WI: David Duke and associates killed in Dominica in 1981

Calling these ruffians "mercenaries" is an insult to true mercenaries. In 1978 the Dominican Police Force had 282 men and the neighboring countries, including USA are members of the regional security system that promised to provide security assistance. The whole "Coup" was a fantasy from day 1.

That why it doesn't make sense to me. How was a handful of thugs supposed to even win a temporary victory in Dominica?

How would this affect Reagan and the Conservative party along with the US? It’d be a blackmark of incompetence and would taint the GOP.

How? David Duke was a registered Democrat until the late 80s (and had run for the Democratic nomination for president in 1980), and Don Black was associated with a variety of minor far-right parties, so he wasn't a Republican either. What will happen is an investigation of the government agencies in question and no doubt some people getting fired for their incompetence.

Given the only American casualties would be neo-Nazi terrorists getting killed on foreign soil while committing crimes, I don't think the impact would be particularly large compared to other events of Reagan's first term.
 
That why it doesn't make sense to me. How was a handful of thugs supposed to even win a temporary victory in Dominica?

How? David Duke was a registered Democrat until the late 80s (and had run for the Democratic nomination for president in 1980), and Don Black was associated with a variety of minor far-right parties, so he wasn't a Republican either. What will happen is an investigation of the government agencies in question and no doubt some people getting fired for their incompetence.

Given the only American casualties would be neo-Nazi terrorists getting killed on foreign soil while committing crimes, I don't think the impact would be particularly large compared to other events of Reagan's first term.

I guess I mean in regards to the incompetenace of the adminsitration of Neo-Nazis and so on as well as the reputation other nations may have of the US
 
I doubt it would have much effect in the long run. They would be slaughtered in Dominica , it gets headlines for a couple of weeks and then everyone forgets about it and goes back to speculating who is going to win the Super Bowl. It would be embarrassing but Dominica is a two bit Third World country that no one pays attention to long.

As far as David Duke himself, in the greater scheme of things he is a nobody. He has absolutely zero clout. The number of followers he has is a small fraction of 1% of the US population.
 
How would this affect Reagan and the Conservative party along with the US? It’d be a blackmark of incompetence and would taint the GOP.

No, it wouldn't. Inside two weeks, a month at most, almost everyone would have moved on. A failed coup in some backwards Third World country by a handful of neo-nazis would barely be a blip on the scope.
 
I doubt it would have much effect in the long run. They would be slaughtered in Dominica , it gets headlines for a couple of weeks and then everyone forgets about it and goes back to speculating who is going to win the Super Bowl. It would be embarrassing but Dominica is a two bit Third World country that no one pays attention to long.

As far as David Duke himself, in the greater scheme of things he is a nobody. He has absolutely zero clout. The number of followers he has is a small fraction of 1% of the US population.

Well, if it affects Louisiana politics, it could affect things in the long run. Repubs might try and use it on Dems and cause them to go further left. Meanwhile, Domnica is part of the US sphere so it is not a Third World Country by the standards of that era.
 
Yeah, the neo-Nazis probably kill a few people (including Dominican police officers) but are then killed by the Dominican police in a shootout and, within a few days, the feeling will be that they got what was coming to them...
 
I guess I mean in regards to the incompetenace of the adminsitration of Neo-Nazis and so on as well as the reputation other nations may have of the US

The government conducts an internal investigation as to why the plot wasn't detected, some people get fired/resign or otherwise disciplined. The US (and Canada) apologises to Dominica, and perhaps pays a sum for lives lost and property damaged. The international community is satisfied, and no one important buys the conspiracy theories or Soviet/Chinese/whatever propaganda that it was backed by the US/Canadian government.
 
Well, if it affects Louisiana politics, it could affect things in the long run. Repubs might try and use it on Dems and cause them to go further left. Meanwhile, Domnica is part of the US sphere so it is not a Third World Country by the standards of that era.

Yes, it was , at least colloquially. To most people Third World meant and means "A hell hole where people are paid in dirt."

No one would use it, it wouldn't be important enough to be used. It would be forgotten about in two weeks, a month at most. If it were used by anyone it would by the Dems to attack Reagan.
 
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David Duke won't be in the 1991 Louisiana Gubernatorial election, which is pretty big.

If Roemer makes it to the second round (he was a close third so I don't see why not), then he's a two-term Governor.

Roemer was unwilling to pardon political prisoner Gary Tyler while governor because Duke was getting more popular and he didn't want to do anything that might give the guy more ammo. Tyler likely gets pardoned here.
 
David Duke won't be in the 1991 Louisiana Gubernatorial election, which is pretty big.

If Roemer makes it to the second round (he was a close third so I don't see why not), then he's a two-term Governor.

Roemer was unwilling to pardon political prisoner Gary Tyler while governor because Duke was getting more popular and he didn't want to do anything that might give the guy more ammo. Tyler likely gets pardoned here.

What happens if Gary Tyler is pardoned and how would the politics be influenced?
 
What happens if Gary Tyler is pardoned and how would the politics be influenced?

The Democrat turned Republican (just months before the election) Governor who pissed off pro-lifers by vetoing abortion restrictions on constitutionalist grounds would have pissed off a bunch of racist whites (remember - Duke got the majority of the white vote in 1991) but probably locked in the support of white liberals and black voters.

It'd be weird. HW Bush would probably back him though, so that should help.
 
The Democrat turned Republican (just months before the election) Governor who pissed off pro-lifers by vetoing abortion restrictions on constitutionalist grounds would have pissed off a bunch of racist whites (remember - Duke got the majority of the white vote in 1991) but probably locked in the support of white liberals and black voters.

It'd be weird. HW Bush would probably back him though, so that should help.

How would Roemer be like as the governor for Louisiana?
 
Other than causing some butterflies down the line in the White Nationalist/Supremacist world, I don't know that the Red Dog mercenaries dying would make that much of an impact. But, I will say this, David Duke was not among their number. So he'd live no matter how badly the operation goes. Also, as I understand things, the group didn't intend to take over the country themselves, but install a friendly figure, Patrick John, as leader of Dominica. That goal makes things a little more realistic looking, and decreases their likelihood of immediate death.

There's been some discussion here about how their mission was ultimately futile, and while I agree that it was so after the arrest of John prior to the Operation launch, I don't know that it was so prior to that point. Dominica didn't exactly have a highly developed military infrastructure, and as I recall the plan of the Red Dog team was to secure the primary police station and radio broadcasting center, were that coordinated with John's efforts to secure the existing government, I could see them pull it off. However, who knows how long their coup government would actually last, and even if it did, one can imagine how much tension there'd be between the population/new government and the mercenaries.
 
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