Blood Stained Carpet and the Pretzel of Death: A Post 9/11 Timeline

Just a little nitpick, but doesn't the 25th Amendment specify that the Vice Presidential nomination if the post becomes vacant requires congressional approval? I have no doubt that Rumsfeld would be confirmed, but you should probably mentioning Cheney nominating Rumsfeld, and Rumsfeld being approved before he's sworn in as the new Vice President.

Noted and edited. Danke.
 
I think there's a chance Iraq goes slightly better in this timeline. With Gates as Secretary of Defense, there's a chance that the administration is forced to listen to the Generals, and we invade with a considerably larger force. True, Vice President Rumsfeld would likely pressure President Cheney for a smaller force, but he won't be running the defense department. With the Secretary of the Defense advocating a larger force, along with Powell, I think Cheney might reluctantly agree to such a plan, despite his close relationship with the Vice President.

I think Iraq happens regardless though.
 
ohhhhh Niiiccee.

makes perfect sense.

they've been working together since .....Ford ? havent they ?

try Nixon, Rumsfeld got Dick a job in '69 when Runny was Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity (1969-1970) during the Nixon-Ford years Rummy was Dick mentor, when Dick became Veep he payed Rummy Back and made him SecDef (again)
 
March-April, 2002

March 1st: Operation Anaconda begins in Eastern Afghanistan.

March 3rd: Switzerland joins the United Nations

March 9th: Hamid Karzai dies in a suicide-bomb attack in Kabul during an International Women’s Day celebration.

March 12th: Israeli ground forces invade the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Dozens of Tanks occupy Ramallah.

March 17th: Robert Mugabe is assassinated while visiting the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

March 19th: Operation Anaconda ends

March 20th: The McCain-Feingold Act passes in the senate.

March 25th: President Dick Cheney vetoes the McCain-Feingold Act.

March 27th: A suicide bomber kills 29 people in Netanya, Israel. This becomes known as the Passover Massacre.

April 1st: The Netherlands legalizes euthanasia.

April 2nd: Israeli forces besiege the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem where Palestinian militants are hiding.

April 4th: The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign a peace treaty ending the Angolan Civil War.

April 11th: A coup d’etat in Venezuela succeeds in ousting President Hugo Chavez. Also, a synagogue in Ghriba is bombed by Al Qaeda, killing 21 in Tunisia.

April 12th: Pedro Carmona becomes interim President of Venezuela after the military coup against Hugo Chávez.

April 14th: Ousted President Hugo Chavez is exiled to Spain.

April 16th: Protests against the exile of Hugo Chavez spark around Venezuela

April 17th: The protests in Venezuela turn into riots. The police are called in to break up the riots.

April 19th: Venezuelan Police are unable to break the riots. Martial law is declared and the military are called in to break the riots.

April 21st: Jean-Marie Le Penn qualifies for second round of Presidential election.

April 25th: Jean-Marie Le Penn is assassinated by a French Anarchist.
 
Last edited:

loughery111

Banned
So what, if anything, did the new Administration have to do with the deaths of Karzai and Mugabe, and the ouster of Chavez? I know Karzai was, at this point, still credible as a leader, unlike today... so they would have no reason to pull a Diem on him.
 
So what, if anything, did the new Administration have to do with the deaths of Karzai and Mugabe, and the ouster of Chavez? I know Karzai was, at this point, still credible as a leader, unlike today... so they would have no reason to pull a Diem on him.

The administration had nothing to do with the outsing of Chavez and the deaths of Karzai and Mugabe. I'll admit to taking the liberty of the Butterfly effect.
 

loughery111

Banned
The administration had nothing to do with the outsing of Chavez and the deaths of Karzai and Mugabe. I'll admit to taking the liberty of the Butterfly effect.

I'll say. Fair enough, I suppose it's possible that mere "fear of Cheney killing you all" would be enough to provoke various people to dispose of Chavez, and Mugabe's certainly made his share of enemies.
 
March 17th: Robert Mugabe is assassinated
April 14th: Ousted President Hugo Chavez is exiled to Spain.
April 25th: Jean-Marie Le Penn is assassinated by a French Anarchist.

When I read that Cheney and Rumsfeld took over, I feared the worst.

But you're taking out other bad guys at a rapid speed. I like that!
 
May- June, 2002​
May 2nd: Marad massacre of eight Hindus near Palakkad in Kerala.

May 5th: In the second round of the French presidential election, Jacques Chirac is reelected.

May 6th: In the Netherlands, politician Pim Fortuyn survives an assasination attempt.

May 7th: Simon Vengai Muzenda, acting leader of Zimbabwe, calls for the creation of a new constitution and a new election following the creation of said new constitution.

May 9th: The Israeli siege of the Church of the Nativity ends, with the Israelis killing all but 1 of the militants. The one survivor is taken into Israeli custody. Israel calls up additional reserve forces and moves tanks into position for an expected incursion into the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the most recent suicide bombing.

May 12th: The riots across Venezuela calm down, but Martial law is kept.

May 15th: General elections for the lower house of parliament were held. The Lijst Pim Fortuyn (LPF) was the great winner, the party gained 30 of the 150 seats, a historic achievement for a new party. The CDA (Christen Democratisch Appèl) led by Jan Peter Balkenende became the greatest party (40 seats). The great losers were the coalition parties of the ruling "purple coalition" (PvdA, labour party; VVD, liberals; D'66, leftist liberals). These parties were diminished to half of their former size. Ad Melkert (PvdA) resigns as political leader of his party.

May 19th: A suicide bomber disguised as an Israeli soldier is discovered before a bomb could be detonated in Netanya.

May 20th: East Timor regains independence. Japan ends its logistics support for the U.S.-led anti-terrorism campaign in and around Afghanistan.

May 24th: Russia and the United States sign the Moscow Treaty.

May 31st: The Fifa World Cup is held in South Korea and Japan.

June 5th: Sweden passes a law that allows homosexual couples to apply for both the national and the international adoption of children.

June 6th: An object with an estimated diameter of 10 meters collides with Earth over the Mediterranean Sea, and detonates in mid air.

June 8th: Lennox Lewis is knocked out Mike Tyson in an IBF and WBC championship boxing match in Memphis.

June 10th: the Loya Jirga of Afghanistan (Grand Assembly) convened and established the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan. A Constitutional Convention is planned to take place within the next 18 months. The Loya Jirga was opened by Mohammed Zahir, the former Shah of Afghanistan. He expresses an interest to be involved in the new Afghan government.

June 11th: reality show, American Idol premieres its first episode on Fox Network.

June 14th: In Karachi, Pakistan, a car bomb in front of the U.S. Consulate kills 12 Pakistanis and injures 50.

Jun 29th: Naval clashes between South Korea and North Korea lead to the death of six South Korean sailors and sinking of a North Korean vessel. North Korea threatens war with South Korea.
 
 
July 3rd, 2002
On July 2nd, a US spy plane flew over North Korea. The plane captured on film what appeared to be a large movement of North Korean soldiers and armored vehicles toward the DMZ line. These pictures are sent to the Pentagon and it is confirmed that these pictures do depict a large movement of North Korean forces. Having forces near the DMZ is not unusual, both sides do it, however the amount North Korea is placing, along with the positioning of it’s naval forces in the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan.

President Cheney is alerted to these developments and calls for an emergency meeting between himself, the Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard B. Myers, Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, and several other advisors.

The topic of this meeting was what to do about the mobilization of North Korean forces. It seems that an attack by North Korea is eminent. After the naval clashes between North Korea and South Korea on June 29th Kim Jong-il threatened war. This too is not unusual, but the amount of effort being put into this mobilization is alarming. It is known that North Korea has a nuclear weapons program, though they haven’t successfully detonated one as of yet.

National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice advises President Cheney to prepare an attack on North Korea. “North Korea is a State Sponsor of terror. They have a nuclear weapons program that threatens the region, the country, and the world”.

Secretary of State Colin Powell responds “We can’t ignore this, but war would be a mistake. If we attack North Korea China will have no choice but to respond. Not to mention the international backlash. We need to neutralize China by having them condemn any North Korean attack”.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates responds “We should mobilize our forces in Korea and threaten counter attack., and position our ships in the Sea of Japan and the Yellow sea for air strikes against their vital targets.”

After President Cheney listens to all of those who had something to say he was left with 3 options: Condoleezza’s attack first, Colin Powell’s diplomatic pressure, and Robert Gates’ threat of force. He sat at his desk quietly contemplating the options. After several minutes he made his decision.
 
July- August, 2002
 
July 1st: The international criminal court is established, and Denmark takes over the Presidency of the European Union.

July 2nd: A US spy plane spots a massive mobilization in North Korean forces along the DMZ line.

July 3rd: After an emergency meeting in the White House, President Cheney sends a message to North Korea, demanding the removal of excess forces along the DMZ line or risk an attack by the US.

July 5th: Through state controlled media, Kim Jong-il tells the people that the United States has threatened war with them. He says “We shall not back down to the American Imperialists.”

July 9th: The Organization of African Unity is replaced with the African Union.

July 14th: During Bastille Day celebrations, French President Jacques Chirac is assassinated by Maxime Brunerie, a far-right radical.

July 20th: The news of North Korea’s massive mobilization of forces along the DMZ line is leaked to foreign press.

July 22nd: An Israeli warplane fires a one ton bomb at an apartment in a densely populated neighborhood of Gaza City, killing Salah Shehade, top commander of Hamas's military wing.

July 25th: President Cheney sends what he calls the “Final Ultimatum” for North Korea. He demands that either North Korea pull back the additional mobilized forces by September 30th, or the US will act.

July 27th: The Homeland Security bill is passed, establishing the Department of Homeland Security.

July 31st: A Hamas-affiliated member leaves a bag containing a bomb in the cafeteria of Hebrew University of Jerusalem, killing nine Jewish students, and injuring 85 others. Palestinian Arabs rally in Gaza waving Hamas flags to celebrate the attack.

August 3rd: The interim President of Venezuela, Pedro Carmona, announces the creation of a new constitution. Elections for the new government were announced to take place in November.

August 4th: A Palestinian suicide bombing claims nine lives, near Safed; there is a shooting attack in Jerusalem, claiming 2.

August 7th: Explosions went off near the parliament building as Colombia's President Álvaro Uribe was being sworn in, killing at least 10 people. Israeli forces kill six Palestinians: Israeli undercover soldiers kill four Palestinian militants wound three in a gun-fight in Tulkarm. An Israeli sniper kills Hussam Hamdan, a member of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israeli troops and 30 tanks push into northern Gaza, killing a Palestinian policeman. These come in response to the attacks of August 4

August 12th: Colombian president Álvaro Uribe declares state of emergency.

August 15th: Kim Jong-il announces that his successor will be his youngest son, Kim Jong-un. This announcement increases international suspicions that North Korea is planning to either attack South Korea or not pull away from the DMZ line before September 30th.

August 21st: In India, a 125-year-old dam bursts under torrential rains, killing 10.

August 31st: A think tank affiliated with the Arab League ended its meeting in Cairo by calling Jews "enemies of all nations", by claiming that Arabs, as Semites, cannot be anti-Semitic, and by claiming that the events of September 11, 2001 were concocted by the United States government.
 
 
Thanks for the update :D

you're welcome

Boy, this is getting crazy. Let's hope the North Koreans do what the US wants.

It's going to get less normal very soon.

Second Korean War TLs are always interesting. ;)
Yes... yes they are.


And now, two updates in one day

September, 2002
September 1st: President Cheney and his advisors create an invasion plan for a possible war with North Korea. These plans state that an attack is to be launched on October 3rd if North Korea doesn’t pull back from the DMZ line by midnight, September 30/October 1st.

September 5th: The Loya Jirga announces that though a constitution has not been finished, they say that Shah Mohammed Zahir will play a part in the new government.

September 11th: Ramzi Binalshibh, a key al Qaeda member who supposedly helped to plan the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attack is killed in Pakistan. Mourning occurs across the United States on the 1 year anniversary of the September 11th attack.

September 12th: Saddam Hussein allows both UN and American inspectors into the country after months of refusal.

September 14th: The US mobilizes it’s forces in South Korea at the DMZ line, along with moving it’s fleet around Taiwan and Japan to the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan.

September 18th: After three days of negotiations in Sattahip, Thailand, the Tamil Tigers agreed to drop their demand for independence from Sri Lanka, and accepted autonomy in the north and northwest of the country.

September 19th: An coup by disaffected former soldiers of Côte d'Ivoire succeeds, with former military dictator, Robert Guéï, assuming control.

September 22nd: A new Bundestag is chosen in Germany. The President’s candidate for Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder is defeated by Edmund Stoiber. The SPD achieves 300 seats, with the CDU/CSU achieving 301 seats.

September 23rd: Belgium legalizes Euthanasia.

September 27th: East Timor joins the United Nations.

September 30th: At 5:00 pm North Korean time, Kim Jong-il messages the people of North Korea by radio and television. He orders all men able to fire a weapon to report to the nearest military authority and volunteer the services. He orders all women and children too young to join the military to resist the Americans at all costs. They are told to barricade their homes and fashion weapons out of anything they can find. They also instruct them on how to make explosives with the items in their homes.
 
Top