lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Feb 14, 2018 19:22:41 GMT
(17)Weeks later, across in Western Europe, the commander of NATO forces on the Continent (SACEUR) was assassinated in Belgium. General Al Haig – a political general to many of his detractors – was slain when the West German terrorist group known as the Red Army Faction (RAF) blew his car up with him inside. There had been warnings that something like this was likely and those warnings had been ignored. SACEUR took the same route to work at NATO headquarters every day, his security detachment gave in too much to his wishes for comfort & ease and there was evidence too that an attack like this had been scouted out by the RAF. They got lucky yet so much of that luck had been gifted too them. So the RAF has succeeded in killing the General when in OTL it had failed. |
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James G
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Post by James G on Feb 14, 2018 19:42:24 GMT
(17)Weeks later, across in Western Europe, the commander of NATO forces on the Continent (SACEUR) was assassinated in Belgium. General Al Haig – a political general to many of his detractors – was slain when the West German terrorist group known as the Red Army Faction (RAF) blew his car up with him inside. There had been warnings that something like this was likely and those warnings had been ignored. SACEUR took the same route to work at NATO headquarters every day, his security detachment gave in too much to his wishes for comfort & ease and there was evidence too that an attack like this had been scouted out by the RAF. They got lucky yet so much of that luck had been gifted too them. So the RAF has succeeded in killing the General when in OTL it had failed. They just missed in OTL. Here they didn't. |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Feb 14, 2018 19:43:32 GMT
So the RAF has succeeded in killing the General when in OTL it had failed. They just missed in OTL. Here they didn't. Well seems that he will not be missed, seeing what he planned to do during the Falklands War which might have helped the Argentina Regime in OTL. |
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James G
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Post by James G on Feb 14, 2018 20:50:46 GMT
They just missed in OTL. Here they didn't. Well seems that he will not be missed, seeing what he planned to do during the Falklands War which might have helped the Argentina Regime in OTL. Do tell? Not something I have heard before. He's famous for "I am in control here", which is mis-represented. But, regardless, Argentina? |
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James G
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Post by James G on Feb 14, 2018 20:51:33 GMT
(18)
June 1979:
Fidel Castro had been someone whom the CIA had long tried to kill. There had been many innovative methods tried to assassinate the Cuban leader. Some rather bizarre and quite silly methods had been tried too. Somoza sent gunmen to Havana and they did more than the CIA were ever able to do and put bullets into the man. He refused to die though. Three times he was struck – once in the shin, a second time in the left hand and a third time in the gut – but Castro stubbornly lived. His bodyguards engaged the hit team before and after they opened fire on Castro and killed four of the six while two more were shot and left injured. One of the latter managed to swallow the capsule containing poison given to them all to avoid torture and/or talking to the Cubans though the other wounded man couldn’t bring himself to do it. The Cubans were fast to retrieve the poison and whisk him away for medical treatment just as they did with Castro. With the latter it was because they wanted to save his life, with the former it was so that the wannabe assassin could be interrogated before his life was then taken from him. He talked. Everyone talks with the right amount of pressure applied. Cuban intelligence learnt everything that they could from the man and then he was pushed aside for his fate to be decided by Castro when he was ready to deal with that Nicaraguan.
Castro’s shin injury was the result of a ricochet and had been a grazing shot. It was painful but not damaging. The bullet which hit his hand was a through-&-through. That really did hurt. He would never fully regain the use of his left hand. Castro would also for many years afterwards be seen wearing gloves. The third bullet which hit him did the most damage. It was another ricochet – the gunmen had been given the smallest of windows of opportunity and were under fire at the time – which had hit Castro at slow speed and got stuck in his belly. The doctors who treated him had a difficult time in getting the bullet out and keeping Castro alive. Outside of the operating room, Fidel’s brother was waiting. The doctors had feared what Raúl Castro would do to them should they fail to save el presidente. Cuba’s leader came through the surgery though to remove that bullet and put his insides back together. It was a close-run thing despite what the later announcements would say of the whole matter.
Nicaragua, with the help of the CIA, had tried to murder Castro and come very close to doing so. Naturally, he took this as quite the personal affront. Who wouldn’t? Following his brush with death, a lot of things would change with Castro. There were personal and public differences in his behaviour where he paid more attention to family and was less visible to his people. More importantly than that, Castro would fully shift the attention of Cuba’s foreign policy away from Africa and the wars of liberation there – which had granted him a lot of international prestige but not much else – to the wars of liberation in Central America instead. A suspicious man, someone rather paranoid might suspect that this was the intention of the Soviet Union as there had been efforts to get Cuba to do this. It wasn’t though. In fact, for some time afterwards, Moscow would believe that Castro was going too far when he did what he did in Central America. They wanted him to do what he did yet when he did, it was considered too much. He antagonised the United States to the extent that war was feared, a war which the Soviets didn’t want to see for the fear they would be dragged into it. Alas, such was the way of things when it came to Castro. That ‘too much’ would soon begin in Nicaragua and spread from there.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Feb 15, 2018 3:41:12 GMT
Well seems that he will not be missed, seeing what he planned to do during the Falklands War which might have helped the Argentina Regime in OTL. Do tell? Not something I have heard before. He's famous for "I am in control here", which is mis-represented. But, regardless, Argentina? Well its according to Wikipedia so i do not know if it is 100 % accurate. In April 1982 Haig conducted shuttle diplomacy between the governments of Argentina in Buenos Aires and the United Kingdom in London after Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. Negotiations broke down and Haig returned to Washington on April 19. The British fleet then entered the war zone. In December 2012 documents released under the UK "30 Year Rule" disclosed that Haig planned to reveal British classified military information to Argentina in advance of the recapture of South Georgia. The information, which contained British plans for the retaking of the island, was intended to show the military junta in Buenos Aires that the United States was a neutral player and could be trusted to act impartially during negotiations to end the conflict. |
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James G
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Post by James G on Feb 15, 2018 8:35:52 GMT
What a b*stard. That isn't cool, so much for NATO allies.
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Feb 15, 2018 12:08:16 GMT
What a b*stard. That isn't cool, so much for NATO allies. Fully agree. Never heard that before so sounds like we could have dodged a nasty bullet there. The war was relatively uncostly for both sides but that could have made it a lot worse. Plus, presuming it came out, which seems likely, it would really cool relations between the US and the UK in particular and the European powers in NATO in general. |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Feb 15, 2018 14:49:21 GMT
Not wanting to derail this thread, but do not forget another American by the name of Jeane Kirkpatrick who also was pro-Argentinean as according to a piece of this article about here during that period:
Her most notorious performance came during the Falklands war of 1982 when she made little or no effort to disguise her distaste for American diplomatic support of Britain. She later explained that "I thought a policy of neutrality in that war made sense from the point of view of US interests and would have done Britain no harm", but she was far from passive. There was reliable evidence, for example, that she had regular contacts with members of the Galtieri government to pass on details of her government's latest diplomatic intentions.
With the departure of Allen in January 1982 and Haig's dismissal a few months later, Kirkpatrick's influence with the president increased to the point where she was likely to become his national security adviser. But the new secretary of state, George Shultz, threatened to resign if she was appointed.
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James G
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Post by James G on Feb 15, 2018 18:11:18 GMT
What a b*stard. That isn't cool, so much for NATO allies. Fully agree. Never heard that before so sounds like we could have dodged a nasty bullet there. The war was relatively uncostly for both sides but that could have made it a lot worse. Plus, presuming it came out, which seems likely, it would really cool relations between the US and the UK in particular and the European powers in NATO in general. It's pretty shocking. If it had come out at the time, it would have caused some quite strong diplomatic exchanges. Other countries too wouldn't have been pleased either. |
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James G
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Post by James G on Feb 15, 2018 18:13:46 GMT
Not wanting to derail this thread, but do not forget another American by the name of Jeane Kirkpatrick who also was pro-Argentinean as according to a piece of this article about here during that period: Her most notorious performance came during the Falklands war of 1982 when she made little or no effort to disguise her distaste for American diplomatic support of Britain. She later explained that "I thought a policy of neutrality in that war made sense from the point of view of US interests and would have done Britain no harm", but she was far from passive. There was reliable evidence, for example, that she had regular contacts with members of the Galtieri government to pass on details of her government's latest diplomatic intentions.
With the departure of Allen in January 1982 and Haig's dismissal a few months later, Kirkpatrick's influence with the president increased to the point where she was likely to become his national security adviser. But the new secretary of state, George Shultz, threatened to resign if she was appointed.She is someone I know about. "A fool rather than a fascist" is something I read describing her. There will be a Falklands War in this story and nothing much will change apart from how the Soviets take note. In addition, Kirkpatrick will have no role in anything with this story. On another note, I have made loads of notes today (when I was meant to be working) so hopefully I will have a lot to post tonight. |
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lordbyron
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Post by lordbyron on Feb 15, 2018 18:33:55 GMT
Good TL (I also posted on your TL on AH.com) and waiting to see what changes there are...
Waiting for more...
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James G
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Post by James G on Feb 15, 2018 19:17:31 GMT
Good TL (I also posted on your TL on AH.com) and waiting to see what changes there are... Waiting for more... Welcome to the board. There are other stories here and activity is growing: I'd recommend Dan's No More For The Road too which I just getting started. There are also long-established stories worth a look too. Thank you. Some changes have been made and more will come. |
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James G
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Post by James G on Feb 15, 2018 19:18:08 GMT
(19)
July 1979:
Cuban exile media based in Miami initially reported that Castro had been killed. There had been jubilant celebrations across the country through much of the Cuban-American community at such news. Disappointment quickly followed when it had become apparent that Castro was alive. Some would still believe that he had been killed though for years afterwards, certain that an imposter made those public appearances and that there was a big secret being kept that only they knew of. Talking of big secrets, the exposure of one – a real one, not paranoid delusions – started in the United States during July. The covert wars being fought by the CIA but increasingly US Armed Forces ‘advisers’ too had long been regarded by some in the know as just begging to be exposed. These were being undertaken without the wholescale knowledge of the American people and elements of what was going on was not all known to select members of committees in Congress when it was supposed to either. The CIA had also assisted in the attempted assassination of Castro as well, something not meant to be done anymore by that organisation. Exposure came. There were revelations made by American domestic whistle-blowers of the scale of American involvement in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras where dirty wars were being fought. The connection to the Havana shooting was revealed too.
In all honestly, most Americans didn’t care. Their government was fighting communists in some country which they hadn’t heard of? Good. The CIA had helped plan and aid the near killing of such a man as Fidel Castro? Good. Those who leaked what they knew believed that when they did there would be universal outrage and Things Would Change. They didn’t expect the near non-reaction that they got. There were more important things going on though with the economy in the mess that it was in and the continuing energy crisis. Only a very few people really did give a damn, one of those was someone planning to run for president next year though who had not yet declared that publicly.
Senator Ted Kennedy denounced the ongoing secret wars being fought without the public’s knowledge. This was wrong and he demanded that it stop. He said that it was the latest in a long line of such occurrences undertaken without the American people knowing or being consulted about too. He was joined in making his comments from outside Congress by Senator Frank Church; the latter spoke of the recommendations in his report only a few years before and the executive order that Ford had signed banning assassinations of foreign leaders from taking place by the CIA or with American assistance. Kennedy gave a proper speech on the same issue a week later and expanded upon his initial remarks when more details had been revealed of what was going on down in Central America in further damaging leaks had come out. There had been some public reaction though not as strong as he had hoped. Regardless, Kennedy would carry on down this path and when CIA Director Bush resigned at the end of July, there were those who gave Kennedy credit for spotlighting this issue leading to real change being made when Bush departed: the fact that it wasn’t all down to Bush was lost in the narrative. Kennedy would stay on this issue for the coming months and all the way up to the presidential election in November of next year. He had yet to formally make an announcement, but everyone knew he was running when he pushed this issue as he did. Bush’s resignation too – firing some rumours said; either way it killed his political ambitions more than the ‘failure’ over Iran did – changed the opening moves in their campaigns by those who would be opponents of Kennedy (also yet-to-declared) in that upcoming election with talking points about Central America propping up when the whole thing had been off everyone’s radar. The next sixteen months were going to be interesting.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Feb 15, 2018 19:40:40 GMT
(19)July 1979: Cuban exile media based in Miami initially reported that Castro had been killed. There had been jubilant celebrations across the country through much of the Cuban-American community at such news. Disappointment quickly followed when it had become apparent that Castro was alive. Some would still believe that he had been killed though for years afterwards, certain that an imposter made those public appearances and that there was a big secret being kept that only they knew of. Talking of big secrets, the exposure of one – a real one, not paranoid delusions – started in the United States during July. The covert wars being fought by the CIA but increasingly US Armed Forces ‘advisers’ too had long been regarded by some in the know as just begging to be exposed. These were being undertaken without the wholescale knowledge of the American people and elements of what was going on was not all known to select members of committees in Congress when it was supposed to either. The CIA had also assisted in the attempted assassination of Castro as well, something not meant to be done anymore by that organisation. Exposure came. There were revelations made by American domestic whistle-blowers of the scale of American involvement in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras where dirty wars were being fought. The connection to the Havana shooting was revealed too. In all honestly, most Americans didn’t care. Their government was fighting communists in some country which they hadn’t heard of? Good. The CIA had helped plan and aid the near killing of such a man as Fidel Castro? Good. Those who leaked what they knew believed that when they did there would be universal outrage and Things Would Change. They didn’t expect the near non-reaction that they got. There were more important things going on though with the economy in the mess that it was in and the continuing energy crisis. Only a very few people really did give a damn, one of those was someone planning to run for president next year though who had not yet declared that publicly. Senator Ted Kennedy denounced the ongoing secret wars being fought without the public’s knowledge. This was wrong and he demanded that it stop. He said that it was the latest in a long line of such occurrences undertaken without the American people knowing or being consulted about too. He was joined in making his comments from outside Congress by Senator Frank Church; the latter spoke of the recommendations in his report only a few years before and the executive order that Ford had signed banning assassinations of foreign leaders from taking place by the CIA or with American assistance. Kennedy gave a proper speech on the same issue a week later and expanded upon his initial remarks when more details had been revealed of what was going on down in Central America in further damaging leaks had come out. There had been some public reaction though not as strong as he had hoped. Regardless, Kennedy would carry on down this path and when CIA Director Bush resigned at the end of July, there were those who gave Kennedy credit for spotlighting this issue leading to real change being made when Bush departed: the fact that it wasn’t all down to Bush was lost in the narrative. Kennedy would stay on this issue for the coming months and all the way up to the presidential election in November of next year. He had yet to formally make an announcement, but everyone knew he was running when he pushed this issue as he did. Bush’s resignation too – firing some rumours said; either way it killed his political ambitions more than the ‘failure’ over Iran did – changed the opening moves in their campaigns by those who would be opponents of Kennedy (also yet-to-declared) in that upcoming election with talking points about Central America propping up when the whole thing had been off everyone’s radar. The next sixteen months were going to be interesting. So Castro has manged to cheat death again. |
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