The Eagle of the Dajjal: A Neoconservative Dystopia Timeline

[Dab master]

"How could we have possibly predicted at the beginning of the 21st Century in such a time of optimism, at the peak of the American Empire's uncontested power, that in a mere 20 years the global order made by the fall of the Soviet Union would be bleeding from a thousand cuts across the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, East Asia, the Balkans, and Ukraine? Who could have predicted that America would flirt with dictatorship, that the Korean Peninsula would come to the brink of atomic Armageddon, that Russia and India would descend into fascism?"
- Francis Fukuyama.
>>>
Q: What is this?
A: An attempt to write a timeline about neocons, and the world they wanted.
Q: Is this going to be early 2000s Shots Fired?
A: No, but there will be some similarities. Imagine it as a future history of the 2000s.

 

[Parzival]

Is this just OTL?

 

[Dab master]

Is this just OTL?

Click to shrink...

The neocons had greater ambitions than OTL that they were unable to fully commit to due to a lack of skill/general tomfoolery.

 

[StarMaker764]

Well consider me interested, watched and hope to write omakes for this one too

 

[Dab master]

...Many revisionist historians love to claim the death of President Bush is what doomed the US to take the path it did in the Middle East. If Bush hadn't been killed in Florida under such unlikely circumstances given the longshot of the success of the Al-Qaeda assassination operation, the tragedy hidden for years of the initial failed shots taken at the President and the subsequent accidental shooting of Bush by a Secret Service agent in crossfire, has inspired much conspiracist sentiment. Bush has become a figure like JFK before him, not important for what he actually was but for what people project on him. Just like people like to imagine that JFK was killed by the Illuminati or the CIA for not wanting to enter Vietnam many like to imagine Bush would have been better than Cheney. Certainly, people claim, he would've at least prevented the riots in New York..."

- from the article "Lost Chances in American History" by J.D. Vance on Muslim American Affairs.com circa 2023.

"My fellow Americans...we have come under a terrible attack. Middle Eastern Islamic terrorists, members of Al Qaeda, have flown planes into the Pentagon, both of the Twin Towers, and hijacked a plane which crashed into a Pennsylvania field. Thousands of Americans are dead in the largest unprovoked attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor. The enemy...lead by men like Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden, has declared war on us because they hate our freedom. I have suspended flights across the nation and put the military, police, and FBI on high alert...my fellow Americans, please do not panic. Go to church, go to the mall, call your families, spend time with your loved-ones. We will get through this together, God bless America."
- Cheney's initial address to the nation after 9/11.

"Could President Cheney have stopped the New York 9/11 riots? No. No I don't think anyone could have, what had happened was too big and the enemy was visibly foreign. No great speech could stop an immediate visceral reaction."
- John Edwards at the 2004 Democratic Debate.

...Hours after 9/11 if not earlier the first attacks on Muslim Americans began across the country, it was in New York, of course, where they were at their most systematic. The days after 9/11 saw a rise in attacks on Muslim Americans that finally culminated in outright riots on the 15th when gangs of mostly young men, a mixture of several races and communities, responded to the rumors of a "follow-up attack" being pushed on talk radio, cable news, and hinted at by President Cheney, to begin to attack individuals they assumed to be Muslim as well as their homes and stores. Over the night there was extremely little police response to the mob and over twenty businesses were burned or vandalized along with a similar number of cars and five mosques and community centers while over 200 individuals were attacked with 8 dead by the time the rioting calmed down in the morning.

President Cheney did not hold a press conference on the riot the next day, being busy pushing through the Patriot Act and the Authorization of War Powers Act, and when a lesser degree of violence took place the following night leaving one rioter and one Muslim American dead and over a dozen buildings badly damaged and 80 more people attacked, Cheney waited until the afternoon of that day to respond with a terse condemnation of "disorder" and a warning that "hooligans" were making America look bad on the world stage.

The violence began to fizzle down after the third night with a strong police presence and condemnation by many community and city leaders but the damage to the Islamic community and to America's image on the world stage was done. Especially disheartening was the lack of arrests after the riots and the general brushing of the incident under the rug by the media and politicians as well as the harassment of rebuilding efforts. The New York Riots were mentioned once in the Democratic National Debate in 2004, and not at all at the Republican debates.

Overall ten had died over of ethnic violence three nights and five more people died in the same month from hate crime related incidents, in total of the victims nine were Muslim, four were Sikhs, one was Hindu, and one was an Arab Christian. Several Hispanics, Indians, and a few Jews were also assaulted after being mistaken for Muslims.
- excerpt from the article "Our National Shame: A Look Back On the New York Riots" by Ta-Nehesi Coates, published in the Atlantic circa 2016.


"The constricting of our liberties by the Patriot Act and the Uphold War Powers Act was a great tragedy for this country...we arrested tens of thousands of people after 9/11 for no reason...no reason. We spied on Americans, tapped phones, and threw billions down interventionist holes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Lebanon, and so many other countries. And now we see where that got us."
- Rand Paul at the Republican Debate circa 2012.

US TROOPS LAND IN AFGHANISTAN, OVER A DOZEN NATIONS JOINED IN COALITION, AIRSTRIKES TAKE PLACE ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
- CNN Headline circa October 7th, 2001.

TALIBAN RAPIDLY CRUMBLES IN THE FIELD.
- Fox News Headline circa November 1st, 2001.

BATTLE OF TORA BORA. OSAMA BELEIVED TO HAVE ESCAPED MILITARY COMPOUND.
- MSNBC Headline circa December 18th, 2001.

President Cheney continues to call for overthrow of Saddam Hussein, claims Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Cuba, Zimbabwe, and North Korea form "Axis of Evil."
- New York Times article circa December 28th, 2001.

 

[StarMaker764]

Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Lebanon, and so many other countries.

Click to shrink...

I do wonder who those so many other are, my money is on Cuba

 

[Rainbow Whitey]

Alright, so who didn't we fuck up?

 

[Dab master]

...The ease of the initial invasion of Afghanistan was a poison fruit that helped lay the groundwork for much of what happened in the coming two decades. American generals had initially been worried about invading Afghanistan, it was the graveyard of empires according to popular histories, the land that had swallowed Soviet and British armies alike.

And yet by the start of 2002 the nation was secure and less than 50 American soldiers had died securing the victory of the Northern Alliance over the Taliban. To the American people this was a restoration of confidence and helped to sell the idea that further Middle Eastern wars would be as easy as 19th century punitive expeditions against Asian and Latin American states. The escape of most of the Taliban leadership and Osama Bin Laden himself was a failure, but it was one everyone expected to be corrected shortly. The Taliban was disoriented at the moment and there was no organized insurgency in Afghanistan at the beginning of 2002.

With that done overconfidence of course set in and the Cheney administration set its sites on ever nation felt to be a thorn in America's sides. Chief on this list was Iraq of course, unfinished imperial business. But other nations would have their own places on the agenda; highest on the list was Iran, but Iran had to compete with a lobbies for invading Syria, Somalia, Libya, Sudan, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and lesser or more risky cases like North Korea and Zimbabwe.

Ultimately Iraq had to be invaded first, and in order to do that the case for war had to be pitched to the American people. This was depressingly easy to do as Saddam was already seen as an enemy of America, and an enemy who was in the Middle East leading him to be tied to Al Qaeda in the minds of Americans. Iraq was also alleged to possess WMDs, and America would push this case through Colin Powell at the UN leading to great controversy. At this point international sympathy lay with America due to 9/11, but Iraq would push the bounds of this sympathy as many came to see America as a threat to the sovereignty of any nation without nuclear weapons.

In the end international protests did nothing to quell the desire for revenge in America and the course set by the Cheney administration. The invasion of Iraq itself did much to quell previous hesitation for war among some as the country fell to Coalition forces in five weeks and by the first of May the ground phase of the war was considered over with Cheney's infamous "America Forever" speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln. The issue of the lack of WMDs being discovered was buried under images of Iraqis tearing down statues of Saddam Hussein and massive rows of Iraqi POWs and burnt out tanks. Less than 150 Americans had died in the initial invasion and the Shias and Kurds of Iraq greeted the Americans as liberators leading to high morale among US troops.

All this served to quiet critics for the moment even as the US began to engage in the ultimately disastrous program of De-Ba'athification, in effect purging Sunnis from the government of Iraq. With this and the establishment of the Iraqi Governing Council the seeds were sown for the insurgency to come, the first of many...

- From Matt Yglesias's "Disasters of American Imperialism," published by Barn House Publishing circa 2018.


...2002 and 2003 were mostly good years for the Cheney administration with a few hiccups like the continued aftermath of the 2000 Dot Com Bubble Burst, the Iraq War Protests, the non-participation of certain western nations in the war, the failure to capture Osama Bin Laden, and the New York Riots. However few expected Cheney to lose in 2004 as of mid-2003, but that was when the serious issues began piling up.

First there was the lack of WMDs found in Iraq, but that was a survivable issue given the success of the invasion. It was only when the insurgency began ramping up in the following months that Americans started to realize the war wasn't over, especially after events like the buss bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Baghdad, the mob attack on British soldiers in Basra over house searches resulting in a massacre of sixty-five previously-supportive Shia civilians, shoot down of two US helicopters over Fallujah, the destruction of the Italian headquarters in Nasiriyah, the shoot down of a German cargo plane over Baghdad in November, the Ramadan Offensive bombings, and the Karbala Bombings. However Cheney would sell these attacks as the dying flame of the enemy rather than the start of an insurgent war even as Iraq became consumed by communal violence and insurgency against Coalition forces. Cheney refused to lose his chance to invade more of the Middle East and sought to push forward the hoisting of the situation onto local authorities so American troops could be reoriented.

The other major issue was Cheney's inability to deal with domestic issues gracefully. Cheney was non-committal when it came to the movement in the Republican Party to nationally ban gay marriage, seeing the issue as a distraction. In 2004 when Republicans pushed a Social Security "reform" bill through the house that would essentially abolish Social Security by 2025, Cheney would help shove it through the Senate in the Spring of 2004 over the protests of thousands of Americans in DC who were attacked with tear gas, leaving one elderly veteran of the Korean War blind.

Other events in early 2004 would continue to sink Cheney's public approval, the Spring fighting saw the alliance with the Shias in Iraq totally break down as the Mahdi Army led by Muqtada Al-Sadr led uprisings against the Iraqi Interim Government after the shutdown of many of their newspapers and the arrest of several Shia leaders. At the same time Sunni groups lead attacks on Coalition forces elsewhere, successfully ambushing US mercenaries in Fallujah and Spanish soldiers in Baghdad and Thais in Mosul all in April alone, Spain's new socialist leadership would outright leave the war in April in response. Even worse news continued to stack on Cheney's chest as prisoners were freed by the Mahdi army in Najaf in April and the Mahdi Army rose up in several southern cities that same month, often after Iraqi protesters were shot by Coalition forces. In the north US forces failed to tightly besiege Fallujah as many newly recruited Iraqi national guardsmen ran away from combat while the insurgents held the field. Cheney would claim the situation was under control as some cities were brought back under Coalition control over the course of April and the rebellion was largely suppressed by June in terms of the rebel ability to hold ground, but attacks on Coalition forces continued in force and the Iraqi Interim Government was made to look weak by the assassination of the acting president Ghazi al-Yawer in June a week after the Interim Government had assumed control over the country and days after the assassination of Ezzedine Salim, the head of the Iraqi Governing Council.

On the homefront Cheney managed to look weak on terror of the domestic kind. On August 16th, 2004 Reverend Jesse Jackson was gunned down after an anti-war rally in Memphis, Tennessee. Immediately suspicion was directed either at someone inflamed by his anti-war stance, or Islamic terror. But the suspect arrested at the scene, Erica Chase, declared her intent to start a race war to the police after her peaceful surrender and the following day her boyfriend Leo Felton was arrested outside the New England Holocaust Memorial after the detonation of a bomb killing three and injuring sixteen. The couple professed to being members of the Creativity movement and pleaded guilty almost immediately in the hope of public trials where they could pitch their case to "white America."

Cheney's reaction was slow after the killing of Jesse Jackson, leading to conspiracies that dog the case to this day, and after it became clear that the terrorists in question weren't Islamic Cheney essentially lost all interest in the affair, something that was used against him by Democratic Presidential nominee John Edwards in the 2004 debates.

The revelation of the torture taking place in Abu Gharib in July further ruined any positive view of the US in the Middle East and among many liberals in Europe and even America. The capture of Saddam in July in a surprise Navy SEAL raid gave Cheney a quick shot in the arm but in September Cheney was hit by twin horrible October surprises. The first was the massacre of a crowd of thirty-eight Iraqis throwing stones at US troops in Baghdad by helicopter gunners leading to international outcry.

The second was the revelation that Vice President Dennis Hastert was a pedophile.

Hastert had been chosen as VP by Cheney for political purposes as a longstanding Republican power player in 2001 after the Bush Assassination, and it was immediately suspected that Cheney had to have known about the hush money Hastert was revealed by the Boston Globe to have been paying the families of his young, male, victims. The Democrats shied away from directly alleging that Cheney knew, but the mere implication however subtle, combined with the open accusations by left wing media personalities like Bill Maher, when compiled with the general growing sense of malaise in the country, sunk Cheney in the 2004 election.

John Edwards would become the President of the United States of America, and in doing so doom the nation to twelve years of continued war across the planet...

- from Al Franken's "So That Got Fucked Up: What Went Wrong with the War On Terror?" by Penguin Publishing, circa 2017.

 

[StarMaker764]

who wants to bet on who is getting invaded next? I am guessing Iran or Sudan

 

[Silent Runner]

John Edwards would become the President of the United States of America, and in doing so doom the nation to twelve years of continued war across the planet...

Click to shrink...

This should be fun. Real fun.

 

[Dab master]

President Edwards announces troop "surge" in Afghanistan and Iraq.
- The Atlantic; circa March 2nd, 2005.

President Edwards must continue the course of the Cheney Administration.
- The Weekly Standard: circa March 4th, 2005.

After months of foot dragging Israeli PM Ariel Sharon agrees to opposition figure Netanyahu's proposal for a referendum on "disengagement" from the Gaza Strip.
- Jerusalem Times; March 10th, 2005.

US military recruitment put into higher gear in response to need for more manpower to carry out President Edwards' "Surge" plan.
- Fox News; circa April 21st, 2005.

The UK to increase troop commitment to Iraq and Afghanistan as Italy and Spain withdraw and other nations consider following suit.
- The Guardian; May 1st, 2005.

Attack on Abu Gharib Prison sees over a hundred prisoners freed by Iraqi terrorists. Over 40 Americans killed; 200 terrorists and prisoners killed.
- CNN; May 13th, 2005.

Allegations that US guards began massacring prisoners after Abu Gharib walls were breached.
- The Young Turks; May 15th, 2005.

President Edwards gives press conference on Abu Gharib Prison Assault.
- MSNBC; May 16th, 2005.

"Prison Massacre? There was no prison massacre. That's conspiracy theory just like those 9/11 truthers. Shame on you for bringing it up when Americans are dead."
- John Edwards in response to a question from a RT reporter at a press conference on the Battle of Abu Gharib circa May 16th, 2005.

Five bombings in London kill 45 people. Al Qaeda suspected.
- BBC; May 20th, 2005.

UK to increase troop presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- The Daily Telegraph; May 21st, 2006.

Footage leaked by hackers shows US Marines executing prisoners at Abu Gharib.
- BBC; July 20th, 2005.

Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" explodes in popularity as conspiracy theorists claim "vindication."
- The New York Times; July 25th, 2005.

Israeli referendum narrowly sees Israelis approve a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip by barely over 50%. Knesset vote to come.
- The Jerusalem Times; July 28th, 2005.

Second Intifada appears to be ending as attacks decrease in Israel.
- RT; August 1st, 2005.

Hurricane Katrina hits Louisiana.
- Fox News; August 29th, 2005.

Two-thirds of New Orleans flooded.
- CNN; August 29th, 2005.

Thousands stranded in Caesar's Superdome as New Orleans lays flooded.
- CBS News; August 30th, 2005.

Widespread looting reported in New Orleans leads to militias setting up roadblocks in Louisiana suburbs.
- The Young Turks; August 31st, 2005.

"Edwards doesn't care about black people."
- Kanye West on NBC circa September 2nd, 2005.

Sniper kills 29 people near Superdome, engages in standoff with police claiming mostly black victims were all looters.
- ABC News; September 3rd, 2005.

Police neutralize New Orleans sniper.
- NBC News; September 4th, 2005.

New Orleans sniper identified as deranged US Army veteran.
- MSNBC; September 5th, 2005.

Prisoners abandoned in New Orleans Parish Prison.
- The New York Times; September 8th, 2005.

African American support for the Edwards' administration at an all-time low.
- The Atlantic; September 10th, 2005.

More than 150 dead in a string of bombings in Baghdad.
- ABC News; September 12th, 2005.

British SAS agents arrested by Iraqi Nasiriyah police after shooting and killing two Iraqi police officers broken out of jail by SAS assault. British soldiers open fire on rioting terrorist crowd killing 20.
- The Daily Telegraph; September 20th, 2005.

American forces in Tal Afar open fire on Iraqi civilians after insurgent ambush; over 30 feared killed.
- NBC News; October 10th, 2005.

President Edwards proclaims Surge is "effective" as American troop presence increases in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Fox News; October 15th, 2005.

18 American evangelical missionaries taken hostage in Basra by Iraqi Hezbollah. Standoff ensues.
- CBS News; October 19th, 2005.

Over 10 American tourists taken hostage by Al Qaeda in Giza, Egypt.
- CNN; November 20th, 2005.

American-Egyptian joint operation frees hostages with only one casualty.
- MSNBC; November 29th, 2005.

"My fellow Americans, as of now we are still at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is still work to be done. But I can promise things are getting better, the Taliban is on the run from us and our allies, Iraq is growing more peaceful as a result of the new Iraqi government and our troop surge. But as recent events in Egypt have shown terror is global, and of the 15 terrorists killed in our rescue operation in Giza a total of 9 were Sudanese in origin, in Iraq we have repeatedly caught Sudanese weapons and terrorists killing our troops and Iraqi civilians. The government of Sudan is rogue and engaging in genocide against their Christian minority in the south, I am calling on the international community to help the US bring the genocidal terroristic government of Omar Hassan al-Bashir to justice."
- US President John Edwards in a televised address circa December 1st, 2005.

"The Sudan has had a peace agreement with Southern rebels since January of this year, what is the president talking about!"
- Cenk Uygur on The Young Turks; circa December 2nd, 2005.

Mubarak agrees to "secure regional peace" in association with the US.
- Al Jazeera; December 17th, 2005.

US forces arrive in Chad with French assistance.
- Military Times; December 21st, 2005.

US Marines in Ramadi respond to IED attack by going door-to-door killing several Iraqi families, burning houses. Over 40 Iraqis feared dead.
- RT; December 24th, 2005.

"There will be an investigation that's all I'll say."
- President John Edwards on the Ramadi Massacre; December 26th, 2005.

Inside the world of conspiracist radical liberal talk radio.
- The Washington Post; December 29th, 2005.

Saddam Hussein trial begins.
- CNN, January 6th, 2006.

Violence begins to decline in Iraq in response to troop surge by US.
- BBC; January 11th, 2006.

"My fellow Americans the end is in sight in Iraq and Afghanistan will soon follow. But I caution us towards patience, our enemy is determine, it will likely be a very long effort to destroy Islam *coughs* Islamic terrorism."
- President Edwards infamous "Coughing Speech" circa January 12th, 2006.

Muslim radicals share edited clip of President Edwards saying he is going to "destroy Islam."
- CNN; January 14th, 2006.

"God, I wish President Edwards was enough of a man to destroy Islam! Instead we have a lazy coddler who thinks you can defeat the ragheads with sugary words and infrastructure. What we need to do people, what we need to do to win, is really go to war with Islam! We need to blow up a mosque every time a church is blown up in Iraq, send armed caravans of missionaries with fortified mission bases, put the Quran on trial in public and burn it, and ban those damn speakers calling them to do their prayers. You have to replace Muhamad with Jesus!"
- Ann Coulter on Fox News; January 15th, 2006.

US Naval forces enforce blockade on Port Sudan.
- ABC News; February 3rd, 2006.

US Special Forces free missionary hostages in Iraq with two hostages killed.
- NBC News; February 5th, 2006.

Michael Moore stabbed at conspiracy theorist convention in New Jersey; injuries reportedly light.
- CBS News; February 14th, 2006.

Michael Moore claims "Mossad and FBI" manipulated mentally ill attacker into attempted assassination.
- Democracy Now!; February 15th, 2006.

"Fat ass anti-Semitic p-o-s deserved it in my opinion!"
- Glenn Beck on talk radio; February 17th, 2006.

Mubarak allows USN ships to dock at Egyptian Red Sea ports for extensive periods of time.
- Al Jazeera; February 20th, 2006.

Sectarian violence on the uptick in Iraq after series of bombings targeting religious sites.
- RT; February 26th, 2006.

President Edwards proclaims a "moral imperative" to bring Sudan "into the light of international law and democracy."
- The Guardian; March 1st, 2006.

"No more criminal wars! We have a Democrat acting as much like a war monger as Cheney!"
- Senator Paul Wellstone at an antiwar rally in Minneapolis circa March 4th, 2006.

Iraqi Government begin functions.
- CNN; May 20th, 2006.

"The end is in sight in Iraq my fellow Americans, although Afghanistan my require more patience. This isn't the end of our war however, there is still work to be done around the globe to spread democracy and end terrorism."
- President John Edwards circa June 1st, 2006.

PASSENGER PLANE GOES DOWN OVER ATLANTIC. 266 FEARED DEAD.
- Fox News; June 8th, 2006.

"My fellow Americans, this attack comes as a great shock to us all. let us all spare thoughts and prayers for the Americans killed today. We must hold firm against terrorism, never showing faltering resolve to the enemy. The FBI and CIA have confirmed that the perpetrator of this attack was a Nigerian immigrant who passed through Sudan on his way to America. The criminal Sudanese regime must be brought to justice for their crimes."
- John Edwards' address to the nation on the 6/8 Bombing; June 8th, 2006.

"No one finds this official story suspicious? Have any of you heard of Operation Northwoods!?"
- Alex Jones on the Info Wars circa June 9th, 2006.

US planes fly over Kenyan airspace to bomb Sudan without permission.
- RT; June 9th, 2006.

US Special Forces engage Sudanese military and pro-Omar militias in Darfur as they cross the border from Chad.
- ABC News; June 24th, 2006.

Sudanese forces pushed out of Darfur by US-Darfuri forces.
- Fox News; July 6th, 2006.

Port Sudan seized in assault by US Marines and paratroopers.
- MSNBC; July 12th, 2006.

US Special Forces help South Sudanese attack Arab militias and Sudanese military forces in southern Sudan.
- CNN; July 17th, 2006.

Eritrea occupies buffer zone in Sudan.
- Democracy Now!; July 18th, 2006.

Sudanese loyalist forces fall back to upper reaches of the Nile as the coast, Darfur, and the South are liberated by Coalition allies.
- CBS News; July 20th, 2006.

Size of Sudan and logistics pose challenge for US and allied forces.
- The Weekly Standard; July 22nd, 2006.

Egypt occupied Halaib without resistance.
- Al Jazeera; July 25th, 2006.

American forces clear Tokar in Sudan.
- Fox News; July 29th, 2006.

Kassala attacked by Coalition forces.
- RT; August 1st, 2006.

American and allied forces push into Blue Nile and Kurdufan.
- CNN; August 4th, 2006.

Breakout at El Obeid as American forces trounce Sudanese military and allied militias.
- BBC; August 7th, 2006.

Noose tightening around Khartoum as Sudanese regime grows desperate.
- The Guardian; August 10th, 2006.

Systematic destruction of infrastructure in Sudan by Omar regime to slow American forces.
- Fox News; August 11th, 2006.

"The use of scorched earth tactics is...a war crime by the Sudanese regime. One of many they will be held accountable for."
- John Edwards on the use of scorched earth tactics by Sudanese loyalist forces; circa August 12th, 2006.

BATTLE OF KHARTOUM UPDATES
- CNN; August 15th, 2006.

"Why is the invasion of Sudan taking so long compared to Iraq and Afghanistan? Its because President Edwards is a wimp! He's soft on the doon coons in Sudan because he's afraid the N-double-A-C-P will whine back home if he's hard, and then he'll lose the black thug vote. Cheney would've carpet bombed these savages! What are they going to do? Chuck spear at us?"
- Ann Coulter on Fox News circa August 17th, 2006.

US forces hindered in Sudan by logistics, guerilla attacks, inadequate numbers of men, and urban ambush tactics.
- The Washington Post; August 18th, 2006.

Khartoum declared secure as Sudanese regime forces flee to Atbara.
- ABC News; August 26th, 2006.

Several Sudanese generals killed in Battle of Khartoum.
- NBC News; August 27th, 2006.

Omar Hassan al-Bashir captured in Navy SEALS raid in Merowe.
- The AP; August 30th, 2006.

Sudanese government begins to fall apart as many generals flee and soldiers lay down their arms.
- The New York Times; August 31st, 2006.

"Ladies and gentlemen...mission accomplished."
- President John Edwards on the end of the ground war in Sudan; circa September 1st, 2006.
...

 

[StarMaker764]

Well that happened, Mubarak is probably about to have a thousand headaches as the reality and fallout of Sudanese collapse finally sets in, namely in refugees, increased terror activity and having the Americans so close by breathing down his neck if Jan 25th happens as scheduled.

"Ladies and gentlemen...mission accomplished."
- President John Edwards on the end of the ground war in Sudan; circa September 1st, 2006.

Click to shrink...

You can't just keep saying that every time, come up with a new catch phrase

 

[yeastmobile]

You can't just keep saying that every time, come up with a new catch phrase

Click to shrink...

I don't think in this timeline Cheney said it so ittl this is the first time it was said?
@Dab master is that right?

 

[Oleympia]

I'm not gonna lie, I'm really wondering how they're gonna keep justifying these wars lol. Feels like the country is already running out of steam in terms of uncritical support for the war effort, like there'd have to be several more 9/11 scale attacks to keep the bloodlust train running.

 

[StarMaker764]

I'm not gonna lie, I'm really wondering how they're gonna keep justifying these wars lol. Feels like the country is already running out of steam in terms of uncritical support for the war effort, like there'd have to be several more 9/11 scale attacks to keep the bloodlust train running.

Click to shrink...

CIA: is that a challenge

 

[Dab master]

I don't think in this timeline Cheney said it so ittl this is the first time it was said?
@Dab master is that right?

Click to shrink...

That's right.

 

[Dab master]

...The war in Sudan very quickly fell off the rails, perhaps even quicker than Iraq or Afghanistan, but not as quickly as the later interventions. For one thing Sudan was big, very big. The country was the largest in Africa, as large as the entire US east of the Mississippi, and included diverse climates like savannahs, deserts, mountains, and swamps. Khartoum is an urban environment the near the size of Philadelphia and Baghdad, the initial battle for the city went our way due to overwhelming force and various militias and commanders jumping ship, but American forces lost more men than at the Second Battle of Fallujah in 2004 thanks to the active efforts of the Sudanese to study urban warfare tactics used by insurgents in Iraq and them having the time to shape the battlefield. The declaration that the battle and war were over were premature at best, Khartoum was never secure and the so-called 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battles of Khartoum were simply spikes in a general background of violence.

Aside from size it was assumed that Sudan would be easier to control than Iraq or Afghanistan due to the fact that the Omar regime had been waging active genocide against much of their own country before the invasion. However this had also been true in Afghanistan where the Taliban had massacred Shia Hazaras and in Iraq where Saddam had massacred Kurds and Shias as well pushing Arab and Sunni supremacy. In Sudan we did initially receive a warm welcome from certain groups like the Darfuris and the southern Nilotic peoples, but not from the Arabs of the north who immediately saw the American occupation forces as enemies. The initial inability to respond properly to the revenge massacres of Arabs in the south and in Darfur, as well as the acceptance of a deeply unpopular Eritrean occupation zone, further soured the mood of the Arab north. Attempts to split the Beja of the Eastern Desert from the Arabs also proved unsuccessful, much like Israeli attempts at the time to split Palestinian Christians from Palestinian Muslims.

President Edwards had, by the time of Operation African Hope, become a firm believer in the thesis that splitting up Iraq would have been a better approach to the nation's sectarian strife, but mercifully he decided it was too late to switch gears to breaking up Iraq. Unmercifully he thought he could apply this program to Sudan from the start, and when reports emerged of the massive violence against Arabs in the south and west he saw this as proof of his assumption. Thus President Edwards had US and allied troops oversee the "national divorce" of Sudan into three new nations; Darfur, South Sudan, and North Sudan. Although the intention was a peaceful separation by the year 2012 with provisional authorities in all three planned states, things fell apart nigh instantaneously if they had ever been together in the first place. The revenge attacks on Arabs produced hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing Darfur and the southern regions while areas of mixed ethnicity were turned into charnel houses with the only difference from before being that the Arabs were now on the backfoot and being driven out of territory by the Fur, Zaghawa, Nuba, and other peoples. US forces were spread thin and acted hesitantly to prevent ethnic cleansing against people they saw as their principal enemies.

Resistance to the US in the Arabized and Islamic north-and-east of the country was immediately taken up by Al Qaeda along with various Arabic and Beja tribal militias, remnants of the Sudanese army, and ethnic and militias that supported the old regime and feared revenge from their enemies. Among these were the Fertit peoples, the Nuer White Army, and exiled Interahamwe fighters along with various Ugandan rebel groups who had been supported by the Sudanese military to fight the SPLA and their allies. As the end result massacres reverberated throughout the country along with mass theft of cattle and kidnapping of women and children, this in turn led to America being seen in a jaundiced light by surrounding powers like Ethiopia (who especially disliked the American de facto alliance with Eritrea) and Uganda along with Rwanda and Libya, where Gaddafi was understandably terrified by what had just happened, especially since American pundits and politicians were openly calling for his assassination.

The situation only got worse as time went on and the American military could not handle the movement of the internally displaced making any sort of surveillance of the population nearly impossible. Furthermore the number of enemies to American forces only grew as the decision to favor the Dinka-dominated factions of the SPLA over the Nuer-dominated SSLM led to a Nuer uprising after the Tel-Aviv Accords in late 2007...
- From Jim Mattis's "No Way Home: Our War in Africa" by Fulton Books, circa 2019.

...

Climb-down in Iraq's sectarian violence shows hope for the future.
- Foreign Policy; September 5th, 2006.

What American Can Do for Sudan's Women and Girls.
- The Atlantic; September 10th, 2006.

Fox announces return of cult hit "Firefly."
- Hollywood Reporter; September 12th, 2006.

Accidental bombing of refugee convoy near Abyei, Sudan leaves over 100 feared dead.
- Democracy Now!; September 24th, 2006.

"Isn't Africa overpopulated anyways?"
- Ann Coulter on Fox News circa September 25th, 2006.

Simultaneous bombings at Muslim university, school, mosque, and market in Malegaon, India leaves 67 dead, government blames Student Islamic Movement of India.
- India Today; September 28th, 2006.

Malegaon placed under martial law.
- The India Times; September 29th, 2006.

Knesset fails to agree to withdraw from Gaza after belated vote, government collapses as renegade Netanyahu makes bid for power.
- Jerusalem Times; October 1st, 2006.

"My fellow Americans, the decline in violence in Iraq and the brave efforts of Israel to get control over terrorism in their country shows that despite some pessimists, the War on Terror is working. We are winning, we must simply keep the course and stay steady without faltering or showing a lack of resolve."
- President John Edwards "Lack of Resolve" speech at West Point circa October 4th, 2006.

"This is truly a disaster of a presidency, I'm sorry it has to be said. We elected Edwards to be a Democrat and he hasn't defended any social programs cut by Cheney, he just decided that what we really needed was another goddamn war in the Middle East!"
- Keith Olbermann on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, MSNBC circa October 5th, 2006.

Investigators say evidences shows Hindutva group Abhinav Bharat likely committed Malegaon Bombings.
- NDTV; October 9th, 2006.

Kanye West to receive political talk show on the Black Entertainment Network.
- ABC News; October 14th, 2006.

Chlorine gas attacks in Al Anbar Province, Iraq injure several Americans, hundreds of Iraqis.
- CNN; October 20th, 2006.

Midterms result in a washout for Democrats over Edwards' unpopular war.
- RT; November 6th, 2006.

"I think we should be honest that we are in a war with Islam, Islam is a political ideology, a violent and dangerous one like communism. But unlike communism we can't simply wait it out, we need to defeat it epochally like another anti-Semitic ideology, Nazism. This is the challenge of our time."
- Richard Dawkins in a lecture at Yale University; November 11th, 2006.

CBS's "Jericho" a big hit after capturing audience fears of terrorism and disaster.
- TV Reporter; November 19th, 2006.

"Some people are calling me out for being anti-war but supporting Edwards' invasion of Sudan, so let me be clear; war is bad. Ok! I said it! But sometimes there are necessary wars, like the one we are fighting in Sudan. Unlike Cheney Edwards didn't lie about that war, he told us what we were getting into, Sudan really did support Al Qaeda and wage genocide. You know what else is a necessary war? Israel's battle against terrorism in Palestine. In a country like Israel, you want conservatives in charge because there really are people out to kill you."
- Bill Maher on Real Time with Bill Maher; HBO circa November 30th, 2006.

Eight mercenaries ambushed near Juba by Interahamwe militants; three killed and five taken hostage.
- CNN; December 13th, 2006.

"Who are these Inter-ham-ray sickos? People are saying they aren't Muslim, so why are they fighting us? We need to teach these bush savages a lesson! Light up that country with napalm like the good ol' days of Nam'"
- Glenn Beck; December 14th, 2006.

We Can't Let Our Noble Interventions Get Dragged Down in Tribal Conflicts. It's Time to Detribalize Sudan.
- Thomas Friedman in the New York Times; December 18th, 2006.


"Fuck John Edwards, he's a bitch."
- Kanye West on BET; December 20th, 2006.

 

[Bisexual-Mart]

I'm curious who's going to run in 2008?

I see a mention of Rand Paul in 2012, so I generally assume that it's going to be someone more interesting than John Sidney McCain III. Maybe his father pops up ITTL? I can actually see his anti-interventionism being more popular in 2008 ITTL with the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Sudan being more of a disaster than OTL Iraq and Afghanistan.

I feel like the TTL 2008 GOP makes the same mistake of OTL's 2008 GOP (letting the nose of the camel into the tent) but instead of VP it's President?

I don't know who though? Probably not Ron Paul, someone more interventionist in foreign policy. My bets are Donald Trump (even though he only became public as a conservative by supporting the whole "Birther" movement), John Bolton, or even David f----ing Duke.

 

[Mister Anemone]

I'm curious who's going to run in 2008?

I see a mention of Rand Paul in 2012, so I generally assume that it's going to be someone more interesting than John Sidney McCain III. Maybe his father pops up ITTL? I can actually see his anti-interventionism being more popular in 2008 ITTL with the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Sudan being more of a disaster than OTL Iraq and Afghanistan.

I feel like the TTL 2008 GOP makes the same mistake of OTL's 2008 GOP (letting the nose of the camel into the tent) but instead of VP it's President?

I don't know who though? Probably not Ron Paul, someone more interventionist in foreign policy. My bets are Donald Trump (even though he only became public as a conservative by supporting the whole "Birther" movement), John Bolton, or even David f----ing Duke.

Click to shrink...

Two words.

Donald Rumsfeld.

 

[Dab master]

Ignore economic "doomsday prophets" White House says in press conference.
- Wall Street Journal; January 2nd, 2007.

Netanyahu wins shock Knesset election on platform of getting tough on terrorism.
- Jerusalem Post; January 5th, 2007.

Don't be Worried about Netanyahu: He's What Israel Needs.
- Tom Friedman article in the Atlantic; circa January 7th, 2007.

Barriers go up across the West Bank to physically separate Israelis and Palestinians in a bold plan for peace.
- New York Times; January 10th, 2007.

Edwards' continues "surge" in American troops deployed to Sudan, Iraq, and Afghanistan as volunteer rates begin to dip.
- ABC News; January 24th, 2007.

Iraq violence continues climb down while Afghanistan and Sudan stay hot spots for terror.
- Foreign Policy; February 1st, 2007

Success in Iraq Has Been Achieved; Now Its Time to Bomb Iran, Syria, and Libya.
- The Weekly Standard; February 6th, 2007.

Bomb explodes in northern Israel killing 3 police officers; Netanyahu blames Hezbollah.
- HAARETZ; February 7th, 2007.

IDF begins bombing runs in Lebanon concentrated in the south.
- CNN; February 10th, 2007.

"We support Israel all the way, Hezbollah has been a menace to Lebanon and to Israel for years."
- President John Edwards' statement to the press circa February 12th, 2007.

Hezbollah fires rockets into Israel in an act of terrorism.
- Fox News; February 13th, 2007.

IDF crosses Lebanese border.
- CBS News; February 16th, 2007.

Gaddafi walks back promises to end rocketry and nuclear weapons programs in a dangerous move.
- The Washington Post; February 18th, 2007.

The Failure To Get Gaddafi To Destroy his Rockets in 2003 Will Haunt the Cheney Administration.
- Foreign Affairs; February 20th, 2007.

IDF facing heavy casualties in Lebanese intervention.
- Democracy Now!; February 22nd, 2007.

Israel begins naval blockade of Lebanon as bombing runs expand scope to include the north of the country.
- DW; February 24th, 2007.

Hezbollah warns Israeli Arabs to leave the north of the country as rockets continue to strike northern Israel.
- NBC News; February 26th, 2007.

Lebanese government asks Edwards' administration to call for Israel to leave Lebanon.
- MSNBC; February 28th, 2007.

After nearly three years of decline Palestinian violence spikes in Israel in response to Lebanon War.
- Fox News; March 3rd, 2007.

The IDF is spread thin occupying the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and fighting Hezbollah; the US must intervene to assist Israel.
- The Weekly Standard; March 6th, 2007.

Israeli corvette sunk by Hezbollah in new escalation.
- CNN; March 7th, 2007.

Netanyahu warns Hezbollah has "chemical rockets on standby" in televised address.
- BBC; March 10th, 2007.

Palestinian militants seize two Israeli soldiers as hostages in Gaza.
- DW; March 12th, 2007.

"I urge diplomacy in this conflict, but Israel, I must reiterate, has a right to defend itself, and the Lebanese government would be advised to not interfere with IDF anti-terror operations in southern Lebanon."
- President John Edwards on the Israeli Intervention into Lebanon (2007); circa March 14th, 2007.

Mahmoud Abbas says Fatah "maintains its ceasefire" with Israel as violence escalates once more in the Palestinian Territories.
- ABC News; March 15th, 2007.

Liberal Conspiracy Theorists Spread Anti-Semitic Conspiracies About Israel Influencing American Politics On the Internet.
- The New York Times; March 19th, 2007.

Israeli casualties since start of hostilities pass 200.
- Jerusalem Post; March 20th, 2007.

Surge in attacks on US troops in northern Sudan by Islamic Brotherhood; US urges Egypt to crack down harder on the organization; claims Libyan arms found on terrorists.
- CNN; March 24th, 2007.

Israel agrees to ceasefire with Hezbollah.
- Fox News; March 27th, 2007.

"This is our fault folks. I feel sick to my stomach about what the Edwards administration has done to our allies in Israel, they forced the Israelis to surrender to these Hezbollah terrorists by not backing them up when they needed us. Israeli is a small country, not a big country like us, they don't have reserves to keep fighting these fast-breeding Muslim super terrorists. They needed us and Edwards' flashed his limp-wrists at them, it makes me sick. A Republican would have sent in Americans to clear the terrorists out!"
- Glenn Beck on his radio show; circa March 28th, 2007.

US troops cross Egyptian border and engage in brief firefight with Egyptian police leaving three Egyptians dead and one American injured.
- CBS News; April 2nd, 2007.

Edwards says he engaged in a "heated phone call" with Egyptian President Mubarak and that "things were cleared up."
- NBC News; April 3rd, 2007.

"We have a cowardly, sniveling, gay-loving, terrorist-hugging president in the White House. He just called the Egyptians who shot our boys! If we had a president who loved America he would've threatened to blow up that country to kingdom-come! You can pretty much kill all Egyptians by blowing up one dam, why didn't we threaten them with that? Same reason our coward-in-chief gave up Israel to the Islamic wolves! Because he's a pussy!"
- Ann Coulter on Fox News; April 4th, 2007.

Calls for Fox to suspend Ann Coulters after "p*ssy" remark directed at the president.
- ABC News; April 5th, 2007.

Fox declines to remove Ann Coulter but puts her on "temporary leave of absence."
- The Guardian; April 7th, 2007.

North Korea continues to refuse to shut down nuclear facilities in Yongbyon.
- Asia Times; April 14th, 2007.

Iran arrests British SAS personnel in the Persian Gulf eliciting outrage in London and DC.
- CNN; April 21st, 2007.

Are smartphones going to flop?
- Wall Street Journal; April 27th, 2007.

Tony Blair resigns as PM.
- BBC; May 5th, 2007.

"The Edwards Administration continues its FBI witch-hunt against so-called "far-right" domestic terrorists refusing to move on from the 2002 assassination of Jesse Jackson, meanwhile we've got eco-terrorists like the Earth Liberation Front burning entire car dealerships, as I cover in my monthly "Green Terror" segment."
- Glenn Beck; May 11th, 2007.

Russian helicopters open fire on Georgian border post near disputed Abkhazia region, no casualties reported.
- ABC News; May 18th, 2007.

"The Edwards Administration has been a disaster for this country and for this party, Edwards took over from the scandalous and warmongering Cheney Presidency and only drove America's name further into the muck. Our country is an economic timebomb sitting on bad debt, inequality is on the rise, race relations have been worsened by Katrina, and billions of dollars and thousands of lives are being poured into Sudan, Iraq, and Afghanistan. We've become the war nation to much of the globe, we're occupying an area a third the size of the US in Africa where we can't manage all the local tribal disputes, the people of Iraq don't want us there, the people of Afghanistan don't want us there. It's time to end these foreign wars, and to make an economy that works for all Americans. That's why I'm running for president!"
- Paul Wellstone's announcement of candidacy circa May 20th, 2007.

"No way this moon bat is going anywhere in the primaries. He'll only appeal to the crunchy-granola hippies and the most naïve of college students."
- Tucker Carlson on MSNBC circa May 21st, 2007.

Paul Wellstone receives endorsements from celebrity liberals like Keith Olberman, Kanye West, the Dixie Chicks, Michael Moore, and Jane Fonda.
- Fox News; May 23rd, 2007.

NASA's Messenger spacecraft makes fly-by of Venus.
- NBC News; June 5th, 2007.

Live Earth concerts held around the world to raise awareness for environmental causes.
- CBS News; June 10th, 2007.

String of suicide bombings and truck bombings kill nearly 500 in Khartoum including an estimated 30 Americans.
- BBC; June 17th, 2007.

"My fellow Americans, the recent tragedy in Khartoum is a reminder of the enormity of the task before us in Sudan. We must stamp out terrorism everywhere, for our children, and our children's children."
- John Edwards on the June 17th Bombings in Khartoum; June 18th, 2007.

"NO MORE WARS!"
- Paul Wellstone at a rally in Minneapolis; June 20th, 2007.

Gordon Brown new British PM.
- CNN; June 22nd, 2007.

French Bank withdraws money from British hedge funds signaling slight market hiccup.
- Wall Street Journal; August 4th, 2007.

 

[Silent Runner]

"The Kerry Administration continues its FBI witch-hunt against so-called "far-right" domestic terrorists refusing to move on from the 2002 assassination of Jesse Jackson, meanwhile we've got eco-terrorists like the Earth Liberation Front burning entire car dealerships, as I cover in my monthly "Green Terror" segment."
- Glenn Beck; May 11th, 2007.

"The Kerry Administration has been a disaster for this country and for this party, Kerry took over from the scandalous and warmongering Cheney Presidency and only drove America's name further into the muck.
- Paul Wellstone's announcement of candidacy circa May 20th, 2007.

Click to shrink...

Kerry? Did Edwards get assassinated or something?

 

[Rainbow Whitey]

Kerry? Did Edwards get assassinated or something?

Click to shrink...

"My fellow Americans, the recent tragedy in Khartoum is a reminder of the enormity of the task before us in Sudan. We must stamp out terrorism everywhere, for our children, and our children's children."
- John Edwards on the June 17th Bombings in Khartoum; June 18th, 2007.

Click to shrink...

Apparently not, since this quote comes later. I'm confused too.

 

[Dab master]

Fixed

 

[Rainbow Whitey]

Fixed

Click to shrink...

Still have a few Kerrys hanging around.
Reference May 11th and May 20th.
Edit: Okay, he got them all, like a true Pokemon master.

 

[King Washington]

My guess is that Edwards is going to lose 2008 because of the impending economic crash and disillusionment from anti-war liberals.

The next GOP president Is going to double down even harder on foreign wars and probably turn the Great Recession into a Second Great Depression, probably super charging the Occupy Movement and in response, the rise of an even more oppenly fascistic Tea Party Movement