The Perdicaris War

[maverick]

Ion Perdicaris was...well...some rich greek asshole with nothing much going on for him except for marrying into a wealthy North Carolinean family, having a kid and being kidnapped in 1904 by a man named Raisuli...

Now, if you're a movie buff then you might recongise this as the base for the awesome movie starring Sean Connery, the Wind and the Lion...

More Importantly, Perdicaris and his son were kidnapped, Perdicares blackmailed the Sultan of Morocco, TR got pissed, said "The government wants Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead" and sent a dozen marines to protect mrs Perdicaris and garrison the American consulate...

Now, the movie was more awesome than reality...it was the woman and her son the ones kidnapped and TR sends a whole goddamned batallion to rescue them...

Escalating this shouldn't prove too difficult...Mrs Perdicaris, an American citizen, is kidnapped as well and later even killed...the american soldiers TR sent to the Consulate could be attacked by the bandits or maybe even suffer an accident with the locals upon arrival...

Could a more complicated situation in the frame of the 1904 Presidential election force TR to show some muscle and intervene in Morocco?

 

[Douglas]

Ion Perdicaris was...well...some rich greek asshole with nothing much going on for him except for marrying into a wealthy North Carolinean family, having a kid and being kidnapped in 1904 by a man named Raisuli...

Now, if you're a movie buff then you might recongise this as the base for the awesome movie starring Sean Connery, the Wind and the Lion...

More Importantly, Perdicaris and his son were kidnapped, Perdicares blackmailed the Sultan of Morocco, TR got pissed, said "The government wants Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead" and sent a dozen marines to protect mrs Perdicaris and garrison the American consulate...

Now, the movie was more awesome than reality...it was the woman and her son the ones kidnapped and TR sends a whole goddamned batallion to rescue them...

Escalating this shouldn't prove too difficult...Mrs Perdicaris, an American citizen, is kidnapped as well and later even killed...the american soldiers TR sent to the Consulate could be attacked by the bandits or maybe even suffer an accident with the locals upon arrival...

Could a more complicated situation in the frame of the 1904 Presidential election force TR to show some muscle and intervene in Morocco?

I started a thread on this, and wargamed the naval results of a war breaking out there between France and the United States...I suppose I should update that thread, hm?

 

[Magniac]

Now, if you're a movie buff then you might recongise this as the base for the awesome movie starring Sean Connery, the Wind and the Lion...

More Importantly, Perdicaris and his son were kidnapped, Perdicares blackmailed the Sultan of Morocco, TR got pissed, said "The government wants Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead" and sent a dozen marines to protect mrs Perdicaris and garrison the American consulate...

Now, the movie was more awesome than reality...

Quibble: it was Secretary of State John Hay who said "Pedicaris alive or Raisuli dead."

But yeah, a ripping movie.

"Wouldn't it be something if we started a World War?'

"These Europeans fight not like men, on horseback with sword and rifle, but like dogs, with their machine guns that fire many bullets, promiscuously, rendering the earth asunder."

Connery as a _Muslim_ hero involved in a symbiotic, long-distance relationship with Brian Keith's TR...

Candice Bergen in her only decent film role...

And all this written and directed by the man who gave us the craptacular 'Red Dawn.'

 

[maverick]

I started a thread on this, and wargamed the naval results of a war breaking out there between France and the United States...I suppose I should update that thread, hm?

Yes, that would be interesting...
In any case...does this scenario result in an international intervention in Morocco? European war? Franco-American war?

 

[Douglas]

Yes, that would be interesting...
In any case...does this scenario result in an international intervention in Morocco? European war? Franco-American war?

France vs. US with Spain and Germany eagerly looking for a chance to hop in depending who comes out on top.