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Aside from the concerns about launching gas weapons from ballistic missiles, I'm enjoying this TL so far. The first Gulf War is full of excellent WIs that deserve exploration, I look forward to seeing where this is headed. As a side note, I assume you're aware that OTL US forces were on DEFCON...

PART XXIII: December 2002 – February 2003 "We're not softening them up. We're killing them." -Lieutenant General T. Michael Moseley, USAF “A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.” - Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince --- “Oil prices have risen to $50...

A little of that in his campaign, yes. In general, his campaign was focused on taking France in a "new direction" and being a candidate of integrity - ie, a candidate not likely involved in major political corruption scandals. But yes, expect a different PS going forward.

About 15% of American troops in Central Asia are reservists (out of 90,000 troops in the region)... So I'd say more have been called up than in OTL 2003, but they're not as high a proportion of the force as in OTL Iraq.

Impeachment=/=Resignation. Bill Clinton didn't have to run for re-election, the resignation is to prevent losing the '08 election, not to prevent impeachment.

Bill Clinton had more charm and political skill than Edwards ever will. As vice President, he wouldn't have much to redeem him, whereas Clinton could at least rely to some extent on his accomplishments in the White House to insulate damage to popular appeal. Also, he didn't have to run for...

So far I'd imagine it has gone mainly as per OTL... Of course, certain attacks will end up differently than OTL, but I am not sure how much differently McCain would handle the situation than Bush did (in any meaningful way). But I may be wrong, and I'd like to research more so I can try and map...

Well, there is somewhat of a method to my madness... All these countries have rather important diplomatic roles with regards to upcoming trouble spots... For my next trick, I will turn broad, international consensus into something wholly less appealing... Thanks for reminding me about that...

I have a rough outline of 2000-2008. The TL will sort of end on a cliffhanger, and 2008 will have a perennial non-candidate as President. I'll try and get in an update before I head out for college, but I won't promise anything I can't keep...

I've got to be way down the list... This site's actual writers write more in a story than I've probably written for all of AH.com ever. Fortunately, I'm a lousy fiction-writer so I'm spared from the burden of high output... :p

You've got the idea. The WMDs that McCain will really be concerned with haven't come up yet... Yeah, Clark is likely to do much better in TTL.

Put it this way: People notice thunderstorms, but may forget to consider the river. You are the river, Chris. Perhaps unappreciated, but mighty. And you can flood things. It's all very proverbial and whatnot.

A lot of this is in my notes, so I try and keep it going quickly. I wouldn't quite say a bloodier incident with Iraq is around the corner... Close, though. I'll try and address that with the next update on the progression of operations in Iraq.

Hope this doesn't disappoint. ;) PART XXII: September-December 2002 “If your Television is broken, put my picture on it.” -Iraqi joke attributed to Saddam “Apologize, v. To lay the foundation for a future offense.” -Ambrose Bierce --- “SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR...

Thanks! Next post is going to be US elections & Iraq for the most part...

I assumed there was still enough of a war threat in September that a peace platform might win... Come to think of it though, Stoiber's election probably makes the world a more "interesting place." Thank goodness for these longer edit times, eh?

Fair enough, I'll switch it. Doesn't make an enormous difference to what I've got written so far.

PART XXI: May 2002-September 2002 “Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.” -Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus --- “Violence flared in the Russian Republic of Dagestan, with Islamist separatists detonating IEDs during a town parade in Kaspiyisk, killing at least 40…...

Iran is more pragmatic than it lets on - it is much less ideological than the Wahabbis and isn't averse to realpolitik. Here's the thing, though - if the US were going to extract false confessions, you'd think they'd at least extract false concessions that clearly implicated Iran - or more...

That's what I thought, but there it was in chapter 7 of the 9/11 Commission report. Al Qaeda and Iran didn't make much of it, and they've only grown more distant since... I believe the several of the citations are from interrogation of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, which makes it about as reliable as...