2014-2017:
January 3, 2014: The UN releases a statement decrying the continued lack of support for the latest fundraising campaign for the Syrian civil war, despite acknowedlging unrelenting American and British humanitarian assistance despite the recent Islamic Front . The statement also places the number of deaths at 185,241 people. The sharp rise in the last month is attributed to sporadic but fierce Islamic Front and Free Syrian Army conflicts at FSA occupied bases, in addition to a renewed regime assault on the deadlocked areas of the country such as Aleppo. President Obama releases a statement denouncing the Islamic Front's continued occupation of FSA bases on the Jordanian border. In addition, the statement notes that large amounts of humanitarian aid from the US and UK amongst other countries is unaccounted for after delivery to UN refugee camps along the border near to IF-occupied bases.
3 March, 2014 - In a surprise address to the crowds, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani calls for a “steady process of reforms that will give more rights to the people while keeping true to the ideals of the Islamic Republic”. His first act since the address is the release of more political prisoners and the easing of Internet censorship.
12 March, 2014 - A new nuclear deal is signed between the Iranian government and tye Western powers is signed. Among the terms are restrctions of enriching uranium to around 4%-5% (with the dilution of all uranium stocks above that level), increased UN inspections at all nuclear facilities, and the closure of the Arak facility, in exchange for increased (yet reversible, should Iran violat the deal) sanctions relief.
The deal is hailed in both Iran and the Western world, with the notable exception of Israel, which PM Benjamin Netanyahu called “the greatest act of appeasement since the Munich Conference of 1938”.
March 23 2014: President Barack Obama declares that Yemen is in a state of heavy trouble, and gets Senator Claire McCaskill to author a bill that would call for Military action in the country, especially relating to bombings and strikes, the bill is defeated 49-51, leaving the President defeated.
March 31 2014: Al Qaeda boosts members in Yemen by 4,000 to attempt an insurgent campaign.
April 10 2014: Protestors take to the street after President Abd Rabbuh Mansur al-Hadi declares that the internet has completely been blocked off in the Country to “Protect Citizens”, the protestors burn down a Government building in the South, Hadi names them as “Terrorists”
April 20 2014: The UN tries for a Resolution to intervene in Yemen, with 183 Countries voting for, and 9 Voting against, with Yemen itself abstaining, and the President calling it “Imperialism Abashed”, the UN sends Peace keepers through Saudi Arabia, though they face many Al Qaeda “Soldiers” at the gate, they barely make it through, the main reason for which being that much of the UK and US' Air force bombing the border, killing 20.
May 1 2014: President Al Hadi of Yemen is killed by a loose grenade tossed by a Protestor in the Capital of Sana'a, Prime Minister Basindawa takes over, and declares a state of martial law, and Elections are suspended, President Obama off handedly calls him a Dictator, and a poll among many Yemenis in exile saying that the South should secede (59% supported secession), and many in the Socialist Party calling for a Communist Republic to be formed.
May 3 2014: In a live address, Acting President Basindawa declares himself President for life, and force fully disbands all other Parties, Al Qaeda's numbers skyrocket to 670,000 in protest of Basindawa's declaration, and Peacekeepers manage to start making headway into the Southwest.
May 5, 2014: Included in the forceful disbanding of Yemen political parties is Al-Islah. As a response to this, the Muslim Brotherhood in Saudi Arabia takes-up Al-Islah by taking on all the removed politicians of Al-Islah into the Muslim Brotherhood.
May 10 2014: Part of South Yemen (The part not occupied by the UN) secedes, declaring the People's Republic of Yemen, and a “Worker's Council” is formed, electing Yasin Said Numan to the premiership, they say that they will be in a state of war with the rest of Yemen.
May 11, 2014: With South Yemen claiming independence as the People’s Republic of Yemen, Al-Islah bases themselves in multiple towns by the Saudi Arabian border and declares themselves an independent nation. The Muslim Brotherhood of Saudi Arabia backs this move up, but is not officially recognised by Saudi Arabia.
May 12 2014: Al Qaeda storms the capital, and the fragmented military only barely manages to push them back, though on a second attempt, they manage to get to the palace, and take hold of the city due to low morale and high defections in the army, as well as a complete lack of a Navy.
May 13 2014: Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen releases a video showing members tieing up Basindawa and shooting him, international reaction is ery negative, with President Obama beefing up drone strikes in and around Yemen.
May 16 2014: UN Peacekeepers enter battle with Southern Yemeni forces on the border, over 1,000 are killed on the UN side, while only 600 die on the Yemeni side, though the rest of the now 1400 man regiment is broken up by a Bombing run by the US.
May 20 2014: British Journalist Glenn Greenwald is killed in Yemen by a Socialist soldier lobbing a hand grenade at him, a candle vigil is held in London, and BBC News honours his death, PM David Cameron promises to keep fighting in Yemen.
May 24 2014: A Sunni-Shia battle emerges when Al Qaeda operatives move into the Desert, Al Qaeda suffer heavy losses due to an ambush by the Sunni tribe.
May 25, 2014: The ambush on Al-Qaeda by a Sunni tribe the day before leads to Al-Islah supporting this tribe and offering their protection from further Al-Qaeda and Yemen raids. This itself is backed up by the Muslim Brotherhood of Saudi Arabia.
May 27 2014: A Drone Strike over Sana'a allegedly kills 63 Al Qaeda operatives there, providing a large morale boost for the US, but Sana'a falls into chaos, with different factions of Al Qaeda's Yemen affiliate forming, and even rumors of South Yemen forces attacking the city.
June 1 2014: Peacekeepers from the UN are finally making headway into South Yemen, as Premier Yasin Said Numan allegedly died from an assassination by a hardliner in his Council.
June 2, 2014: Al-Islah and the Muslim Brotherhood are titled as terrorist organizations by both Yemen states as well as Saudi Arabia, who sees the siding with Al-Islah against Shia Islam as the last straw for the Muslim Brotherhood in their nation.
On the same day, Al-Islah requests to join onto Saudi Arabia, but is quickly show down by the news of being categorized as a terrorist organization.
June 4, 2014: Saudi Arabia pushes some of it’s army to the border with Al-Islah controlled land with the intention for “Sunni terrorism counter-measures”.
June 5 2014: Yasin Said Numan is officially pronounced to be dead from a gun shot wound, former Vice President of Yemen Ali Salim al-Beidh takes over, though many question his ability, seeing how he is 75, Beidh reassures the worries by saying that his age does not affect his ability to lead.
June 6, 2014: Hearing of Saudi Arabia’s advance on Al-Islah land, South Yemen border’s themselves on the south of Al-Islah land in a want to reclaim the land from the group, who “worrying has sided themselves with warlords.”
June 10 2014: Oman's Soldiers enter Northeastern Yemen after a month long battle with Al Qaeda forces, that only ended after several drone runs by the UK and US, and Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said declares that Oman seeks to annex Yemen, members of the G7 declare that this is not the case and they will not let this happen.
June 15, 2014: Observing the deteriorating situation in Yemen, Obama orders the US Marine Corp to establish a base on the Yemeni island of Śocotra to monitor developments on the ground. The US Army bases drones on the island to carry out strikes against al-Qaeda and other militants. Roughly 1000 marines and special forces, many veterans from Afghanistan, arrive in Śocotra to carry out missions against radical groups in Yemen.
June 17, 2014: Iran accuses Sanaa and Saudi Arabia of oppressing Yemeni Shiites, now a majority in North Yemen after the succession of the south.
June 18, 2014: Iranian naval convoys slip weapons and operates into northern Yemen to aid the Shia through the porous North Yemeni Red Sea coast.
June 19, 2014: Iranian ships proceed on through the Suez Canal to the levant. Although the Israeli Navy prevents them from reaching Gaza, the Iranians slip weapons, snipers and operatives into Lebanon, Tarsus and Latakia to aid Hezbollah, Assad and other allies in the Levant.
June 25, 2014: Taking advantage to the increased army on the Al-Islah border, the UN push further into the South Yemen and capture the south-west section of second largest city in South Yemen, Ta’izz.
July 1, 2014: Oman advances slowly into North Yemen because of consistent strikes from the US diminishing the al-Qaeda numbers on the warpath of Oman. The US retaliates though, releasing a statement saying they won’t hold back on performing strikes on Oman as well as al-Qaeda if Oman continues on the warpath.
July 4, 2014: an al-Qaeda Yemeni affiliate attacks an Oman base from the inside on North Yemen land, detonating a truck bomb inside and killing over 70 Oman soldiers. Oman scandalously claims that the bombing was assisted by the US, though most nations in the western world denounces the claim.
July 5, 2014: backing up the denouncing of the claim the US assisted al-Qaeda attack the Oman base the day before, al-Qaeda shots down a US military transport jet and takes it’s crew of 4 hostage, with 2 dieing in the crash.
September 9, 2014: Saudi Arabia finally makes it’s move from the border to Al-Islah controlled land, taking out the soldiers at the border to the south of the territory. On the same day, South Yemen enters the same land and occupy the remaining section that wasn’t occupied by Saudi Arabia. Al-Islah and Sunni tribal troops attempt to fight back, but is quickly dispersed by the combined forces of South Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
September 11, 2014: The Muslim Brotherhood of Saudi Arabia commits it’s first terrorist attack against Saudi Arabia, in a scene that disturbingly mirrors the Westgate Massacre in Nairobi taking place in the Mall of Arabia in Jeddah. A hostage crisis ensues with the Muslim Brotherhood of Saudi Arabia demanding Saudi Arabia leaving Al-Islah controlled land and peacefully accepting it as part of the country.
September 15, 2014: After 5 days of hostage negotiations, the group from the Muslim Brotherhood of Saudi Arabia is apprehended and shot on scene by Saudi Arabian forces. Unfortunately, during the raid, the terrorists manage to throw a grenade off, killing 28 members of the public and 4 Saudi Arabian police-men.
September 21, 2014: The UN use their position to cross into Saudi Arabia attempting to stop the conflict between the Muslim Brotherhood of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian armed forces, and Al-Islah.
[December 14, 2015] - Religious motivations are credited for the sharp rise in civilian killings this month in wartorn Syria. Rampant anti-Alawite sentiments by extremist anti-government fighters are thought to have been responsible for the rounding up of Alawites in the rebel strongholds of al-Raqqa and al-Safira. Sources from Amnesty International report to al-Jazeera of mass graves discovered in the outlying wilds, drawing fierce concern over the worsening atrocities on both sides of the conflict. In addition, the deteriorating rhetoric of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri is charged with encouraging such actions as the organisation seeks to root itself into the country, in affiliation with similar groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Jabhat al-Nusra. The acceleration of religious undercurrents is noted to have dramatically materialised with each passing week.
[January 5, 2016] - Sectarian violence in Syria worsens in and around contested Aleppo and Damascus as a result of the New Year chemical weapons exchanges instigated by al-Qaeda-backed rebels. President Bashar Assad is quick to decry the attack on Damascus as a “…product of foreign funds and a dangerous disruption of the peace process,” in reference to the subtle patronage of Sunni fundamentalists by Qatari, Saudi Arabian, and Kuwaiti governments - U.S. allies. Having bowed to external pressure in past years to relinquish most of their own chemical armaments, Bashar would go on to say that the “…efforts to disarm us and outfit terrorists [were] representative of Western hypocrisy.” - a comment that is seen as being directly aimed at President Obama's own scolding statements yesterday. Despite organised efforts by the increasingly irrelevant Syrian National Coalition and others to moderate rebel forces, jihadists are newly estimated to compose two-thirds of the disunited anti-Assad faction, building upon only a quarter two years ago.
[January 17, 2016] - The United Nations Security Council, barring the United States, votes 'no' on Syrian military intervention amidst petitions by D.C. and 14 out of the 21 active members of the Arab League to put the action to a referendum. Alarming, however, is the UNSC's extraordinary triple-veto by Russia, China, and joining the traditional naysayers on the Council for the first time, the United Kingdom (its first use of veto power in the 21st Century); France's abstention finalised the results. Representatives from the four countries agreed that the move would overstep the UNSC mandate and that “…the actions of external actors [had] already exacerbated the conflict,” - a stark departure from the U.K. and France’s can-do attitudes during the Libya Intervention of 2011. A firestorm across U.S. media networks takes place with the fragmentation of the long-established voting blocks.
January 20, 2016: The United States Congress passes a joint resolution: The Authorization of Limited Military Intervention in the Syrian Conflict, permitting the use of limited military forces in the hopes of ending the Syrian Civil War.
[January 20, 2016] - The passing by U.S. Congress of the Authorization of Limited Military Intervention in the Syrian Conflict reveals cracks in global solidarity as Germany, the U.K., and Canada immediately announce their intentions to reject any sort of participation. On the heels of escalating terrorism by anti-Assad militants are echoes by most of NATO to follow, including Turkey, whose abstention from the U.S. initiative is seen as a preventative measure from embroiling itself any deeper in the civil war. Already dealing with refugee hordes and cross-border attacks, Istanbul is thought to have given in to public pressure to avoid blowback by Islamic militant groups. Meanwhile, the position of Israel is in the spotlight as Tel-Aviv's silence on Washington's decision resonates with many. Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, however, take centre stage as actions by either are predicted to inevitably flair rivalries.
February 13, 2016: In the first major conflict involving American forces in the Syrian Civil War, Assad regime forces manage to hold the city of Aleppo during an American assault.
[February 14, 2016] - A day after the first American operations take place, Hezbollah is prompted to enter Syria with its own Lebanese paramilitary forces in support of embattled President al-Assad as well as in defense of bordering Shiite communities attacked by Sunni groups. The Lebanese government, on the other hand, officially refuses any assistance for the mobilisation, a sentiment that is disagreed with by many in the country as a result of sporadic attacks on Hezbollah bases by a native branch of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) - which have killed Sunnis, Shiites, and Christians alike. Meanwhile, Israel's up and coming Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman announces his own nation's continued neutrality in the face of the U.S. intervention. With the majority of rebels in the Syria now in favour of an explicitly anti-Israeli regime, Lieberman states that military aid in any form was “…in the interests of nobody.”
[March 3, 2016] - Turkey's $35 billion nation-wide highspeed rail circuit reaches another point in its expansion. In tandem with negotiations dealing with the upgrading of links to Bucharest, Tblisi, and Baku, Ankara enters plans with neighboring Iran to construct an HSR connection from Kars to Tehran - a first, and significantly adding to the Edirne-Kars route's value. Also participating in negotiations are the interests of Chinese consortiums, parlaying an estimated $30-45 billion in loans to help support the proposal, furthered by motives to realize the PRC's plans for its Trans-Asia Railway, or Eurasian Land Bridge project. Such works accompany construction in Kazakhstan, Romania, Serbia and Hungary - adding to the likes of the 1050km Almaty-Astana and the $3 billion Budapest-Belgrade lines.
March 25,2016: After negotiation failure with the Afghan government of Abdullah Andullah, the Taliban take Kandahar.
March 27, 2016: Days after taking Kandahar, the Taliban expand their côntrol over areas of predominantly Pashtun southern Afghanistan demonstrating the weakness of the Kabul government after the withdrawal of NATO.
The Taliban reverse reforms of the Karzai government in areas they control, preventing girls from going to school and forcing women to wear veils. Female government officials are rounded up and executed sparking international outrage.
The Taliban also expand their operations in neighboring northwest Pakistan, ethnically similar to southern Afghanistan, establishing de facto control over Waziristan and other tribal regions.
April 7,2016: Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki killed.
April 9, 2016: Although allegedly fighting the Taliban, American intelligence leaked to the press reveals high level contacts between the Pakistani Army, ISI and the Taliban in which Islamabad ceded de facto control over parts of the northeast in exchange for the Taliban stating out of the biggest cities such as Quetta and Peshawar.
April 12,2016: Ibrahim al-Jafaari becomes Iraq's new PM.
April 14,2016: Shi'ite extremists declare war on Iraqi government.
April 27, 2016: USA drones and high altitude bombers based in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, with the tacit concent of Islamibad and Kabul, stage a series of precision strikes that kill several hundred Taliban fighters across the territory they control. Although not specifically targeted, over a hundred civilians perish in the attacks as “collateral damage” in the attacks meant to reverse the Taliban's momentum.
April 28, 2016: Kabul and Islamabad condemn the attacks claiming they were unaware of the exact targets.
April 29, 2016: Large scale riots break out in Quetta, Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi and other Pakistani cities condemning the drone strikes and calling for the Pakistani government to ban American overflights over Pakistani territory. The Taliban and al Qaeda infiltrate the riots. Riot police are called in but protests continue for weeks.
[May 2, 2016] - Libya's Prime Minister Ali Zeidan begins his gradual retirement from power with the calling of the first elections in the country in years, declaring his nation 'ready' for the transition. International observers from the United Nations begin flying in for fair election monitoring. Such a move comes after the multi-year gridlock in choosing a successor to Zeidan, as well as the quelling of separatist violence and record lows of foreign-national kidnappings. Observers hail the stability that has settled over the nation in the aftermath of the 2011 Intervention and the collapse of Gaddafi rule, as shown with the upswing in investment and slow entrance of multinational interests propping reconstruction.
May 23rd, 2016: Turkey accuses Iraqi Kurdistan, which recently declared independence from Baghdad, of harboring PKK and PUK militants from Turkey's southeast fighting for the independence of Turkey's majority Kurdish regions.
May 24th-December 21st, 2016: Shia regain influence in Iraq with the support of the new government in Iran. The secession of Sunni Kurdistan increases the Shia majority. Iraqi oil production continues to surge.
June 4, 2016: Footage depicting what appear to be American troops brutalizing captured Syrian civilians is released on the internet.
[June 6, 2016] - Video evidence of reconsolidating American troops abusing noncombatants in US-held Latakia in the aftermath of the Aleppo offensive goes viral. The footage, although hastily deleted from YouTube databanks, was openly available for a whole 23 minutes, in which it was copied and reuploaded dozens more times. With tens of millions having viewed the material online alone, condemnation from across the world spectrum follows suit. President Assad seizes the opportunity to denounce the video as “…evidence of a repeated Iraqi invasion.” For now, any allied sympathies for the United States' lone-wolf expedition have seemingly evaporated overnight. General Salim Idris of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) attempts to distance his forces from the scandal, as non-moderate rebels and government troops capitalise on the chance to openly assault F.S.A. holdings across the country.
June 7, 2016: After the defection of an army unit sent to quell riots in the city, the Taliban capture Quetta in northwest Pakistan adding it to the territory they control.
[June 12, 2016] – In a setback to the last two years of Western rapprochement, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani sternly condemns the American-Syrian Intervention in relation to the previous week’s publicised civilian abuses, joining the rest of the global community by labeling the scandal “a grave mistake.” While continuing to funnel resources to pro-government factions in Syria, the comment is the first by Rouhani on this year’s step-in by the United States, as he went on to say that the intervention was “counterintuitive” to anti-terrorism efforts in the country (an oblique reference to Syrian rebels). Although his words draw consternation, media pundits are quick to point out that such statements are a great deal less inflammatory than expected. Nonetheless, Rouhani continued his unwavering support for the “legitimate rule” of Bashar al-Assad,” giving no hint of any sway in Iran’s position on the matter.
[June 20, 2016] – Amidst the formerly pro-Assad Mediterranean port of Latakia, the first city to submit to entering American military forces, civilian protests furiously erupt in response to the abuse controversy, clamoring for a halt to the Intervention. Thousands take to the streets outfitted with placards and banners – Sunnis, Alawites, and Christians alike – hurling rocks at U.S. patrol vehicles. For its part, Washington orders a stand-down across Syrian command, but simultaneously locks down all U.S. compounds in the country. Quickly disseminated across social media is footage of burning effigies lining the concourse towards the primary U.S. naval anchorage. Finally responding to international outcry, President Obama denounces the acts committed in the viral video as “deplorable,” personally mandating the extradition of the soldiers in question back home to face court-martial.
[July 4, 2016] – Tensions escalate in Syria as an explosives-filled van rams into the United States’ base in Latakia, killing 8 soldiers. The act follows increased discontent with the foreign presence in the nation, as well as lynch-demands by the Syrian public for the infamous four U.S. privates the abuse scandal is centred around to be sentenced by the Syrian legal system. The fact that the identities of the suspects have remained hidden has further angered Syrians, who have turned to barricading roads in and out of occupied cities. Polling in the U.S. reveals that public opinion is narrowly divided on the issue, as the factors of humanitarian concerns, chemical weapons, and prolonged conflict have tested the resolve of most – ontop of the newfound intervention in cartel-torn Guatemala. Republican Presidential candidate Jeb Bush attempts to capitalise on the day’s attacks as “proof that a firmer hand in the Middle Eastern theatre is required,” branding current operations as “too little, too late” as a result of the Obama administration’s “lax foreign policy.”
July 11, 2016: After weeks of fighting to hold the city, the Afghan Army retreats from Jalalabad leading to the Taliban capturing the city.
[June 14, 2016] - Building upon previous years' talks at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Silk Road Economic Zone is formed, inaugurated by President Xi Jinping - encompassing much of Central Asia to include Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and (through Xinjiang) Mongolia. Chief among its supporters are associates China, Turkey, Iran, and Russia - the latter in a statement by Dmitri Medvedev commenting that “the relationship is complimentary to that of [the Eurasian Union].” Among the primary goals set out for the SREZ is the reduction of interstate tariffs and customs barriers, and to improve the transportational network across the regional belt. Aimed at bridging the markets of the European Union to the economic zones of the Pacific, the SREZ additionally has the incentive of acting as an energy and rail corridor, officiating itself as the continental middleman. Preferential trading and investor rights are granted to the PRC as well as the other three associate members.
July 17, 2016: In an emergency session of the UN Security Council, the American, French and British ambassadors claim Afghanistan and Pakistan risk becoming failed states and call on all nations to help stabilize the situation.
Russia abstains from a resolution in protest over western refusal to recognize Russian gains in Ukraine and Belarus.
[July 19, 2016] – On the American elections’ campaign trail, Jeb Bush’s comments on Syria have turned to have worked against his favour, with the politicisation of the conflict on the eve of 8 soldiers’ deaths seen by the public with distaste. Slightly uplifting American opinions, however, are rather bloodless advances in the Idlib and Hama Governorates, where the emptied ruins of Maarrat al-Nu'man and Jisr al-Shughur are taken with the rebuff of the Syrian Army. President Assad’s forces still hold the key city of Idlib, though with recent losses, its grip is faltering. On the other hand, popular protests still rule in Latakia, as attempts are made to disrupt and commandeer supply convoys on their journeys to the American front lines – made difficult with growing numbers of road barriers. While clashes between residents and troops are irregular, the ongoing trial of the June video’s disgraced U.S. soldiers remains a contentious point of order, with quiet agreements by Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon for their sentencing to take place under the Syrian judiciary – if not at least a Muslim one.
July 22nd, 2016: Turkey stages cross border raids into Kurdistan in pursuit of PKK militants. Over 100 killed by Turkish helicopters, jets and special forces.
July 25-August 13, 2016: Irregular flooding of the India inundates 1/5 of Pakistan as in 2011, exacerbating the pre-revolutionary situation on the ground.
The American and Pakistani Armies airlift much needed supplies into stricken areas much of which is seized by mobs.
[August 10, 2016] – A busy day in Syria, as American forces launch a major offensive on the centre of Idlib, firing artillery and making use of drones – forcing loyalist troops to pull out eastwards. Upon entering, American troops are faced with insurgents from the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), who themselves withdraw and continue sporadic assaults within American-held territory on the road to Aleppo. The weakening of Syrian Army in Aleppo inadvertently strengthens extremist opposition advancing from al-Bab and Maskanan, who continue to close in in pursuit of encircling the disputed city. Shi’ite Hezbollah, however, succeeds in eradicating anti-government forces from Lebanese borders, mobilising greater numbers of troops into the country and significantly detracting from Islamic Front momentum around Damascus. Hezbollah's deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem affirms the group’s backing of al-Assad as reinforcements are diverted northwards, promising to support of the group's “true Muslim brethren” in order to combat “takfiris.”
August 15, 2016: In the chaos following the Indus floods, the Taliban seize Peshawar, threatening Islamabad. The Pakistani army fortifies the capital and surrounding suburbs despite the riots lingering in areas.
[November 29, 2016] – The Syrian Intervention comes to a standstill as both ISIS and al-Qaeda-backed al-Nusra infiltrate American military facilities and outposts across the occupied frontier. Compounding the assaults are full-blown riots in Latakia with the failure of any concessions around the June-video suspects. 9 Humvees openly driving through the city are engulfed by mobs and put to the torch, as militant loyalist groups arise in the countrysides. Civilian and paramilitary forces in the former-Crusader ports of Jableh and Baniyas stubbornly hold out against U.S. forces, as humanitarian aid escorts from dozens of international agencies are reported to be caught in the crossfire. The blowback considerably mars the image of recently-elected President Howard Dean, who presides over the conflict with a death toll numbering over 217,000 civilians since the Civil War's beginning, including 803 American soldiers - making 2016's Syrian Intervention the deadliest year for the U.S. armed forces since Iraq in 2007.
[January 3, 2017] – On the one year anniversary of renewed chemical weapons exchanges in Syria, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani proposes to facilitate tentative peace talks between all combatants, on the precondition that Bashar al-Assad be able to attain political amnesty in some form. The motion draws outrage from human rights organisations and Saudi Arabia, but the severity of the civil war, and the ensuing intervention have galvanised many in both the Western and Eastern spheres into seeking any sort of end to the conflict. The government of Turkey in Ankara is surprisingly receptive of the proposition, as concerns over mounting fleeing Syrians and growing Kurdish separatism have aligned Turkish-Iranian interests. Refusal of the proposal, said Rouhani, “would only warrant further unpleasant events - as we see now and we as we may continue to see.”
Jan 1-March 27, 2017: Pakistan slips into further unrest with the Taliban consolidating control in the northwest, lingering riots and showdôwns with the police in the big cities and the army digging in around Islamabad.
April 1, 2017: In a concession to rioters and the Taliban seen as desperate attempt to hold on to power, the Pakistani government bans all American military overflights, theoretically blocking American drones and bombers from the area controlled by the Taliban.
April 2, 2017: The US military and the CIA secretly continue high altitude military reconnaissance overflights to watch the deteriorating situation on the ground in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
April 6, 2017: In a secret meeting with the Joint Chiefs, President Dean and his administration come to the conclusion that the Pakistani military may not be able to hold the country together and that desperate action is necessary to secure Pakistan's nukes should the country implode.
Operation Icarus: April-May 2017
April 20, 2017:
In one of the largest airborne operations in history, much of the US Air Force añd air transport arm airlifts and paradrops over 12,000 marines, special forces and army troops into Pakistan to seize 16 sespected nuclear sites and storage facilities. CIA operatives on the ground help these forces seize the sites and neutralize security and Pakistani Army elements opposing them.
Three carrier battle groups in the Indian Ocean launch air and missiles strikes that neutralize Pakistani air defenses and destroy most of the Air Force on the ground helping ground forces achieve their objectives.
1000s of Pakistani soldiers die on day 1 of Operation Icarus. Other Pakistani forces are torn between manning their posts on the front lines with India and the Taliban and facing the enemy that dropped out of the sky into the middle of their country.
USA soldiers battle the Taliban to secure 5 nuclear sites in the north that had already fallen
4/21/2017: By the end of day 2 the nuclear sites are secure. The US forces have suffered several hundred causalties fighting the Taliban and Pakistani regulars and have orders to hold their ground and engage Pakistani forces and the Taliban only if attacked.
4/22-30/2017: In one the heaviest aerial bombardments in history, the US Air Force pulverizes Taliban held territory killing hundreds of Taliban fighters and scores of civilians as “collateral damage.” The Taliban anticipate this and dig in to survive what one Taliban spokesman calls “genocide from the air against Pashtuns and Muslims.”
By the end of this air campaign, Pakistan's 150 nukes and the facilities to build them are disabled.
May 7, 2017: On the 72nd anniversary of Germany's surrender in World War II, the US withdraws its 12,000 strong force by air leaving a weakened Pakistani Army to face the Taliban.
May 8-10, 2017: Massive protests in European and American cities against American “aggression” in Pakistan and civilian casualties of the aerial strikes now estimated to be in the thousands if not tens of thousands.
May 11, 2017: In a televised address to the nation, Howard Dean reveals that he executed a secret US military plan to seize and destroy Pakistan's nuclear weapons to prevent them from falling into the hands if irregulars in the event of the nation's inability to safeguard its nukes. He claimed only the threat of nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism justified the lives lost on both sides in Operation Icarus.
May 12, 2017: In an emergency UN meeting convened to discuss the situation in Pakistan, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan accuses the USA of violating international law and says a Pakistani collapse in now likely due to the US's two and a half week aerial invasion.
Russian president Medvedev accuses the US of hypocrisy in the face of the “desire of Russian speakers in Ukraine and Belarus to join the Russian Federation.”
Despite a slight warning of relations, the new Iranian president and the ayatollah accuse the USA of “aggression against a brotherly Muslim nation.”
India expresses concern at the “brazen violation of Pakistani sovereignty” but is secretly relieved that the USA has pretty much eliminated their sole military rival on the Indian subcontinent and a rival nuclear power.
China remains mostly silent while expressing relief at the temporary diversion of US military assets from Asia.
The shock and awe of the Pakistan campaign reassures US allies and terrifies its enemies despite the stalemate in Syria. Despite the casualties including almost 1000 US military dead in under three weeks, this is widely considered “the cleanest operation since Desert Storm.”
May 23, 2017: Regrouping after the American aerial blitz, the Taliban begin moving on both Kabul and Islamabad.
May 27, 2017: With its air force mostly destroyed, the Pakistani Army is unable to stop the Taliban from reaching the sub urbs of Islamabad.
May 29, 2017: Abbotabad, site of the Pakistani Military Academy and the famous raid that killed Bin Laden falls to the Taliban who make use of captured stores of Pakistani weapons and vehicles.
June 6, 2017: On the 73rd anniversary of D-Day, the Iranian Army sends 35,000 troops into western and northern Afghanistan with the initial objectives of Herat, Balkh, Mazar al Sharif and Kabul to prevent the country from completely falling to the Taliban. Most Afghan regulars welcome the Iranians seeing them as a better alternative to the reign of terror unfolding in the Taliban held south.
June 12, 2017: Iranian forces secure Kabul in time to prevent a Taliban return to power in the Afghan capital.
June 13, 2017: Russia, China and France veto an American resolution for sanctions against Iran over the intervention in Afghanistan.
June 14, 2017: The president of Iran claims “his country is protecting Afghan Shia, Tajiks, Pashtuns and women from the Taliban reign of terror.”
July 2, 2017: With Pakistani Shia increasingly targets in the violence spiraling out of control in Pakistan, Iran starts openly arming Pakistani Shia groups.
August 2017-September 2018: Western press increasingly calls the broad swath of territory under Taliban control “Pashtunistan” despite the fact that many Pashtuns are fighting with the Afghan Army and Iranians. The Iranians agree to truce with the Taliban after securing their objectives remaining on the defensive añd calling for a “power sharing agreement” that never comes to fruition.
Pakistan falls further into anarchy with Pakistani Army unable to quell domestic violence and roll back the Taliban advance.
Pakistani Shia are increasingly organized and well armed establishing several “safe zones” in Pakistan.
India turns back refugees from Pakistan trying to enter India at gunpoint contributing to a refugee crisis dwarfing that in Syria.
7 October, 2017 - Work has officially started on a massive, ambitious project by the Kazakh government to return the North Aral Sea to its pre-1960 levels. The project calls for 2 massive dikes across the western and eastern edges of the former Kokaral Island that would retain water from the Syr Darya, and thus refill the North Aral seabed.
2018-2020:
3 January, 2018 - Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei dies of a stroke while attending Friday prayers. President Hassan Rouhani declares seven days of mourning for the fallen ayatollah.
10 January, 2018 - In a surprise session, Iran's Assembly of Experts has elected moderate cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to be the next Supreme Leader.
Caucasian War: August-September 2018
August 2nd, 2018:
Skirmishing breaks out between Armenian and Azeri forces along the Nagorno-Karabakh-Azeri border. Russian agents, spetsnaz special forces and advisors are present in Yerevan.
August 3rd, 2018:
Russian president Medvedev calls for a calm and deescalation echoed by western leaders in Washington, London and Brussels.
However, the Russian president calls for a referendum to settle the status of Nagorno-Karabalk, something rejected by Baku since it would result in the ethnically cleansed region formally joining Armenia.
August 6-8, 2018:
Armenians hold massive rallies in Washington DC, New York, London and Brussels, likening the current conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh to the Armenian genocide and calling for international recognition of a referendum that would make the region part of Armenia.
Beijing expresses concern that conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan could threaten the planned Pan-Asian high speed rail system running through the South Caucasus including hostile neighbors Turkey and Armenia.
August 15th, 2018:
Medvedev and the Iranian president meet in Moscow to discuss the Nagorno-Karabalk conflict. Iran supports Moscows call for a referendum on Nagorno-Karabalk joining Armenia.
Secretly the two leaders discuss plans for military invention to carve up the South Caucasus should the conflict turn hot.
Medvedev promises Chinese envoys present at the meeting that he will protect Chinese investments in Azerbaijan in the event of a conflict.
August 18th, 2018:
A planned referendum goes ahead with Nagorno-Karabalk officially voting to join Armenia although Armenia had de facto control of the disputed region for over 25 years.
Moscow and Tehran recognize this move.
August 20-22:
Western leaders criticize this political fiat accompli. Armenians in the west hold another round of protests.
Armenia begins stealing oil and gas from the Nabucco pipeline passing through Armenia in claiming reparations for Armenian civilians killed in the multidecade long conflict with Azerbaijan.
August 23, 2018:
Azerbaijan cuts the flow of oil and gas through the recently completed Nabucco pipeline utilizing energy, its main source of political leverage.
Encouraged by Moscow, Armenians launch renewed attacks on Azeri forces near the disputed border, accusing the Azeris of firing on Armenian soldiers first.
August 24th, 2018:
Artillery duels break out between Armenian and Azeri forces. Moscow and Yerevan accuse the Azeris of shelling civilians, an accusation Baku denies.
The west repeats an appeal for talks and the resumption of the flow of oil.
August 25th, 2018:
Spearheaded by the new P-51 stealth fighter, the Russian Air Force launches a series of precision strikes against Azeri airfields, artillery batteries, communication points and bunkers near the disputed border.
Baku declares war on Moscow and Yerevan in response to Russian aggression.
The Armenian army launches a full offenßive against the Azeri army near the border in coordination with these attacks with Russian spetsnaz present.
Russia flies 5,000 reinforcements into Armenia by helicopter violating the airspace of so far neutral Georgia.
August 26th, 2018:
Western leaders condemn the use of force and accuse Russia and Armenia of provoking the conflict despite the support of the Armenian lobby for Russia's actions. Washington and Brussels call for a ceasefire.
They also expedite calls for EU memberßhip for rump Ukraine and Moldova.
August 27th, 2018:
The Russian Army moves into Georgia to “reinforce” its “humanitarian mission” in Armenia. Despite voracious protests in the UN, the Georgian Army does not resist fearing annihilation by the far superior Russian Army. Russian troops isolate Georgian army units as the did with Ukrainian Units in Crimea in 2014 and occupy Tblisi.
August 28th, 2018:
In support of Russian and Armenisn forces, the Iranian Army moves into the Nechivan exclave of southern Azerbaijan “to secure Armenias southern flank.”
August 29th, 2018:
With the Azeri army crumbling under intense pressure from Russian air attacks and Russo-Armenian ground forces, Iran invades the main part of Azerbaijan promising to end the corrupt “petro-regime” in Baku.
September 1st, 2018:
Despite fierce Azeri resistance, the Iranian Army secures Baku.
September 2nd, 2018:
What's left of the Azeri army surrenders realizing that it is hopelessly outmatched.
September 3rd, 2018:
Washington and Brussels, now backed by Turkey, condemn Russo-Iranian agression and announce a temporary boycott of Caucasian oil.
They also announce increased support for anti-Assad forces in Syria where the US in currently bogged down in the Latakia region.
Turkey reinforces its border with Georgia and Armenia while also massing forces north of Aleppo signaling possible intervention to end Syria's seven year long civil war.
September 5th, 2018:
Russia and Iran announce the continued occupation of Georgia and Azerbaijan respectively to secure the flow of energy and protect other major investments projects such as a portion of Beijing's landmark Pan-Asia high speed rail system.
Beijing has been noticeably quiet, appealing for calm and abstaining from several UN Security Council resolutions vetoed by Russia.
Some call for Russia to be kicked off the UN Security Council although there is no mechanism to do this.
October 1, 2018: In response to “Russo-Iranian aggression in the Caucasus,” the USA and its allies decide to finish Assad once and for all with American, Turkish, Saudi, Jordanian and Qatari military aircraft launching a massive aerial blitz against Assad loyalist forces. The Syrian Air Force ceases to exist and government forces suffer hundreds and deaths with màny tanks and heavy weapons lost.
October 3, 2018: The Turkish Army establishes three safe zones across the border to help arm the Syrian Free Army and help over 2 million Syrian refugees in Turkey return home.
October 17, 2018: Aided by American and Turkish special forces, the Syrian Free Army finally clear government forces from Aleppo.
October 18, 2018: Medevedev claims the SFA contains al Qaeda elements who are massacring Syrian Alawites and Christiàns in Aleppo. There are several incidents where this does happen. The Allies are unable to fully control the SFA.
October 19, 2018: Hezbollah and Syrian government forces dig in for a last stand in Damascus where fighting is already raging in the city and its its sub urbs.
Assad begins liberally using chemical weapons leading to hundreds of civilian and SFA casualties as the opposition closes in on his positions reinforced with American and Turkish weapons and suppłies.
October 29, 2018: Damascus finally falls. Although Assad escapes to Tarsus, many Assad government officials and their families are massacred by the Syrian Free Army which goes into bloodlust, eagar to avenge years of violence and oppression. The Syrian Army goes on to target Alawites and Shia in the capital in revenge for the role played by Hezbollah in the final battle fir Damascus.
November 1, 2018: Realizing Syria is lost, Medvedev begins evacuating Russian citizens and military personnel from the Tarsus area and grants Assad and his family asylum.
November 17, 2018: The last Russian military forces withdraw from Tarsus.
November 18, 2018: The Syrian Free Army enters Tarsus.
November 24, 2018: The Syrian Free Army continues into Lebanon to “punish@ Hezbollah for its role in the Syrian Civil War and “eliminate the organization once añd for all.”
November 27- December 9, 2018: Lebanon collapses into vicious internecine fighting with numerous massacres and atrocities committed by both the Sunni's and Hezbollah. The USA and Turkey watch in horror as they lose the ability to control the situation on the ground. The US military has orders to protect the Alawites of Latakia and increase sits presence in the region to prevent violence and genocide from spilling over from Lebanon and the rest of Syria.
Mass protests against the Allied intervention in Euro-American cities.
December 10, 2018: Iran files a resolution in the UN accusing the USA and its Allies of causing a genocide of Syrian and Lebanese Shia through its intervention to remove Assad.
December 12, 2018: In its death throes, Hezbollah fires rockets into northern Israel.
December 13, 2018: Israel responds by invading Lebanon to the Litani River and driving Hezbollah militants out of the region into the slaughterhouse of northern Lebanon.
December 25, 2018: After weeks of fighting, the Syrian Free Army and Lebanese Sunni's secure Beirut. Thousands if Lebanese Shia civilians and Hezbollah militants are massacred.
The USA and Turkey call UN peacekeepers to enter the Lebanese capital to quell the violence. 2500 mainly European peacekeepers arrive too late to stop some of the worst massacres of the extended Syria-Lebanon conflict.
January 20, 2018: In his state of the Union address, Dean deplores the deteriorating situation in the Levant. He promises a new federal system in Syria and Lebanon with significant autonomy for Kurds, Alawites, Christians and other minorities.
His approval ratings reach an all time low because of the bôtched Syria intervention and the collapse of Pakistan.
February 5, 2019: Medvedev announces rump Georgia and Armenia will became autonomous provinces of the Russian Federation claiming “Syria proves that being part of a larger nation is the only way to protect these small Christian countries.”
Iran formally annexes Azerbaijan the same dày claiming to be “reclaiming historic Iranian territory and protecting Shia from suffering the fate of thèir brethren in Syria and Lebanon.”
February 6, 2019: Dean condemns the Russo-Iranian annexations as a “land grab planned before the successful end to the Syrian civil War.”
However, the USA is currently to unpopular in many parts of the world for the wars in Pakistan and Syria for Dean consider further sanctions, apart from existing ones, against Russia and Iran. These annexations are a silent fiat accompli and a sign that iridescent expansionism has come into vogue in the 21st century.
March 18, 2019: With the fall of Assad, Syrian Kurdistan votes to join independent Kurdistan rather than Howard Dean's proposed Syrian Federal State where they would enjoy considerable autonomy.
April 2019: Turkey increases its military presence in its southeast near Kurdistan and Iran. Turkey announces plans to purchase high end American fighter jets.
May 8th, 2019: Having successfully helped eliminate “Shia terrorists and Iranian surrogates” in Syria Lebanon, the Saudi army moves into northern Yemen to help battle al-Qaeda and Shia rebels who it accused of cross border raids.
May 19th, 2019: Saudi Arabia completes the 1 km tall Kingdom Tower in Jeddah taking the title of the world's tallest building from Changsha's Sky City.
June 1st, 2019: Al-Qaeda militants from Yemen gun down 36 people and injure over 90 in the lobby of Jeddah's Kingdom Tower promising to destroy the current Saudi regime.
June 10th, 2019: The Saudi Army publicly be heads over 100 suspected al-Qaeda and Shia militants captured in Yemen in Jeddah in revenge for the Kingdom Tower attack.
June 13, 2019: In response to the massacre of Shia by the Syrian Free Army and Saudi Arabia's intervention in Yemen, Iraq's Shia leaders announce a deal increasing trade and economic cooperation with Iran. Mokhada al Sadr, an increasingly popular figure in Shia Iraq, claims that “Iran and Iraq most work together to stop the genocide of Shia in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen from repeating.”
June 17th-25th, 2019: Bahrain's Shia majority, backed by Iran and Iraq, stage an uprising against the Sunni government. Saudi Arabia sends an armored column across the bridge into Manama to help government forces quell the unrest.
July 2nd, 2019: Treaty of Srinigar
In a beggar's peace, Pakistan signs of treaty in the capital of Indian Kashmir finalizing the Indian-Pakistani border along the current “line of control.” The fact that India insisted on signing the treaty in the Kashmir Valley, a Muslim majority region coveted by Islamabad, highlights Pakistan's desperation.
Stipulations are:
1.) Pakistan and India recognize the current line of control dividing Kashmir as the international border giving up claim to the rest of Kashmir. This had been India's preferred resolution for years.
2.) India would allow Pakistan to withdraw military assets from the border to retake territory from the Taliban.
3.) Pakistan will quell anti-India terrorist organizations within its borders and share intelligence on the group responsible for the 2008 attack. The ISI will join ongoing investigations into the 2018 Mumbai explosion.
4.) Pakistan agrees not to pursue a nuclear arsenal again in the future. India promises military intervention should they do so.
5.) India will provide economic assistance to help jump start the collapsing Pakistani economy and help stabilize the country.
July 2019: Massive protests in Karachi and Lahore against the perceived surrender to India. Meanwhile, the Pakistani Army begins driving the Taliban from the outskirts of Islamibad. Shia, armed by Iran and Iraq, increase their influence in western Pakistan and Pakistani cities.
July 22nd, 2019: The Pakistani Army retakes Abbotabad clearing the Tàliban from the city and Islamabad's other outer suburbs.
July 29th, 2019: The Pakistani Army reaches the outskirts of Peshawar, now a Taliban stronghold. Rather than engage in a costly urban battle, the Pakistani Army establishes strong defensive positions outside the city and positions artillery pieces capable of pummeling Peshawar should the Taliban attempt to break out of the city and move towards Islamabad.
May 23rd, 2020: Treaty of Herat The Iranian president signs an agreement with the Afghan president in the western Afghan city expanding economic and political ties between Iran and the portions of Afghanistan under the control of the Kabul government and not the Taliban.
Afghanistan agrees to tie their currency to the Iranian rial and give Farsi and various Persian dialects spoken in the country incressed status. They also agree allow Iran to permanently base 40,000 troops in the country as a safeguard against the Taliban.
Kabul also grants greater autonomy to the Hazaras, Shia of central Afghanistan. They now possess a well armed paramilitary organization allegedly to help defend against the Taliban but actually answerable to Tehran.
June 25, 2020: Treaty of Tehran Iran, Iraq, Kurdistan and rump Afghanistan form the Union of Islamic Republics, a military, political, religious and economic alliance formed in response to instability and the perceived persecution of Shia throughout the greater Middle East.
While Iran's religious establishment had moderated somewhat granting concessions to its middle class and youth, nationalism was also on the rise. The president used nationalism to calm the growing tension between the conservative Shia population and the growing secular youth enclaves in cities.
Iraq moved in the opposite direction after the decades of persecution of religion under Saddam, meeting Iran somewhere in the middle. Al-Sistini now acts as the “guiding leader” of Iraqi Shia in a similar manner to the Iranian ayatollah. A chief stipulation of the treaty is the coordination of pilgrimages between various Shia holy sites in Iran and Iraq. The treaty also demonstrated that religious fervor could bridge the ethnic divide between Arabs and Persians. The Washington Post refers to the ferver in Iran and Iraq as “Shia nationalism” and the UIR as the “Shia Block.”
Kurdistan is an exception to the group being a more secular state that joins only out of fear of neighboring Turkey which was always hostile to Kurdish nationalism and independence. Kurdistan claims the southeast of Turkey causing Ankara to increase its military presence in the region near the newly formed UIR
Afghanistan had no choice but to join after the revival of the Taliban.
July 15th, 2020: A major series of suicide bombings kills over 230 people in Shia distracts of Baghdad marking one of the worst days of violence in post-Saddam Iraq. Al-Qaeda in the Levant claims responsibility for the attack in response to the creation of the UIR.
July 25th, 2020: In the wake of the horrible suicide bombing ten days previously, the Iranian president announces he will send advisers and counter terrorism experts to Baghdad to prevent future attacks. Ayatollah Rasjahani calls for Muslims of all denominations and nationalities to unite against extremism.
August 2nd, 2020: Iranian martyr brigades begin arriving in Iraq to help fight “Sunni extremism.”
August 5th, 2020: Iraqi Shia leader Moqada al-Sadr promises that his private paramilitary army will help “defend Iraqi Shia from al-Qaeda” should the need arise.
November 6th, 2020: Within days of the GOP presidential victory, CNN and Fox News note the way in which the fall of post war Afghanistan and Iraq into the Iranian orbit and the Taliban revival during the Dean administration factored into the outcome of the November US elections.
November 11th, 2020-December 31st 2021: The UIC attempts to ferment unrest among Shia in the Gulf Arab States. Saudi Arabia establishes a permanent garrison in Bahrain. Iran also destabilizes Pakistan where Baluchi's, Shia and other minorities fight for greater autonomy from a government struggling to contain the Taliban.
Tehran also negotiates with Moscow to coordinate energy policy and discuss the future of Central Asia, a vast land locked energy rich region between the two powers. Tehran pumps Iraqi and Iranian oil and natural gas through the Russian pipeline system to bypass lingering sanctions and get to Europe. The UIR also ships oil and gas to energy hungry China through Central Asia competing with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
2021-2024:
Anbar Rebellion: March-May 2021
March 15th, 2021: Large scale rioting erupts in western Iraq's Sunni dominated Anbar province.
March 19th, 2021: Seperatists secure Fallujah and Ramadi. Baghdad and Tehran accuse the Syrian Free Army, now in control of Damascus, of arming the rebels and announces a counteroffensive using American supplied and trained troops, a legacy of “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” to retake Anbar.
March 22th, 2021: Iranian martyr brigades and the Sadr brigades reinforce the Iraqi Army along with Kurdish militia.
March 27th-April 7th, 2021: Emulating Russian tactics in Chechnya, the Iraqi Army indiscriminately shells and bombs Ramadi, Fallujah and other cities and towns under the control al-Qaeda and Sunni rebels killing scores of militants and thousands of civilians in the worst violence since the Saddam era.
April 10th-May 7th, 2021: Hoping to avoid costly house to house battles in western Iraqi rebel held cities, the Iraqi Army sends in Shia and Kurdish militia to finish off the Sunni insurgents. The militia retake Ramadi and Fallujah indiscriminately slaughtering tens of thousands of Sunni fighters and civilians alike in revenge for the killings if Shia in Syria and Lebanon. The Kurds are eagar to avenge persecution by Sunni Arabs under Saddam.
May 25th, 2021: A UN report puts the final death toll in Anbar at over 100,000, marking one of the worse periods of violence in the early 21st century. Some call the massacre a genocide. However, none debate the ability of the UIR to field an effective fighting force consisting of troops from all the member nations.
March 23rd, 2022: Former Russian president Vladimar Putin receives a briefing from top Russian generals and President Medvedev over world events during the former KGB officers nearly eight year coma. Putin is pleased that Russia had recovered Crimea, Novorossiya and Belarus but furious that Medvedev had agreed to withdraw from Kiev in response to western pressure. He begins immediately calling for plans to take Kiev and the Baltic States. His generals assure him after nearly eight hours such a move would be too risky in the present political environment. However, they inform him that the time was right to regain control of Kazakhstan and the western Kazakh oil and gas fields which would become a huge source of revenue for the Russian Federation.
June 26th, 2022: Meeting in the Chinese gas boom town of Kashgar, envoys from Beijing, Moscow and Tehran meet to discuss plans for partitioning the nominally allied states of Central Asia. Russia makes it clear that they intend to annex Kazakhstan, home to a very large ethnic Russian and Russian speaking population. China is initially furious having established de facto hegemony over the SREZ and recently bècome the world's largest economy. Noticing Russian intransigence, the Chinese eventually acquiesce on the condition that they get to annex Outer Mongolia, portions of eastern Kazakhstan including Almaty and Kyrgizstan as “lebensraum” for their huge population. Chinese mining interests and corporations had already made many of the above regions de facto Chinese colonies. China also demands that Russia continue the flow of Kazakh oil and gas eastwards at current prices in increased volumes. Putin is furious that China demands regions with over 1 million ethnic Russians but sees no choice but to agree to the terms of the most powerful country in Asia to gain their support for Russian gains in the west. Iran demands control over the Turkmen oil and gas fields which Putin accepts more easily. Eventually, the three powers agree to divide the entire massive region with most Tajik and Uzbek areas going to Iran. Given continuing tensions in Chechnya, Putin is somewhat relieved to give predominantly Muslim former Soviet republics to ally Iran not wanting to exxacerbate the threat of terrorism too much.
December 23rd, 2022: Large scale rioting and violence breaks out in the Kyrgyz city of Osh between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. The army moves in the quell violence only to exxacerbate the situation after several police and army units defect to various sides.
January-March 2023: The violence soon spreads to other parts of Kyrgyzstan as well as neighboring Uzbekistan and Tajikstan. By the time the dust settles, nearly a quarter of a million people have become refugees and thousands are dead. Unbeknownst to the world, Russian, Chinese and Iranian agents are behind the violence near the planned future Sino-Iranian border.
March 3rd, 2023: After “riots break out in Urumqi,” China sends the PLA to quell the violence increasing its military presence near parts of former Soviet Central Asia, their real target.
Central Asian War: March-June 2023
March 21st, 2023: Despite normally peaceful relations between Russians and Kazakhs, mass rallies break out in northern and western Kazakh towns and cities calling for the unification of Kazakhstan with Russia. The protesters are armed and trained by the FSB and assisted by spetsnaz agents who had slipped across the border.
March 24th, 2023: Astana is shocked by the violence and calls on nominal ally Putin to use his influence to help end the stand off in Kazakh cities.
March 26th, 2023: Putin accuses Kazakh president Nursultan of dictatorial practices and calls for more autonomy for Russian speaking regions in a country where Russian was already an official language.
March 29th, 2023: Several Kazakh police and army units defect to the protesters in the largely Russo-phone city of Petropavlovsk north of Astana. The FSB “persuades” Kazakh security forces to switch sides in order to keep their jobs.
April 1st, 2023: US Secretary of State Jon Huntsman compares Russian actions in Kazakhstan to Hitler's takeover of the Sudetenland and promises to increase shipments of American oil and LNG to Europe “to decrease their dependence on Russian and Kazakh gas to zero.”
April 3rd, 2023: Pavlodar falls completely to Russian forces after more army and police forces defect while fighting breaks out in Aktobe, Karagandy and even Astana itself between Kazakh security forces and pro-Russians. Kazakhstan west of the Ural River falls completely to the Russians.
April 4th, 2023: During an emergency meeting in Brussels, Huntsman fails to get European commitment to biting sectoral sanctions against Russia due to lingering mistrust between Europe and America over the later's handling of Syria as well increased trade with Russia despite targeted sanctions in place since 2014.
April 6th, 2023: With violence in Kazakhstan continuing to escalate, the USA seizes the assets if all Russian banks in the United States closing Russia out of the American financial system. Putin had anticipated this move and advised Russian banks to move their capital into yuan, ruble and euro denominated assets.
April 8th, 2023: At 6:00 AM Beijing time, Chinese mining corporations in Mongolia order private NGOs in fact answerable to Beijing to seize mines and accompanying infrastructure they operate in Outer Mongolia.
April 9th, 2023: A 15,000 strong PLA force marching from Inner Mongolia reaches and occupies Ulan Bator. The Mongol Army does not even attempt to fight knowing just how hopeless the situation is for them.
April 10th, 2023: Chinese president declares the annexation of Mongolia claiming to be “reclaiming” territory stolen from the Qing Dynasty. Putin immediately recognizes the Chinese annexation of Mongolia while western leaders remain silent.
April 13th, 2023: Leaders from America, The EU and Japan condemn China's move calling it a “landgrab.” However, no mention is made of sanctions considering China's size and economic importance drawing accusations hypocrisy from many critics.
April 16th, 2023: In the largest airborn operation in history, over 20,000 Russian paratroopers transported mainly by helicopter seize the west Kazakh oil and gas fields to prevent them from being “damaged in the fighting.” Russian forces isolate Kazakh Army units in West Kazakhstan some of which defect in order to “keep their jobs.”
The same day, the PLA crosses the eastern border of Kazakhstan moving towards Almaty and Lake Balkhash.
Iran moves into Turkmenistan capturing the capital Ashgabat right near the Iranian border. Amphibious landings in the Caspian Sea and airdrops secure the Turkmen oil fields in a manner similar to those employed by the Russians. Legions of Iraqi, Iranian and Kurdish militia, many veterans of the conflict in Anbar Province, follow the Iranian Army, now under UIR command, into Central Asia.
April 17th, 2023: The US withdraws it ambassadors from Moscow and Tehran in response to the respective seizures of the Kazakh and Turkmen oil and gas fields. Washington remains noticably silent in China causing many to note Washington's helplessness as three Eurasian powers gobble Central Asia.
April 19th, 2023: Karagandy falls after a Kazakh Army unit defects and other forces are redirectly to defend Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, from the Chinese.
The same day, Russia seizes Artrau in an amphibious assault and the PLA reaches the outskirts of Almaty beginning a brief but fierce fight for the city where many ethnic Russians join the Kazakh defenders felling betrayed by Moscow.
Russia's Central Asia rapid reaction force moves into Kazakhstan to assist in the battle for Astana.
April 21st, 2023: Russian airmobile infantry seize the Baikonur cosmodrome in southern Kazakhstan, a major objective away from the main fighting.
April 23rd, 2023: Almaty falls after fierce fighting claiming the lives of several thousand Kazakh and Chinese soldiers. Precision strikes by Chinese J-20s jets and drones help break the back of the Kazakh Army in that sector.
Russia repeats these tactics in the battle for Astana where it meets its first serious resistance by the Kazakh Army.
April 25th, 2023: Despite orders to continue fighting from Kazakh president for life Nursultan, the Kazakh Army agrees to a “ceasefire” on the Astana front effectively surrendering on the condition that Kazakh soldiers who resisted receive decent treatment from the Russians and Chinese noting how the Kazakhs fought bravely fought against impossible odds. Russia and China agree. China moves into the rest of Almaty and East Kazakhstan provinces while Russia occupies the rest of the country.
More surrendering Kazakh Army units join the Russian Army, predominantly but not exclusively ethnic Russians. Many Kazakhs are bitter over the a Chinese capture and anticipated annexation of the east preferring Russia.
April 27th, 2023: Chinese and Russian soldiers meet and shake hands on the western shore of Lake Balkhash, part of the new de facto border between Russia and China in Central Asia.
The bulk of the PLA in Central Asia, now numbering over 120,000 after receiving reinforcements continues into Kyrgyzstan to “quell the ethnic violence plaguing the failed state.”
April 28th, 2023: With much of the Kyrgiz Army still dealing with violence in Osh and other cities near the Uzbek border, the PLA captures Bishkek unopposed.
April 29th, 2023: Realizing the hopelessness of their situation, Kyrgyzstan surrenders to the PLA on the same conditions as Kazakhstan.
May 2023: The Iranian Army backed by UIR militia moves into Uzbekistan and Tajikstan from Turmenistan and northern Afghanistsn respectively. The Iranians repeat the tactics of the Russians and Chinese with some Tajik and Uzbek units joining them while others are isolated and destroyed by militia who carry out “mopping up operations” with extreme violence.
By the end of the month, all of Uzbekistan and Tajikstan are under Iranian control except for a portion of eastern Tajikstan in the Pamirs seized by Chinese special forces. Iran “reclaims the great Persian cities of Bukhara, Khiva, Samarqand, Dushanbe and Tashkent” promising to bring “stability and development” to the mostly impoverished regions.
June 4th, 2023: Russia, Iran and China announce the annexation of all the conquered Central Asian territories. Russia and Iran hold rigged plebiscites in the regions they control while China simply claims to be reclaiming territories held by the Qing Dynasty, even if very briefly. Beijing adds the “Ferghana and Balkhash” districts as well as a sliver of eastern Tajikstan to Xingjing and combines Outer Mongolia with the Inner Mongolia Semi Autonomous region to form the Mongolian Semi-Autonomous Region.