Ankeny Distribution Center Raided by FBI, ATF, and Local Law Enforcement
Founder and President Arrested!
Warehouse Full of illegal weapons seized
Des Moines Register, Tuesday April 20th, 1999
Guest Post by @ajm8888
The FBI, ATF, and local law enforcement conducted a raid on an Ankeny[1] distribution center and warehouse operated by Fischbach Transportation Monday morning. The offices of Fischbach Transportation in the Ruan Center building in Downtown Des Moines were also raided by Omaha-based FBI agents. The ATF were involved in the Ankeny Raid along with Ankeny Police, Polk County Sheriff's Deputies, and Iowa State Patrol.
The FBI arrested numerous executives of Fischbach Transportation including company founder, CEO and president, James Fischbach. Fischbach, An Army veteran, served in the US Army as an officer from 1981 to 1989 when he separated with the rank of captain. Though rumors that he was forced out due some incident that happened at Fort Carson in Colorado persisted after he started his business, his official records say he was honorably discharged[2]. Since separation, he launched his transportation company, which makes a reported $27 million per year.
Fischbach was arrested at the Des Moines Club while the raid was occurring. His charges include gun smuggling, theft of government property, and numerous charges on explosives. Further charges are likely to be added on, said sources in the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa’s Office.
“It is a shock,” said an anonymous member of the Des Moines Club, “I knew he was very conservative but I never thought that Jimmy Fischbach was running guns and bazookas. Most members of our club and the Embassy Club[3] are upstanding citizens. Politicians, Businessmen, religious leaders, and so forth. None of them would do such a thing.”
The FBI said this raid was done thanks to confidential information[4] and an investigation into Fischbach Transportation. The IRS also said they have launched an investigation into tax fraud...
Con't on A7
US Women win World Cup
The Washington Post, July 11th, 1999
Pasadena, CA – The US Women’s Soccer team won over China in a breathtaking final that has done the impossible: gotten the US to care about soccer. Capped by a late goal by Mia Hamm and marked by impressive saves by goalie Briana Scurry, the US Team pulled off a 1-0 victory[5]. The final, which aired on Rupert Murdoch’s Sports Century (formerly HTN), became the channel’s mot watched programming since its relaunch, a channel that has increasingly focused on sports ignored by ESPN, Broadcast TV, and other sports networks. This has included not just soccer, but women’s sports, including the new WNBA Basketball league, resulting in Murdoch being celebrated by women as “a hero of Title 9”[6].
The match began with…
Cont’d on C2.
Russia Seethes as CEFTA Formalizes Defensive Alliance
The Times of London, September 1st, 1999
Warsaw – The Central European Free Trade Agreement, or CEFTA, today formally declared its commitment to mutual self-defense, making official and open a lesser-known clause of the agreement. Signed on the date and time of the 60th anniversary of the German and Soviet invasion of Poland that kicked off World War 2, the symbolism of the date is obvious. With a declaration of neutrality in any NATO-USR conflict, some are already declaring it the “Great Finlandization”, and indeed both Finland and Sweden have announced plans to discuss the “strategic situation” with the Alliance.
And yet if the date acknowledges threats from both east and west, with CEFTA’s growing closeness with Brussels and the EU and back channels with NATO, it seems apparent whom the signatories see as the greater threat. Already Russian Nationalists are calling this a direct threat to the USR and demanding that President Yeltsin take action. Leaders of the Russian People’s Party are demanding a new election and rumors of meetings with FSB Director Vladimir Putin are causing whispers of a potential coup. Yeltsin’s already weakening poll numbers took a noteworthy hit upon the announcement, and sources tell
The Times that Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov is already maneuvering to “retire” his mentor and assume his place. Despite assurances by US President Al Gore that NATO and CEFTA offer no threat to the USR, Yeltsin has agreed to increase the defense budget and has been cozying up to the Red Army, perhaps hoping to counter a possible FSB/RPP alliance, leading to fears of an arms race.
“There seems to be a shadow war of sorts within the USR, with the military and business interests on one side, and Russian nationalists and the Intelligence establishment on the other,” an aide to US Secretary of State Zbigniew Brzezinski told
The Times. “Organized crime, meanwhile, appears to be the main arbiter of discussions between the blocs, which is concerning.”
Further complicating matters, the Sovereign State of the Ukraine continues to maintain direct financial and diplomatic sidebar relations with CEFTA, leading many Russian nationalists to call for the Red Army to put down what they see as a “rogue State”. Russian generals have reportedly advised against this, however, as other restive States such as Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Chechnya-Ingush in the Caucuses and nearly every State in Central Asia might take advantage of any such chaos to declare their own secession.
“Boris has the wolf by the ears in Kiev,” said the same aide to the Secretary. “Every move they make weakens his position in Moscow, and yet making abject moves against the ruling State government, whose dominant Ukrainian People’s Party is an important member of his Coalition, could topple his government and leave an opening for his enemies in the RPP.”
UK Prime Minister Neil Kinnock called the announced treaty “a profound change to the status quo” and promised to “keep a close eye on things.” He met with Defense Minister…
Cont’d on A2.
[1] Ankeny is a city north of Des Moines in Polk County, Iowa and has Interstates 35 and 80 go through it. Those two are vital for Fischbach’s business as I-35 goes north-south (mostly) up to Duluth, Minnesota and down to Laredo, Texas and I-80 goes east-west (mostly) from Teaneck, New Jersey to San Francisco. It is an ideal place for a transportation as is other Interstate interchanges.
[2] By “Honorably Discharged” we mean that he was given the choice to separate or face discipline when he sexually molested a female African American Second Lieutenant and had been disrespectful to a superior officer because they had been black. Fischbach was an ROTC cadet, not West Point. He tried and failed to become a Ranger. Most in the army called him “Fish”; he hated that nickname. Fischbach is fictional, a creation of
@ajm8888.
[3] The Des Moines Club and the Embassy Club are two gentlemen’s clubs in the traditional sense. Both were located in different skyscrapers near the top. In our timeline both would merge into the Des Moines Embassy Club in 2002.
[4] Fischbach is, of course, Condor. His arrogant attitude that he was the best and brightest helped bring him down along with information provided by Yuri and Maverick.
[5] Went to penalties in our timeline. While a long way past the Point of Departure, I figured the US Women’s Team would still emerge as a force to be reckoned with around this time based upon the same investments made in our timeline by the US and the social factors in the US that made the sport an athletic avenue for athletic and competitive women while largely ignored by athletic and competitive men.
[6] Hat tip to
@El Pip for this delicious bit of irony.