHI through the stairs before turning his head to the Serb army) Dammit...what the fuck?
MULTIPLE CUTS TO TOKYO, NEW YORK, PARIS, MOSCOW, BEIJING, ROME, SYDNEY AND BERLIN
These cities are crawling with Serbs and turned into post-apocalyptic warzones between the fanclubs of Red Star Belgrade and Partizan Belgrade.
TAKASHI (VO)
(screams) WHAT THE FUCK'S GOING OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON?!
CUT TO A SERB SOLDIER
We see the close up of a middle-aged Serb soldier wearing only an ushanka and dirty underpants while holding an empty schnaps bottle who has a nasty hangover and is groaning like a zombie.
[Cue the Opening Theme]
Im planning more updates for the Iraq mini TL. Got a lot of material
However that wont be a for a while as my isnt performing 100%
How does the different status of Iran ITTL affect your plans for Iraq?
Good question, gona have to read "the second islamic republic" chapter again
Anyone wanna do a pacifiic update ?
We havent really had a lot about it e.x. what is going on in New Zealand Australia etc
The discussions on Japan and the Pacific, plus the talk about eventual war with Korea, makes me wonder...
Maybe TTL's equivalent of Whale Wars could unwittingly become a direct look at the conflict - I'm thinking they're trying to waylay the Japanese factory ship, but then they find themselves obliged to rescue the crew when a North Korean submarine torpedoes it (I figured if, as Pellegrino says, the North Koreans start targeting Japan out of spite when the UIS comes a-knocking, submarine warfare would become an avenue to hurt Japan economically). And of course, the footage from the camera crews ends up all over the news and National Geographic.
Disclaimer: I'm not a fan of Sea Shepherd or the whaling industry, and I'm not trying to say anything about OTL - just stating that depending on when TTL's war in Korea comes around, this could be a darkly amusing narrative possibility...
Maybe TTL's equivalent of Whale Wars could unwittingly become a direct look at the conflict - I'm thinking they're trying to waylay the Japanese factory ship, but then they find themselves obliged to rescue the crew when a North Korean submarine torpedoes it (I figured if, as Pellegrino says, the North Koreans start targeting Japan out of spite when the UIS comes a-knocking, submarine warfare would become an avenue to hurt Japan economically). And of course, the footage from the camera crews ends up all over the news and National Geographic.
Disclaimer: I'm not a fan of Sea Shepherd or the whaling industry, and I'm not trying to say anything about OTL - just stating that depending on when TTL's war in Korea comes around, this could be a darkly amusing narrative possibility...
I wonder does Zhirinovsky Google himself...
Nah. If he did, I imagine you'd have known soon enough. I imagine him being like that...other right-wing fellow any time *he* appears on a forum, only magnified.
Nah. If he did, I imagine you'd have known soon enough. I imagine him being like that...other right-wing fellow any time *he* appears on a forum, only magnified.
LOL, I keep wondering if there will come a day when Zhirinovsky goes on some crazy rant threatening to ban AH.com in Russia becuase of this TL
Gian
Banned
LOL, I keep wondering if there will come a day when Zhirinovsky goes on some crazy rant threatening to ban AH.com in Russia becuase of this TL
That'll be the day.