|
|
Post by TheRomanSlayer on Dec 23, 2022 2:43:59 GMT
The thick hat would have to go, because it's too hot. As for helmets, I would suspect that they'd probably adopt the East German helmet, or the Chilean pickelhaube for ceremonial purposes.
|
|
gillan1220
Fleet admiral
I've been depressed recently. Slow replies coming in the next few days.
Posts: 12,609 
Likes: 11,326
|
Post by gillan1220 on Dec 23, 2022 3:24:27 GMT
The thick hat would have to go, because it's too hot. As for helmets, I would suspect that they'd probably adopt the East German helmet, or the Chilean pickelhaube for ceremonial purposes. The Pickelhaube would give it like a Prussian army. I don't think the AFP will get East German helmets just yet. The AFP would probably use those Vietnam-era helmets used in OTL. |
|
|
|
Post by TheRomanSlayer on Dec 23, 2022 3:59:47 GMT
Most likely they'll stick to the Vietnam-era helmets. The major military reforms regarding uniforms wouldn't come until after the entry of the Chileans.
|
|
|
|
Post by TheRomanSlayer on Dec 25, 2022 4:53:10 GMT
Merry Christmas to everyone in this site! As a great Christmas gift to all the readers here, the much awaited update is here.
---
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: THE LIONS OF PUNJAB
Excerpts from "Descent Into Madness: The Tragic Fallout of the Cross-Punjab Conflict"
by: Qaseem Imran Shah
Harvard University printing press, released on June 18, 2017
Chapter Five: The Rise of the Pakistani Mujahideen
The arrival of approximately 5,000 Mujahideen volunteers from the Middle East and North Africa in Pakistan was a much needed relief, as elements of the Pakistani Armed Forces were hard pressed on both the Punjab and Kashmir Fronts. Every single week since the start of the 1986-1988 Indo-Pakistani War, the Indian Army had invested much of its resources into capturing the border cities within eastern Pakistan, and in addition, there were the exiled Sikh separatist movements that engaged the Indian Army in hit and run raids. In fact, the main reason for India's sudden attack against Pakistan in 1986 had more to do with their attempts to clamp down on Sikh separatism than to resolve another border dispute with Pakistan, regarding Kashmir. Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi has stated in one of his speeches that the main objective of solving the Cross-Punjab conflict was to annex more of Pakistani Punjab, up to the Jhelum River, of which the city of Sialkot is located. The Gujranwala-Faisalabad-Bahawalnagar line emerged as the ultimate objective for the Indian military, as its inclusion into the Indian province that shares its name with its Pakistani counterpart would not only result in a more successful Indian suppression of the Sikh separatist movement, but it would also allow Indian forces to position more of its forces into Kashmir. So how did the Cross-Punjab conflict became more tragic for Pakistan in general?
Pakistan's emergence as the second hub of the Mujahideen had a lot to do with recently appointed commander of the Mujahideen Abdullah Yusuf Azzam's decision to send help to Pakistan when the Indian Army invaded its territory. Mohammed Anwar was appointed the commander of the Pakistani Mujahideen contingent that was tasked with helping the Pakistani Army resist the Indian onslaught, but it was their zealous fundamentalist attitude towards their erstwhile Sikh comrades that resulted in some Sikh separatists second guessing their motivations for fighting the Indian military. It didn't help that the Pakistani Mujahideen members had expressed their contempt towards the Sikh separatists, who were seen as infidels in their eyes. In addition to the arrival of the volunteers from the rest of the Islamic world, much of the American military aid to the Mujahideen had to be diverted to Pakistan, in order to help the Pakistani military win their war against India. Ultimately, the Soviet Union was able to benefit from an unexpected second front in the Punjab region to pour more Soviet troops into Afghanistan. Soviet controls over much of northern Afghanistan had increased, and additional troops of the Afghan Army were being trained inside the Soviet Union to help replace Soviet forces that would be redeployed to the Afghan border with Pakistan. Moreover, Soviet airstrikes against Mujahideen positions were becoming more frequent, and at one occassion Abdullah Yusuf Azzam was nearly killed in the town of Taleqan, while supervising the movement of his warriors against the Soviet forces in the area. Inside Pakistan though, much of the Pakistani public had remained mired in poverty, and it was their sheer desperation to improve their own situation that they were susceptible to Mujahideen propaganda. That the source of their problems were the corrupt Pakistani military that had performed terribly against their Indian enemies, and the Sikhs that lived in Pakistan, who were viewed as Indian agents, despite ironically being seen as puppets of Pakistani intelligence by the Indian government.
Local Pakistani recruits were sent to a Mujahideen training camp at an undisclosed location, where they were subjected to military discipline and intense Islamic theological education. In addition, the Pakistani government could also rely on the Pakistani diaspora for support, and Great Britain was the main source of support for Pakistan, Anglo-Indian relations soured after India's invasion of Pakistan. It was also rumored that the British MI6 were involved in training the senior leadership of what would become Al-Qaeda, including Anjem Choudary, who would emerge as one of the ideological heads of what emerged as the Choudarist cell of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan. The Choudarist cell of Al-Qaeda was one of the most dangerous cells in the entire network, as their members had been raised in Western societies, especially British societies. Their keen knowledge of the Western political system allowed them to seduce local politicians of the Muslim faith to lobby on their behalf, although certain moderates within Western Muslim societies, such as Maajid Nawaz, had spoke out against the growing extremist rhetoric, and indeed Mr. Nawaz was instrumental in providing advice to the British government on how to deal with radicalization within the Muslim community. One could say that the lower rank of the Pakistani Mujahideen had been used primarily as guerrillas to carry out sabotage missions against Indian Army supply depots, or were used as scouts in gathering information for their senior leadership. Their uneasy relationship with the Pakistan-based Sikh separatist groups had been a source of tensions between the two religious groups, and Indian intelligence were successful in identifying potential turncoats within the Sikh separatist groups and to entice them into turning against their countrymen, or to assassinate them if they refused.
---
KASUR FALLS TO INDIAN FORCES AS PAKISTANI MUJAHIDEEN GUERRILLAS CONTINUE RAIDS BEHIND ENEMY LINES, SOVIET RECONAISSANCE PLANES CONTINUE TO INTRUDE INTO PAKISTANI AIRSPACE
The Times of India
October 29, 1987
(Kasur, PAKISTANI PUNJAB) - The city of Kasur had awakened to a new reality as elements of the Indian Army have stormed into the city after weeks of bombardment by Indian artillery units. Buoyed by the successful capture of Sialkot, Gujranwala, and the town of Mustafa Abad, the Indian government has approved the deployment of additional Indian Army regiments: 2 mechanised infantry regiments, followed by three more Gorkha Rifle regiments, and two artillery regiments were now deployed to Kasur and Mustafa Abad. The fall of Kasur, along with the capture of Mustafa Abad, would allow the Indian military to blockade and besiege one critical target and one of Pakistan's largest cities: Lahore. In addition to the impending battle for Lahore, the Rajputana Rifles were deployed to take control of the Sutlej River area, in an attempt to establish a bridgehead. Backing up the Rajputana Rifles were elements of the 195th Medium Regiment, the 20th SATA Regiment, and the 84th Armored Regiment, which provided the necessary additional defenses needed to repel any attempted counteroffensive that would be launched by the Pakistani military. These combined forces also managed to start building defensive positions around the southern banks of the Sutlej River, even as the 20th SATA Regiment started to bombard the town of Kholy Jaimal. The loss of Kasur has badly affected the morale of the Pakistani military, although the arrival of an undetermined amount of Mujahideen warriors originally destined for the warzones of Afghanistan have managed to bring up a much needed positivity for the battered nation.
"Our nation has faced another disaster with the loss of Kasur to the Indian invaders. Even as we continue to receive significant aid from our allies and brothers within the global Muslim community, it is not enough to help stem the tide of the battle," says Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo, while addressing wounded Pakistani soldiers resting at a hospital in the town of Layyah. "The Indian Air Force has also managed to launch several airstrikes, targeting much of the electrical grid in our country, and as a result, we've lost around 18% of our electrical supplies. We fear for the worst case scenario, should the Indian Air Force continue to attack our electrical grids."
As a result of the Indian Air Force's successful aerial strikes against Pakistani electrical grids, Prime Minister Junejo has ordered various anti-air units to be stationed around power plants and sub stations throughout the rest of Pakistan, though Pakistani Air Force fighter planes at one point, encountered 5 Soviet MiG-25 reconaissance planes that were patrolling the airspace above the Afghan-Pakistani border, but the Soviet planes didn't engage at all. However, the Soviet reconaissance flights close to the Pakistani border with Afghanistan had confirmed the Pakistani government's suspicions that the Soviet Union was giving India crucial information on Pakistani troop movements, thereby allowing the Indian ground forces to attack them successfully. The revelation that part of the Mujahideen forces that were originally going to Afghanistan were ending up in Pakistan instead had also galvanized the Soviet ground forces occupying Afghanistan, as they increased their frequency of their air strikes at suspected Mujahideen hideouts in eastern Afghanistan. Consequently, Great Britain under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was alarmed at the additional successes of the Indian military that she made a stunning announcement.
"We're announcing the first round of sanctions against various Indian government officials implicated in this barbaric attack on a sovereign nation. All bank accounts and overseas properties owned by these Indian government officials placed under our sanctions will be seized and used as compensation for war damages done to Pakistan's national sovereignty," announces Prime Minister Thatcher, during an emergency session in Parliament. "In addition, we're also suspending arms shipments to India, as we do not wish to be a party to this conflict on the side of the aggressor."
The announcement of an arms embargo imposed upon India from not only Great Britain, but France and the United States, which followed suit as they also imposed their arms embargo upon said sanctioned nation, but more limited in scope, as the Indian government did not purchase many weapons from the West. Consequently, the Soviet Union has announced that it is offering to sell its weapons to the Indian military at a slightly lowered price than it normally sells at the international market. So far, the Indian leadership hasn't commented on the Soviet proposal, but given the rising materiel losses sustained by the Indian ground forces to Pakistani counterattacks and guerrilla hit and run tactics, Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was close to giving his response.
---
Excerpts from "A House Built on Corroded Stone: From Gorbachev to Civil War"
by: Anatoly Lukyanov
Molodaya Gvardiya, published 2010
Chapter Five: Enough is Enough
Although we managed to avoid causing trouble in the Kazakh SSR by appointing Serikbolsyn Abdildin as the new leader of the Kazakh Communist Party back in December of 1986, the next couple of months had been rather uneventful, aside from the eruption of the conflict between India and Pakistan over some border incident in the Punjab region. For once, we had nothing to do with the instigation of the conflict, as the Sikh separatist movement was not within the range of our radar, but India's renewed conflict with Pakistan over the border incidents was actually beneficial for us, as the Indians were able to force Pakistan to disrupt the flow of American weapons and Mujahideen volunteers from Afghanistan, to their own territory, as Pakistani military casualties were piling up. Yet, we did not notice a growing, disturbing trend that was slowly taking root within the Soviet Union, until this one ordinary morning on July of 1987. I was sitting at my office of the First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Soviet, reviewing various reports sent to me by various regional party bosses. I was not happy to hear that much of the proposed reforms that Comrade Gorbachev had planned had intensified the problems that prompted him to launch the ambitious reforms in the first place. As I've feared, Comrade Gorbachev was rather impatient with launching both political and economic reforms at the same time, and the results were obvious to see. Glasnost had resulted in the KGB's frequent reports of unsanctioned gatherings throughout the various republics within the Union. The republic with the most amount of reports of unsanctioned gatherings were in the Ukrainian SSR, which was rather shocking, given that a significant amount of investment and economic development that we poured into that republic was located in Eastern Ukraine, close to the border with the Russian SFSR.
Just then, I heard a knock on the door. I got up and opened it, only to see two KGB officers whom I've never seen before. They saluted to me as I allowed them to enter my office. To my relief, they didn't begin to speak, until I noticed two folders in each hand of the KGB officers that were present.
"Comrade Lukyanov, I am aware that we've never met before. I'm Comrade Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Mikhailovich Smirnov." The KGB officer then pointed at the officer beside him. "This man is Comrade Captain Nikolay Patrushev. We were sent by Comrade Kryuchkov to talk to you about an issue regarding Comrade Gorbachev."
I snorted. "I've read the reports, Comrade Lieutenant Smirnov. I understand too well about what's going."
However, the second KGB officer shook his head in disappointment. I grabbed the folder from his hand and started to read its contents. This was rather surprising, as this report from whom I am assuming is written by Comrade Patrushev himself, was starkly different from the reports that the regional party bosses had written to me. In fact, as I contined to read much of Comrade Patrushev's report, it soon became clear that Comrade Gorbachev was not only impatient, but he had no idea as to what kind of destructive force he had unleased.
"Several of our officers from OMON had to break up a few of those 'unsanctioned gatherings' in the Belarusian SSR. A bunch of underground nationalists wailing about their culture being endangered, all that usual stuff," said Comrade Patrushev. He paused for a moment, before looking at Comrade Smirnov, and then gazed back at me. "Comrade Lukyanov, we know of your friendship with Comrade Gorbachev, but at this rate, if the policies of glasnost and perestroika were to go out of control, it could destroy the Union as we know it."
"It is what I feared the most, comrades," I replied back darkly as I gave the folder back to Comrade Patrushev, before picking up the second folder from Comrade Smirnov's hand. When I read its contents though, my shock only grew. "Ethnic pogroms have increased in the Nagorno-Karabakh ASSR within the Azerbaijani SSR, and as a result, Armenians in the Azeri SSR are fleeing to the Armenian SSR, and Azeris are fleeing from Armenian reprisal attacks towards the Azeri SSR. We need to stamp out this conflict, before it gets worse."
Comrade Smirnov raised his hand. "But Comrade Lukyanov, how do we propose to do that? For all we know, the Armenians might be preparing for such a conflict with the help of their ethnic kin overseas. The Armenian diaspora is very large, and they are also influential as well."
"Could we try to mitigate the ethnic tensions, at the very least?" Comrade Patrushev asked us, though we had no clear answers. "The enclave of Nakhichevan is entirely populated by Azeris, but the only thing that separates Nakhichevan from the rest of the Azeri SSR is the Armenian SSR's province of Syunik. If we try to slice bits of Syunik Oblast and give that to the Azeri SSR, we'd lose the Armenian SSR forever."
"Then we have to stop the ethnic conflict right away, and make sure that we come up with something that will satisfy all sides. Trust my old friend to neglect this sensitive issue. If the international press ever gets wind of the conflict in our southern borders, think of how NATO will use this opportunity to gain a foothold in the Caucasus. Turkey might even be used as a springboard for an invasion of our Union by attacking both the Georgian and Armenian SSRs," I replied back. Just as I was about to dismiss them, Comrade Smirnov spoke up once again.
"Comrade Lukyanov, what do you think of having Comrade Gorbachev replaced as General Secretary of the CPSU? We cold do it when he travels to the United States, and we could-" I held up my hand to make him stop.
"This isn't the kind of thinking that you would openly say out loud!" I growled. "For all we know, someone could also bug my office and listen to our conversation out loud. Furthermore, you two are the experts at bugging people's offices and eavesdropping on conversations. Have some common sense and don't say anything that would implicate yourselves."
Comrade Smirnov slumped down and nodded in agreement. I sensed that they were getting rather too excited over the plan to get rid of my old friend, but the welfare and security of our Union comes first. I feared that our plan to slow down Comrade Gorbachev's reforms might trigger a split within the CPSU into two camps: one that supports glasnost and perestroika, and another that supports stability. As I looked at the eyes of the two KGB officers, I can sense that they too, had started to fear the potential destructive force that would be unleashed by the forces of those same reforms. I initially supported them, don't get me wrong. I too, wanted to see our Union reform in a way that would enable us to compete with the West on an international arena, but this kind of plot to unseat him would also run into one problem: who will replace Comrade Gorbachev? However, this kind of thing will have to involve the leadership of the Communist Parties within the other republics of the Soviet Union, as we could rely on the republics that will remain loyal to us, while there may be some other republics that could use Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika to do the unthinkable: secession from the Soviet Union. That was the thing that would destroy our socialist project the most.
"Comrade Lukyanov, you know where to find Comrade Kryuchkov if you ever want to join us in unseating Comrade Gorbachev," said Comrade Patrushev as both officers saluted and were about to leave my room when the door opened once again. This time, a junior ranked KGB officer whom I never bothered to learn his name entered my room and saluted, before turning his attention to Comrade Patrushev. He whispered something into his ear as the latter's facial expression turned dark. "Comrade Lukyanov, there's tragic news that we just received."
"What would that be?" I asked. I knew that I wasn't going to like the answer that he was about to give out.
"There was a car accident at Leningradskoye Highway. According to what this young comrade said, four people were injured gravely inside the car. Boris Nikolayevich is among the passengers, and I'm afraid that he might not make it alive."
---
"We have a breaking news coming out of the Soviet Union: approximately on 0200 hours, Moscow time, a Soviet civilian plane carrying Premier Mikhail Gorbachev has been forced to make an emergency landing in the town of Sochi, inside the Russian SFSR. When the plane landed at Sochi Airport, the Premier was notified by a member of the KGB that he is being placed under house arrest, while various Communist Party members loyal to the Premier are being rounded up in what is emerging as a coup d'etat, launched by an unconfirmed number of Soviet military officers and KGB agents, though led by an emerging figure in Anatoly Lukyanov. Lukyanov, who initially supported Premier Gorbachev's policies of glasnost and perestroika, had grown disillusioned with the reforms once various protests and gatherings have been reported by Soviet state media. In addition, the Politburo, along with the Supreme Soviet, had announced a massive scaling back of many of the now-ousted Premier Gorbachev's reforms, though leaving a few of them intact. Though many within the Warsaw Pact had not yet responded to the coup launched against Gorbachev, the coup inside the Soviet Union comes at a time when palace coups are becoming more rife. Just last year, China had ousted Premier Hu Yaobang, due to his liberal stance, and also because of similar outbreaks of public protests that have erupted in response to former Premier Hu's advocation for bold political reform that called for loosening the control of the Chinese Communist Party on Chinese society overall." BBC World News, reporting on the Coup D'Etat against Gorbachev on December 12, 1987, a few days after his return from the United States upon signing the INF Treaty and the conclusion of the Washington Summit.
---
Excerpts from "Inside the Bear's Fangs: A Violent Transition of Power in Post-Cold War Russia"
by: Sam Tulley
Emory University publishing press, released on August 24, 2017
Chapter Four: Extremism in the Declining Soviet Union
Although the coup launched by Anatoly Lukyanov and his backers had not changed much of the political landscape inside the USSR overnight, the reactions to such a clandestine act had stunned the international community. While the nations within the Warsaw Pact had not reacted as much as the West had hoped when Gorbachev was deposed, the coup had revealed a growing rift within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Supporters of Mikhail Gorbachev (known as the Gorbachevtsy, or Gorbachevians in Euro-Communist circles) were furious about the brazen act of treachery on part of Gorbachev's once close friend Anatoly Lukyanov, to the point where he was denounced as a traitor. Lukyanov in return, had condemned Gorbachev's reforms and the man personally for his recklessness when implementing the policies of glasnost and perestroika. One of the consequences of glasnost was that the republics within the Soviet Union had began to hold covert meetings on how they can take advantage of glasnost to push for a cultural revival. This was the case in the Baltic States, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, the Caucasus and Central Asian republics, where Sovietization of their republics had resulted in their national aspirations being suppressed. While Lukyanov was able to mollify the Central Asian and Caucasian republics by promising to back the necessary economic reforms that was needed (this was crucial in pushing for the limited de-collectivization of certain collective farms that were not performing as well as the other, more productive collective farms), he had feared that once the Soviet authorities would not dare to crack down on these 'unsanctioned gatherings' that the KGB had warned him about, there would be a greater push for these national revival gatherings to become more open. For example, one of the 'unsanctioned gatherings' that spiralled into an open protest against the Soviet system had occurred in the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, where a memorial to the victims of Soviet repression had been held. Once the local KGB had gotten wind of the event, they tried to enter the event quietly, but a local had alerted the crowd to the presence of the KGB agents and began to shout insults at them. The KGB agents fled for half an hour, until they returned with reinforcements as they tried to disperse the crowd peacefully. What ultimately sparked the violence was when the guests at the memorial had began to sing the outlawed anthem of the Ukrainian National Republic (titled 'Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished) instead of the anthem of the Ukrainian SSR, did one of the KGB agents fired his pistol in the air, hoping to scare the locals into ending the event. However, another agent would fire his pistol into the crowd, killing a teenage girl as she pleaded for the KGB to allow them to continue the memorial.
News of the Vinnytsia Tragedy that occurred on December 19, 1987, as it was now officially called in Ukrainian historiography, had spread throughout the rest of the Ukrainian SSR, as the murdered teenaged girl soon became the symbol of Ukraine's fight for freedom from the Soviet Union. When Lukyanov found out about the incident in Vinnytsia from Sergei Smirnov and NIkolay Patrushev, he ordered them to bring in the KGB agents that used lethal force to disperse the crowd. The newly appointed Soviet premier would berate them for their lack of control, before demoting them a single rank, and had them reassigned to guard duty at a gulag in Norilsk. In addition, another incident would occur within the Soviet Union that would highlight the unexpected rise of a Russian national cultural movement. On January 7, 1988, in a normal Christmas celebration in the Eastern Orthodox calendar, a young religious student who was studying at the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius was arrested on suspicion of being tied to an underground Russian nationalist movement. Diomid Dzyuban was beaten and tortured by his KGB interrogators for several days, until news of his incarceration had been leaked by a sympathetic KGB agent who subsequently shot himself to prevent his former colleagues from arresting him. With the memories of the recent Vinnytsia Tragedy still fresh in the minds of the Soviet government, Lukyanov would give a speech in the Supreme Soviet, criticizing the KGB's rather bizarre behavior in how they dealt with arrests and the unsanctioned gatherings. To calm the public and the international community down before more trouble would occur, Lukyanov would personally travel to Lubyanka Prison and to announce in front of prison guards and KGB interrogators alike that he is pardoning Dzyuban, because as it turned out, Dzyuban did not have any ties to the Russian nationalist underground. Yet, in an interesting turn of events, Dzyuban, who eventually became Patriarch Diomid I of the Russian Orthodox Church, had forgiven his captors and even presided over their confessions.
In the wake of the Vinnytsia Tragedy, several nationalist groups would emerge, though most of them were not known until 1990, when the Soviet Union itself started to experience terrorist attacks within its border. Inside Ukraine, political groups were also formed as a way to push for not only political reform, but even independence. Likewise, in the three Baltic States, a series of negotiations between the pro-independence leaders of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania began on how they would proceed with getting their sovereignty and independence from the Soviet Union. They soon realized that any chance of their countries getting their independence from the USSR would remain difficult, as long as there's a troublesome minority that would act as the Quisling that will force them to remain loyal: their Russian minorities that were transplanted to the Baltic States when the indigenous Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians were being deported to Siberian gulags after WWII. Such steps tragically went well with the growing surge of Russophobia within the Baltic States. Ukraine and Belarus, likewise, had come to the conclusion that their own Russian minorities might be a potential underground fifth column that will subvert their attempts to gain independence from the USSR. As a result, ethnic tensions between the other republics within the Soviet Union and their Russian minorities began to rise, as Russian homes were often targeted for vandalism by hooligans. In response to the growing Russophobia, the Russian minorities began to form self-defense groups that will protect each other from future anti-Russian pogroms, but even these self-defense groups were divided along ideological lines. The left-wing Russian radical groups would often wear old WW2 era jackets, called Vatniks, and it was from this clothing, along with the usage of the term as a derogatory reference to Russians by Ukrainians and Belarusians, had led to them adopting the term Vatnik for themselves as a term for left-wing Russian radicals, or Soviet nostalgists. Right-wing Russian radical groups on the other hand, had already organized into a potent group as early as 1980, although their origins lay with the 1970s historical association called "Vityaz", or knight in Russian. A splinter group of the original Pamyat would later emerge, from which Dmitry Vasilyev would emerge, though another splinter group that would also emerge from within the same organization. This group would be far more violent than their Pamyat counterparts, as they were not hesitant to show their racist attitudes towards anyone not ethnically Russian. The Druzhinniki, named after the medieval warriors of the pre-Mongol Rus' state that served their Grand Prince, had also shared the same ideals as Pamyat, except that they were more open to venerating the memories of not only the White movement (something that could potentially have lethal consequences for their group as a whole), but also Russian collaborators who worked for the Germans during the Second World War. Druzhinniks were also prone to violent actions, and indeed, it was the Druzhinniks that would form multiple chapters in areas of the non-Russian republics within the Soviet Union that had Russian minorities.
---
Portions from the Interview with Indian Entrepreneur Sarabjit Singh Chadha
Sky News AU, released on May 29, 2019
Discussing the Growth of India as an Economic and Technological Superpower
Interviewer: You've come a long way from being a son of an Indian soldier who died during the Cross-Punjab conflict to being one of the world's aspiring entrepreneurs. Yet, you've never revealed much about your net worth, mostly because you felt that you didn't have to brag in front of the world about the growth of the Indian entrepreneurial class, but also because you feared that jealous rivals might try to attack you. How did your company started, Mr. Singh?
Singh-Chadha: Well, as you said just now, my father died during the advance into Lahore by the Pakistani military, but he was a member of the Corps of Signals, meaning that he didn't fight on the front lines. His unit was stationed, just outside Lahore, when a Pakistani artillery strike had destroyed most of his unit, and my mother became a widow, as a result of the war. Although she didn't remarry after my father's funeral, she devoted much of her time to telling me stories of how my father worked hard to ensure that the Indian military had maintained their communications equipment. That led me to studying electronics and manufacturing at the I.K. Gujral Punjab Technical University in 1997, and would not graduate until 2001.
Interviewer: You must have learned a lot about electronics in general, during your studies at the university. Were you also exposed to foreign education as well, as in did you also study abroad as well?
Singh-Chadha: (pauses) I did, but only for a year, before a friend of mine whom I knew since we were kids had suggested to me that we should open a repair shop where we can fix cell phones and lap tops. We did that for four years, but we also had a side project where we'd rebuild the CPU hardware and make it work a little bit faster. We put the refurbished lap top on sale, though we didn't expect anyone to buy it, as it looked a bit older than usual. Imagine my surprise when an Indian Navy officer visited our shop and examined the lap top. He was surprised at how it worked, despite the fact that the lap top that we rebuilt from scratch looked old.
Interviewer: (laughs) Was he impressed?
Singh-Chadha: Well, he was a bit impressed, but not enough to buy the lap top. There was one thing that he asked me: how come I'm stuck at a second hand shop repairing and rebuilding electronics equipment when I could build a company that is dedicated to building new electronics equipment that could sell not only all over India, but overseas as well. I admitted to the officer that I'm not wealthy enough, or that I don't have enough funds. What surprised me and my friend Kartar was that the Indian Navy officer offered to send much of the older and decommissioned communications equipment to our shop, and we'd repair them all. Here's the catch: we had to repair them, while also repairing the equipment that our customers were sending to our shop.
Interviewer: Were you and your friend paid for undertaking such a large project though?
Singh-Chadha: (laughs) We were stunned at how much the officer in question wanted to pay. The thing is, the entire Indian Navy was looking to get rid of much of its older communications equipment that they were sending them to repair shops all over India for us to tinker and play with. They paid us 10 million rupees to tinker and refurbish all of the equipment that they sent us, and I had to hire other graduates of the university that I studied in to help out. That 10 million rupees was enough for us to start the company that you see today.
Interviewer: Well, I had a chance to see one of your phones when I was shopping for a new cellphone though. Between China's Huawei phone and Russia's Taiga, which was not sold in Western nations, I actually managed to buy one of your phones. (shows a cellphone) I believe this phone is your product, right?
Singh-Chadha: (looks at the phone) Yes. Your phone is the Acharya Agra M4, which has around 2 GB. The main thing is, we made sure that our phones that have cameras on do not have any other kinds of spy gear that would violate our customers' right to privacy. I believe that was the reason why in Europe, North America, and Australia, Acharya phones are highly prized. Moreover, thanks to the US Supreme Court's successful anti-trust legal battle, many more companies around the world took advantage of Microsoft's collapse as a result of Bill Gates being forced to spend more of his wealth settling his affairs with the Supreme Court. Our company initially wanted to go into the computer software business, but our hardware products were so popular, that any venture into the software business would have been extremely risky.
Interviewer: We did hear about the fall of Microsoft, and although Steve Jobs would benefit from the downfall of his rival, he too, would face scrutiny when it was revealed that Jobs was recruited as a technological consultant by a relatively unheard of company called Greymarble Group. As it turns out, Greymarble was basically a front company for a rogue CIA faction called the Corsairs, as they used Greymarble's business to single handedly fund their operations. In addition, Jobs would also get into legal trouble when it was revealed during the De-Tadiarization Trial of 2017, that he had developed a surveillance software that would enable Philippine intelligence to monitor its citizens, and to even listen to their conversations. Just this year, Apple's stocks had suffered because of the De-Tadiarization Trial, and the ones that are poised to benefit from Jobs's downfall would be Japan's Hikari Software Corporation, which designed and operated the Tegami OS for all of the world's computers. Likewise, your friend Karmar Singh Kohli has founded his own software company, Kapad Technological Group, where he has presided over the designs for an operating system that would rival the Tegami OS. How did this contributed to India's technological growth?
Singh-Chadha: Well, as it turns out, much of our population had remained in poverty, and the various Indian governments from Narasimha Rao to Sugata Bose, who was recently elected as Prime Minister of India on the platform of investing in upgrading the infrastructure of the country, had maintained their focus on economic growth. The southern regions of India were given special attention, because of the ports in Kochi, Chennai, and Visakhapatnam. Those ports were given investment in the upgrades of their facilities, which would have enabled us to expand our shipbuilding capabilities. In addition, our trade agreements with Iran, Central Asia, Russia, SE Asia, and China, have also been a major boon for us, as we were able to export not only our telecommunications products, but our automobiles as well. In fact, we're opening a new Acharya Jaisalmer lap top assembly plant in the northern Philippine city of Carranglan, Nueva Ecija Prefecture, in the Casiguran Region.
Interviewer: Is that the latest Indian investment in the Philippine economy?
Singh-Chadha: Yes, but our economic projects in the Philippines only started back in 2014. As we all know, it was Turkey that led the way in investing in the Philippine economy, followed by the United States. By this year, we are on our way to becoming the 2nd largest investor in the Philippine economy, and the largest investor in the Vietnamese and Thai economies.
Interviewer: Would you also be able to explain how your company is also expanding its influence in neighboring states as well?
Singh-Chadha: Certainly. You see, Bangladesh has also emerged as a surprise destination for Indian start up companies, which benefited from a lax policy towards foreign investors, as part of Bangladesh's initiative to attract foreign firms to establish their businesses in there. In fact, our relations with Bangladesh is actually excellent, as opposed to our hostile relations with Pakistan, which was given massive economic relief by the West. It certainly helped us that Central Asia was also a hungry customer for our investment as well. However, it was our relationship with the former Soviet Union, especially Russia and the former Central Asian republics, that have been the most beneficial, due to our reliance on their oil and natural gas supplies.
Interviewer: Wouldn't the reliance on Russian oil and gas supplies allow the Kremlin to influence Indian domestic politics though?
Singh-Chadha: That would have been the case, but Prime Minister Sugata Bose didn't care about the West's warnings about being reliant on Russian oil and gas, as long as Russians were also accepting Indian investments in their economy as well. You could say that while Russia and China are trying to assert themselves through military means as a way of impressing the world in a rather fearful kind of way, India is focusing a lot on economics. Of course, we didn't neglect our military as well. In fact, the Indian military leadership has established an equivalent to Israel's Talpiot program, where both the civilian and military leaderships have kept an eye on future recruits that have demonstrated excellent academic ability in the STEM areas. We not only emulated the Talpiot program, but also applied its system to include undergraduates in areas of finance, business, marketing, and education, the last one being an area where we would train future teachers. In terms of how we've reformed ourselves, we've taken a lot of notes from how Israel prepares its military and applied it to our own usage. We would then teach the Russians how to scout for future recruits that also excelled in academic pursuits as well. You know when even Israel is praising us for learning from them on how to cultivate a country's intellectual population, you've realized that you've begun to move up in the world.
|
|
|
|
Post by TheRomanSlayer on Jan 10, 2023 6:12:38 GMT
CHAPTER NINETEEN: ERUPTING TENSIONS
"1986 was also the year in which the province of British Columbia was affected by both domestic and international events outside their control. While the United States and the Soviet Union were discussing the issue of arms reduction, and the Philippines was undergoing what was supposed to be a peaceful, bloodless revolution that toppled a dictator, had turned into a massacre that eventually ended in a civil war, Canada as a whole was not immune to them. Indeed, the Social Credit Party of British Columbia held a leadership convention to replace the outgoing Premier William R. Bennett, who was slated to retire from politics altogether. The incoming 1986 BC Provincial Election's main issue was the track record of the BC SoCreds under the Bennett ministry, in which the dominant neoliberal policies had contributed to the degradation of labour laws and the decline in social services that thousands of British Columbians had relied on. His favorite tactic of blaming the province's problems on public school teachers and opponents of his 'Restraint' program had contributed to the slight decline in popularity of the BC SoCreds, but it was the huge extravagant like spending on certain megaprojects that ultimately proved to be beneficial, such as the Expo 86 event that opened Vancouver to the whole world, as well as the infrastructure needed to complement the event. No sooner did BC showcase itself to the world than the events in the Philippines, where the Filipino Civil War had resulted in a massive refugee crisis that threatened to destabilize much of SE Asia. While the refugees were initially placed in displacement camps in Palau, Guam, and other US Territories, they were stuck on what to do after the civil war was over. Canada on the other hand, had a stricter immigration law back then, and it would take a couple of years for a prospective immigrant to be approved for settlement in Canada under the current system at that time. It was not until after the Filipino Civil War and the rise of the Artemio Tadiar dictatorship that Canada was truly tested to see their reaction to the arrival of Filipino refugees. In addition, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East between Iraq and Iran had caused a humanitarian crisis for the migrant workers, and this was especially true for other Filipinos that now faced the prospect of not being able to return home because of the military junta that replaced the deposed government of Corazon Aquino. However, much of the rest of the Western world was slow to react, possibly because of their immigration quotas for people from outside the Western world, and racial tensions were still high at that time period. Thus, both the federal government under Brian Mulroney's leadership, and the provincial governments had to take into account the ongoing refugee crisis when discussing the Meech Lake Accord. To ensure that Quebec was satisfied, as well as to push for genuine reforms, three key points were addressed. The expansion of the Senate reforms, which would have included the election, rather than selection, of new members, as pushed by Saskatchewan's premier at that time, was noted for being the preconditions for acceptance of the Meech Lake Accord. Second, the provincial governments would have more powers allotted to them when it came to immigration. This was crucial, in light of the Filipino Refugee Crisis that was emerging, though Prime Minister Mulroney had to consult US Presidents Ronald Reagan and Michael Dukakis on tackling the issue, as they were at loggerheads as to how much they're willing to take. Only after communist Yugoslavia managed to shame the entire international community for their inactivity did the West finally got in on the action, with Canada and Australia taking in more Filipino refugees than even the United States. Western Canada as a whole, would benefit from the influx of these refugees, as their upskilling was covered by the Mulroney government, though it was not without controversies, as the cost of resettling the refugees had nearly caused a larger economic downturn for the entire Canadian state. BC, and especially Vancouver and Squamish, would benefit from the large settlement of Filipinos, as their contributions to their new communities had resulted in their emergence as an ethnically based political bloc that often voted for center or left wing parties, though the short term burden of bearing the cost of housing the refugees was a hot topic that single handedly destroyed any chances that Bill Vander Zalm had of ever taking the top position as the leader of the BC SoCreds when he mistakenly said during a leadership convention that BC was reaching a level of bankruptcy by the refugee crisis, when he should have said that the extravagant and reckless spending that was made by the previous Bennett ministry that was the problem. Unfortunately, Vander Zalm's blunder was not only enough to sink his campaign, but it had also accomplished two unexpected goals: the election of Grace McCarthy as the new leader of the BC SoCreds, and the shocking victory of Bob Skelly as the new Premier of British Columbia." From the CBC Documentary: 'British Columbia in the Age of the Rogue Generals'
--- END OF A DYNASTY! BC NDP WINS BIG, BUT ONLY ENOUGH TO FORM MINORITY GOVERNMENT AS BC SOCREDS LOSE KEY SEATS MONTHS AFTER MCCARTHY SUCCEEDS BENNETT
Vancouver Sun
October 23, 1986
 Newly elected BC Premier Bob Skelly poses for a photo as the BC NDP had delivered a stunning blow in their shock victory against the ruling BC SoCreds.(Victoria) - In what is seen as a stunning defeat for the ruling BC SoCreds, the BC NDP has won the election by gaining over 14 seats from their SoCred rivals, as Bob Skelly was able to campaign on a platform of stronger assistance to the current refugees that have settled in from the Philippines, as well as his promise to restore social services that have been gutted by the outgoing Bennett ministry and the reformation of the labour laws that were also degraded by the same ministry. The BC SoCreds had also been reeling from the controversial collapse of Bill Vander Zalm's leadership campaign when he misspoke about the level of bankruptcy that British Columbia will face during the leadership convention, leading to the victory of Grace McCarthy as the new party leader of the BC SoCreds. However, it was the public anger from ordinary British Columbians that contributed the most to the downfall of the incumbent ruling party, especially the trade unions that were affected the most by outgoing Premier Bennett's neoliberal policies that affected them negatively. Skelly's victory meant that British Columbia has a long road ahead for its recovery from the disastrous years of the Bennett ministry.
"The people of BC have spoken. The unions that help defend the workers have spoken. The BC SoCreds have finally lost their mandate to govern this province, and we are now taking it back!" says Skelly, during a victory rally in his riding at Comox-Alberni. "This time around, we will also restore confidence in the people that have suffered from Bennett's mismanagement and anti-socialist policies that bordered on insanity."
One possible factor in the BC NDP's growth in their fortunes is that Skelly's campaign team have spent enormous amount of time learning from those people who suffered from years of Bennett's scaling back of social services that made their lives a lot harder. Moreover, the construction of the Coquihala Highway was done while employing a non-union company, Kerkhoff Construction Company. Finally, the level of education in BC had suffered because of the public teachers' growing anger at the former premier in response to his blaming of the public teachers for the growing opposition to his policies. Back in 1983, his controversial policies that placed additional burden on ordinary British Columbians had contributed to a major strike, adding more woes to the struggling economy of BC. The veterans of the 1983 strikes were co-opted by the Skelly campaign team as a way of bringing more energy to the BC NDP that ultimately resulted in victory.
--- Excerpts from "A Nation in Mourning"
By: Arturo Tolentino
Atlas Publishing, published 2002
Chapter Eleven: Breaking Point
Ever since the civil war in our country had ended with the joint victory of General Tadiar and Corazon Aquino, things had calmed down a bit. Aside from the streams of news of various mass graves that were found in areas formerly occupied by troops loyal to the now late former dictator Ferdinand Marcos (whom I found out, had died on February 22, 1988, the second anniversary of the EDSA Revolution), much of our lives were starting to reach a point of normalcy. However, I could not help but feel sorry for President Aquino, whose reputation had sunk to the same levels, ironically enough, as her despised predecessor. The only thing that both General Tadiar and former President Marcos had gambled on was President Aquino's political inexperience. It was something that even the most diehard of the Yellows had to admit, as they only supported her because of who her husband was. Her flirtation with the communists out of pragmatism had angered some of her own cabinet ministers enough to defect to the Tadiar camp. The man who was supposed to be the Minister of Labor before Cory picked Filemon Lagman had now become a firm Tadiar loyalist, and he was eager to display his sense of ideological zealotry in front of his new master. To be honest, I liked to talk to Augusto Sanchez a lot, mostly because he knew what he was doing in his job, and that Antonio Zumel and Solita Monsod had seen where their political fortunes would be made and thus they also became Tadiar loyalists as well. When the alliance between Tadiar and President Aquino was made, they were gloating at the President at how powerless she really was, and that she needed help from General Tadiar with putting down Macoy for good. Well, Macoy's death had complicated things now, as we won't be able to put him on trial. The consolation price was worth it, as Lieutenant Colonels Aromin and Doromal are now in charge of the Marcos family captives, who were being kept in Fort Bonifacio under lock and key. Of course, they were being fed well, considering that half of Macoy's own soldiers were constantly starving, and the late Fabian Ver neglected to feed his own army too.
"Bongbong seemed to be resigned to his own fate. Stupid fool was still wearing an all green combat fatigue, as if he wants to play hero," spat Doromal as he entered my office. He paused for a sec as someone tapped his shoulder and he moved aside, only to see Monsod arrive at my office too. "Any news about the value of the currency?"
Monsod grumbled. "1 US dollar is now equivalent to almost 200 pesos, and we're suffering from inflation now. Many of our people are still rioting over food prices, and the economic situation isn't going to fix itself."
"I can't do anything about it, as I'm not the president," I retorted darkly. "Brigadier General Tadiar is too busy putting down communist rebellions in central and southern Philippines, while the Alsa Masa are gladly helping him as well. President Aquino is not happy at all with the so-called 'unnecessary amount of brutality', as she puts it, towards the communists."
"Why can't Tadiar just put the stupid bitch out of her fucking misery?" Monsod asked angrily. She turned to Doromal with an angry expression. "And why aren't you out in the same combat zone as Tadiar?"
Doromal grumbled. "Because the President wants me to babysit the deposed dictator's family long enough to put them all on trial. Aside from Bongbong, Imee and someone else whose name I don't care to know, Imelda is also being an idiot. Colonel Morales has found the troves of 1,000 shoes and a hundred dresses in her cabinet when we ransacked Malacanang Palace, and we're about to put them all on sale. Proceeds from the sales of Imelda's outrageous shoe and dress collection will go towards the treasury, or to pay our soldiers for their service during the civil war."
I was not surprised to hear the news of Colonel Morales's discovery of the former First Lady's shoe and dress collection, but Tadiar's idea of using the profits from the sales of those dresses and shoes had originally been my idea to begin with. I had a suspicion that most of those thousand pairs of shoes were bought overseas, where they are far more expensive, and it would literally be an equivalent of a six-month paycheck for a guy to spend it on. At the very least, the extravagance of the former First Lady could be put to good use for the welfare of our people, and to further sink the toxic legacy of the Marcos dictatorship. Of course, I wouldn't have known that I'd merely jump from a conjugal dictatorship to a military junta, but that's for another time. What was also horrific however, was that Lieutenant Colonel Doromal had captured a man who attended young Imee Marcos's birthday party a while ago. That man in question, had popped out of a fake birthday cake, while dressing up as a baby. I didn't know his name, but from his testimony that he gave to Doromal, we were able to piece together the extent of the corruption that Macoy had during his dictatorship.
"Just how long are we going to gather enough evidence to lock up all the morons that caused this chaos in the first place?" Doromal growled. He yawned and looked around, as Monsod and I moved towards the door, before Doromal stopped us. "Arturo, you need to go find Miriam Defensor Santiago, and tell her that the trial might be delayed, because we need more time to investigate Macoy's crimes."
I nodded in agreement as Monsod and I left the room. "We're on it."
--- Portions from the Interview with Former Foreign Secretary of the Philippine Government-in-Exile Neil Oxales
Sky News AU Interview, February 13, 2018
Discussing the Events Leading to Tadiar's Seizure of Power
Interviewer: The prelude to the rise of Artemio Tadiar's dictatorship had been, as you've described it in your memoirs, a 'calm before the storm'. In those years, we had the trial of Imelda Marcos and some of the inner circle that managed to stay loyal to the late dictator, who died from complications related to his illness. Yet, you insisted that it was the death of your father, the late Colonel Manuel Oxales, that triggered the coup that allowed Tadiar to build his dictatorship. What was your view of the official version of your father's death?
Oxales: The official version was that my father was ambushed during the communists' attempt to take advantage of the growing turmoil that has wracked the Aquino administration. Unofficially though, I still maintained to this day that Artemio Tadiar had him killed when Tayabas erupted into another revolt once again, this time over the delays in the delivery of medical supplies to the internally displaced refugees that fled from parts of the Philippines that were formerly occupied by ex-Marcos regime loyalist forces and communists. It also didn't help that Filemon Lagman was assassinated by an Alsa Masa hit squad, and when my father tried to investigate the murder, he was killed. In fact, my father thought that it was Gregorio Honasan who wanted him dead, mostly because of personal rivalries. However, Artemio Tadiar would gain enormously from my father's death, mostly because he was the only man who could have stopped him from launching the coup.
Interviewer: How would your father be able to prevent Artemio Tadiar from becoming a military dictator in this case?
Oxales: Simple. He offered his own candidacy for the role of Minister of Defense, at the same time as Tadiar offering himself as candidate. President Aquino had unfortunately rewarded the post to Tadiar, due to his role in the Filipino Civil War. Even my father had recognized Tadiar's role in the conflict, as he was mostly attached to the 7th Infantry Division, under Marcelo Blando's command. Nonetheless, once he was appointed as the commander of the 84th Infantry Battalion, that battalion was deployed to Quezon province, in order to patrol the area for possible communist leftovers. It was in Tayabas that his battalion came under fire from the New People's Army, and he was killed by a sniper. That, I had doubts about the sniper story, mostly because when Alsa Masa captured the communist fighters that ambushed my father's battalion, none of them had any sniper rifles. However, one of the Alsa Masa fighters had an M14 sniper rifle that was actually received by the Philippine government from communist Vietnam.
Interviewer: You suspected a false flag attack?
Oxales: Naturally. I don't need to point out examples of such false flag incidents that led to the seizure of power by various tyrants.
Interviewer: All right. There is another question that I should ask about the events leading to Tadiar's seizure of power. What was the mood among the Philippine military between the end of the Filipino Civil War and the establishment of the Tadiar dictatorship?
Oxales: Before my father died in Tayabas, he revealed to me about how there were certain people within both the regular military and the Philippine Constabulary that were radicalized by the civil war. Alsa Masa had seen a slight increase in the number of recruits that joined them, and the recruits were mostly displaced refugees who fled from the violence that the communists had imposed on southeastern Luzon. Do you recall the ambush during the civil war where the PC deserters had worn the bayong to cover their faces and struck at the communists on the border between Quezon and Batangas?
Interviewer: Ah yes, the cross border ambush that eventually gave rise to the whole Makapili thing.
Oxales: Technically yes, and no. The bayong idea was conceived by a Constabulary volunteer whose grandfather actually collaborated with the Japanese during WWII. The new recruits that joined Alsa Masa were motivated by revenge, and when they had a chance to pay the communists back for what they've done to their families, they relished in torturing them, before executing them. However, Alsa Masa had decided that President Aquino was becoming more of a liability to their cause, as her flirtation with the communists, combined with her political inexperience, had resulted in further radicalization that Tadiar gladly took advantage of. He had Lieutentant Colonels Aromin, Doromal, and Morales draw up a plan that eventually resulted in his seizure of power.
Interviewer: Wasn't the plan codenamed Stag Party?
Oxales: Stag Party referred to the assassination of Jose Maria Sison and the Tiamzons. This operation that the Philippine military launched was code named Yellow Fever. The first phase of that operation, which was carried out between November of 1987 to January 1988, involved ambushes and assassinations against left-leaning politicians and trade union leaders. That was the destabilization part. From February of 1988 onwards, Tadiar and his fellow officers didn't have to do anything more, as the Philippine economy went further down, with inflation becoming more out of control. By the time the 2nd year anniversary of EDSA Uno had arrived, 1 US dollar was now worth 800 pesos. The declining economy, along with additional political instabilities, had led to that fateful event on November 27, 1988, when Tadiar finally made his move.
--- "That fool Mulroney had ironically been the greatest gift to the fledgling Reform Party of Canada, which eventually morphed into the Canadian Alliance. I mean, I got my start as an up and coming member of the Reform Party when one of my campaign managers that I hired had told me that as long as I continued to lead my own party, no one will be able to vote for me. I mean, I was able to organize a campaign back in 1982, but lost in most of those elections. Once I realized that the Social Credit Party had been declining, it was only a matter of time before I had to change tactics. To this end, I joined the newly formed Reform Party of Canada in 1987. When we voted to elect the first party leader, Preston Manning emerged as the winner. However, I did see just how the Progressive Conservative Party had completely collapsed, with the Meech Lake Accord being accepted by almost none of the provinces, but there was one key area in which we all agreed upon. The Senate reform, and the distinct society clause that was more aimed at keeping Quebec within the Confederation, had been passed, albeit reluctantly. Quebec wasn't satisfied with just the distinct society clause, and the Western Canadian province had become even more furious at the distinct society clause, while feeling a bit satisfied with the Senate reform proposals. In the end, the lessened losses in the 1993 election for the PCs had only given them enough borrowed time until their demise. On the other hand, while the Reform Party was initially strong in the Western Canadian province, international politics stemming from what was happening across the Pacific, as well as the refugee crisis in the Middle East involving Filipinos who could no longer return to their country of origin, mostly because of the military junta there, had only made our party stronger, as not only Filipino refugees, but also Vietnamese refugees fleeing from their country after the 1995 Spratly Islands war had turned their country into a wasteland by the Chinese military. Filipinos and Vietnamese have become the major backbone of the Reform Party of Canada from within the visible ethnic minorities, in addition to the well rooted European Canadian population that resided in the West, and rural Ontario. Heck, I was able to win a seat in the Sea to Sky riding, mostly thanks to my supporters from within the ethnic minorities, working class, and middle class, thus shedding my status as a perennial candidate in 2015." John Turmel, speaking about his political career as a member of the Reform Party of Canada, later turned into Canadian Alliance.
--- Portions from the Interview with Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation Journalist Jessica Soho
Channel One Eurasia Segment - PoliTalk Interviews, released on May 12, 2016
Discussing the Trial of the Marcos Dictatorship
Interviewer: [in Russian] You've risen to prominence alongside Oliver Kidlat and Vilma Pascual as the main journalists that covered the EDSA Revolution of 1986 and the massacre that followed. To add more credentials to your popularity, you've also covered the events of the Filipino Civil War, where on more than one occassion, you nearly died during the coverage of the defense of Cabanatuan City. Finally, the international community learned about you from your coverage of the trials of prominent figures of the former Marcos dictatorship. What did you think of the coverage of the 1988 Trials, as the international community called it?
Soho: (pauses) Well, I'd like to say thank you for letting me take the opportunity to tell my side of the story of the infamous trials that Miriam Defensor Santiago had presided. First of all, I have to say that it was the only time that the late President Corazon Aquino and her notorious successor, Artemio Tadiar, had cooperated in. Many of the military officers who listened to Tadiar more than Aquino had carried out the investigations into the corruption that dominated the Marcos regime. Lieutenant Colonel Edgardo Doromal had interrogated the man who dressed up as a baby that popped out of a fake cake on their daily lives, while Lieutenant Colonel Saulito Aromin had questioned the household staff that worked at Malacanang Palace. Even though three maids had insisted on the innocence of the Marcos family, Ms. Santiago had allowed them to testify.
Interviewer: [in Russian] What of the other oligarchs that profited from the cronyism of the Marcos dictatorship? I'm sure that many of them had become outrageously wealthy, as was the case with Lucio Tan and Robert Ongpin. However, Antonio Floirendo Sr. and Roberto Benedicto agreed to cooperate in exchange for their defection from the politically toxic Marcos family to the Tadiar dictatorship. Is that how the late Major General Tadiar was able to win over a few Marcos crony oligarchs to his side?
Soho: Yes, and in fact, because of Mr. Benedicto's experience as a former ambassador to Japan that Tadiar relied on him when he decided to cultivate closer ties to the Japanese state. What was ironic however, was that Mr. Benedicto was tasked by Tadiar to cooperate with Japanese officials in investigating the Marcos Japanese ODA scandal. The lessons learned from the Marcos Japanese ODA Scandal was that Mr. Benedicto was forced to pay back over 30% of the WWII reparations that he embezzled, even though he only embezzeled 15% of it, but the Tadiar dictatorship threatened to have the entire Benedicto executed if he refused to pay back what he stole. Moreover, the Japanese government had also gotten involved in the Marcos Trials by allowing their Philippine counterparts to question Japanese officials who were involved in the scandal as well.
Interviewer: [in Russian] And what of Imelda Marcos? Her extravagant spending on shoes and dresses provoked a lot of anger from the Philippine public. What happened to her collection of those items?
Soho: They were auctioned off and sold, while the profits gained from those sales were sent to the treasury, but a good chunk of them went towards paying the military their long overdue salaries for their service during the civil war.
Interviewer: [in Russian] It was presumed that there would have been a lot of guilty verdicts handed down to the crony capitalists that were charged alongside Mrs. Marcos, but to our surprise and shock, it was only Mr. Benedicto and Mr. Floirendo Sr. that received the not guilty verdict. Did you assume that there was a back door deal going on in there?
Soho: I did, but keep in mind that those two oligarchs who were declared to not be guilty had in fact switched their loyalty to the Tadiar junta. Furthermore, the remaining oligarchs that were supposed to testify had actually fled from the Philippines during the civil war, and they resided mainly in Hawaii. Initially, US President Dukakis and his successor President Jesse Jackson wanted to extradite them back to the Philippines, but when it became apparent that not only was Tadiar escalating the human rights violations, but he was also purging his political opponents as well, they reluctantly decided to grant them political asylum. It was their decision to shelter the Marcos cronies, as well as their refusal to help the Philippines when China was busy turning my country into an apocalyptic wasteland, that ultimately led to the demise of the RP-USA 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty and the Tadiar regime's decision to forge closer relations with Japan.
Interviewer: [in Russian] But weren't there any oligarchs that actually survived the Tadiar junta?
Soho: Yes, from my best knowledge. Manuel Elizalde Jr. was placed under house arrest, but his death in 1997 had left his holdings in the hands of his brother Fred, who emerged as the power broker behind the rise of Nicanor Faeldon, Larry Gadon, and Elly Pamatong. The Enriquez and Panlilio families had played a key role in the economic revival of the Philippines that the Tadiar regime played a role, albeit his decision to abolish the Central Bank of the Philippines had been met with shock from the international community. However, Juan Ponce Enrile was assassinated at the same time as Fidel Ramos in what became known as the Halloween Massacre of 1998. However, I had doubts about the massacre that happened in October of 1988.
Interviewer: [in Russian] How so?
Soho: While both Enrile and Ramos were being assassinated, Lieutenant Colonel Doromal narrowly survived a gunshot that grazed his shoulder. The terrorist group claiming responsibility for the targeted killings were called 'Bagong Lipunan', but we're not sure as to how that group rose to prominence, when the trials had severely discredited the Marcos family entirely. I began to suspect that the terror group was in reality a fake group created by Tadiar to eliminate his potential rivals, while putting his former classmate Manuel Oxales in danger during the ambush by the New People's Army that led to his death. The Deputy Minister for National Defense was handed to Colonel Ricardo Morales instead.
Interviewer: [in Russian] And when did you realize that you were in danger?
Soho: I realized the danger that I was in, when the Philippines was spiralling further into chaos. The assassinations and other forms of terrorism, along with a declining economy that involved a nasty case of inflation, and the late Major General Tadiar's growing reputation as a ruthless cutthroat, had convinced me to flee from the Philippines. I fled to Canada first, before making my way into the US. However, both Pascual and Kidlat fled to Turkey for their safety, before settling in Austria.
--- "South Korea's struggle for democracy had been a constant theme in its turbulent history, as the Seoul Spring of 1980 and the 1987 June Struggle had shown. While the South Korean government had gradually allowed further democratization of their political system, the same could not have been said about North Korea, however, as the struggles for succession had been brutal. Kim Jong-il, who was slated to succeed his father Kim Il-Sung, had feared the popularity of his half-brother, Kim Pyong-il, to the extent where he issued a secret order to agents that he trusted to kill his half-brother. However, discontent within the North Korean government could not easily be reported because of the media blackout within the hermit kingdom, and also because Kim Il-Sung did not want to reveal to the world, just how dysfunctional their government really werel. The contra-rivalry within the Soviet Union as a result of the deposition of Mikhail Gorbachev and the rise of Anatoly Lukyanov had also affected North Korea's government, as the Lukyanov regime had began to search for a possible puppet that could replace the Kim dynasty, should North Korea's relations with the USSR decline. Hwang Jang-yop was viewed as the most favorable pro-Soviet, or rather, pro-Lukyanovite, candidate to replace Kim Il-Sung, while Kim Jong-nam was seen as the more reliable, pro-Chinese candidate. Yet, it was Kim Jong-il that emerged victorious in the power struggle, leading to the exile of his half-brother Kim Pyong-il, which led to the formation of the Provisional Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which was based in Vladivostok, in the Russian Far East. The PGDPRK would attract scores of disillusioned North Korean politicians and military figures fed up with the Kim dynasty, among them ironically enough, Kim Pyong-il, Hwang Jang-yop and another defector, Pak Song-won, who would become the first Field Marshal of the newly formed Korean Volunteer Corps, which consisted entirely of the former Korean People's Army's VI Corps that switched their allegiance to the PGDPRK. In addition, while both Kim Jong-il and his anti-communist rival in Lee Hoi-chang would eventually become antagonistic towards each other as the years went by, the PGDPRK was busy infiltrating the lower and middle political levels of the South Korean government. It was not surprising that Huh Kyung-young, a promising but controversial radical politician who founded the National Revolutionary Syndicalist Party of Korea, had been backed by the more radical sub-faction of the pro-unification faction that dominated the PGDPRK. Though Huh was more sympathetic towards the ideals proclaimed by Hwang Jang-yop, he was a fervent anti-communist but soon adopted an anti-capitalist stance, as the Second Korean War went on. Within South Korean society however, the rising economy allowed various South Korean chaebols to emerge as the powerhouses within the South Korean economy. Yet, relations between the workers and management staff in various Korean companies remained tense, as attempts to form trade unions often ended up in disaster. It was the hostile tensions between workers and management staff that Huh brought up, during his rallies held throughout both Koreas after reunification was achieved. Furthermore, the Pyeonghwa Motors Factory Massacre that occurred in 2008 had been a rallying cry among supporters of the National Revolutionary Syndicalist Party of Korea that Huh had led, as he revealed the role that the anti-communist Kwandong Battalion militia had played in putting down the worker strikes. Unfortunately, the struggle for democracy in the two Koreas would continue down the bloody path, as the North Korean communist regime found itself at odds with each other over who gets to succeed the dying Kim Il-Sung, while the South Korean government had to juggle between economic prosperity and lingering social tensions. The reunification of the Korean peninsula, although successful, had dampened the reunited Korea's economic prospect as it had to rebuild the shattered northern half of the peninsula, and the Pyeonghwa Motors Factory Massacre was the spark needed for Huh to spread his dangerous message to the downtrodden workers who had to face loan sharks and greedy bosses, while having to suffer alongside former North Koreans who were hired as practically slave labourers in ex-South Korean factories where they were paid the same low wages as their former South Korean counterparts. It was this anger from the lower classes that ultimately sparked Korea's version of the Venezuelan Maroon Revolution, where disaffected elements of Korea's working class united with the rank and file soldiers of the two former Korean Armies in an uprising that targeted the Korean elites, the reunited Korean government, and most importantly, the quasi-comprador class that were installed in the entirety of the former North Korea. These quasi-comprador class were hand picked by both former President Jack Kemp and the late dictator Artemio Tadiar to help run the former North Korea back in 2004. What was extremely infuriating about the Korean quasi-comprador class that were formed to help administer the former North Korea was that they were all descendants of pro-Japanese Korean collaborators who worked for the Japanese colonial government. Given Tadiar's own pro-Japanese stance, and his role in rehabilitating his own country's collaborators who worked with Japan, it was seen as a strong sign of disrespect towards the victims of Japanese imperialism. However, President Kemp too, had contributed to the explosion of social violence in the 2009 Korean Maroon Revolution, with his support of the brutal exploitation of former North Koreans who found themselves working as virtual slaves in factories owned by chaebols." From 'The Blood Soaked Path of Korean Democracy', released by ABC Documentaries on August 15, 2018.
|
|
|
|
Post by TheRomanSlayer on Jan 30, 2023 5:12:08 GMT
Sorry for the double or triple post, but here's another update.
---
CHAPTER TWENTY: SUBVERTION AND DEMORALIZATION
"The Philippine peso by January of 1988 had continued to gradually lose its value, as 1 US Dollar was now worth 158 Philippine pesos and 45 centavos. Much of its purchasing power had been lost, due to the lowered economic production as a result of the Filipino Civil War that broke out because of the 1986 EDSA Revolution. So how did we manage to survive between January of 1988 and November of 1988, when the late Artemio Tadiar launched a coup against Corazon Aquino? We relied mostly on the financial donations that we received from mainly Australia, Indonesia, and the United States. They had a vested interest in keeping our economy afloat, because if our economy imploded, then the communists would become even stronger. Unfortunately, both the communists and the Tadiar-aligned renegade faction of the Philippine military chose to take pot shots at each other, even carrying out terrorist attacks against each other's supporters. You had Alsa Masa collaborating with the Philippine Constabulary forces in torturing left-wing activists and sympathizers, while you have the New People's Army's infamous Sparrow Unit assassinating several junior officers who worked for the late Major General Tadiar. In fact, the murder of Filemon Lagman by a joint Alsa Masa-PC ambush was in response to the assassination of Colonel Manuel Oxales, during the Second Tayabas Uprising that was brutally put down by Alsa Masa, with many of its supporters slaughtered like cattle. We were afraid of another civil war breaking out on the second anniversary of the EDSA Revolution, but we did not realize that Artemio Tadiar had much to gain from the instability that he had contributed. When he finally launched his coup against President Aquino, a few people from within her cabinet had actually restrained her, and brought her and her family to Tadiar himself. Not just that, but between that time period, we were also distracted by the Marcos Trials of 1988, where Miriam Defensor Santiago presided over the trial of Imelda Marcos. It was unfortunate that her late husband died during the civil war, but because of his deteriorating condition, it wasn't that surprising. It's not like the countryside was also safe from the political instability as well. NPA raids did not subside, but now that Alsa Masa paramilitary forces have increased their presence in rural areas, the farmers were not afraid to tell the NPA terrorists to get out of their farms. International companies doing businesses in the Philippines fled during the Filipino Civil War, making it harder for the NPA to collect the so-called revolutionary taxes. Even so, the instability continued to grow, and when the Aquino administration had realized that their president had increasingly become a lame duck, that was when the coup was launched." Virgilio Garcilliano, from the speech, 'Countdown to the Coup: The Descent into Military Dictatorship', held at University of British Columbia, November 27, 2017.
---
PAKISTANI AIR FORCE LAUNCH AIRSTRIKES AT INDIAN GROUND TARGETS CLOSE TO AMRITSAR AS INDIAN FORCES LAUNCH THREE PRONGED ADVANCES INTO LAHORE
The Sun
November 29, 1987
(Lahore, PAKISTAN) - While Pakistani fighter planes have carried out a successful airstrike against Indian ground forces preparing to depart from the city of Amritsar, Indian ground forces operating inside Pakistani territory have begun to advance closer towards the city of Lahore. Even as the aerial and artillery bombardment of the city continued, Pakistani defenses remained strong. In addition, another 3,000 Mujahideen volunteer fighters have arrived inside the city from the Pakistani border with Afghanistan, in order to help the Pakistani Army defend the besieged city from the invading Indian forces. However, one Pakistani fighter plane had accidentally struck the famous Golden Temple, revered by the Sikh population world wide. Sikhs within the Indian Army were furious at Pakistan's callous attacks on their city, which gave their religious brethren enough motivation to enlist in the Indian military. Furthermore, the attack on the Golden Temple had also casted doubts on Sikhs aligned with Pakistani intelligence, seeing it as a foolish mistake that would severely undermine their goals of creating an independent Sikh state. Among the Indian ground forces pushing towards Lahore were the reconstituted Sikh Light Infantry regiments, now expanded to include the newly formed 20th, 21st, and 22nd Infantry Battalions that consisted of new recruits from the provinces of Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. Much of Lahore has sustained severe damage from the Indian aerial bombardment as civilian casualties continued to mount, causing fears and anger to rise from within the Pakistani public, who have now begun to openly aid the Pakistani Mujahideen that have arrived to fight the Indian Army.
"Our brothers in Islam have now taken up arms to defend their homes against the marauding forces of pagan idol worshippers from India, and they are aiming to conquer and raze the city of Lahore to the ground," says newly appointed Afghan Mujahideen commander Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, during a rally at the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. "Osama Bin Laden would have said to his warriors to not worry about death, because we will all enter paradise, should we fall in battle."
The Soviet airstrikes against Mujahideen positions inside Afghanistan had resulted in a successful combined offensive launched by both the Soviet and Afghan armies against the Mujahideen, leading to the death of Osama Bin Laden by a Soviet bombing raid, which had increased drastically upon the ascension of Anatoly Lukyanov, who has replaced his old friend Mikhail Gorbachev, who is now under house arrest in the Soviet resort town of Sochi. The ascension of Abdullah Yusuf Azzam as the new commander of the Mujahideen forces fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan had been met with lukewarm reception by his erstwhile comrades, and while Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is angling to take over Azzam's position as the commander of all resistance forces in Afghanistan, it is Jalaluddin Haqqani who is poised to become the real power broker behind the resistance movement. Because of the escalating situation in Pakistan, Azzam has given Mohammad Anwar the task of sending more fighters to help resist the Indian onslaught.
"Lahore today has become the scene of a brutal struggle between Pakistan and India. Let us not forget that should Lahore fall to Indian forces, the symbol of progressivism and liberalism in Pakistan will be lost, and Pakistan will eventually slide into a darker form of authoritarianism," says British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, during a session in Parliament to discuss possible British shipment of military aid to the Pakistani government. "Pakistan today has emerged as the new frontier in the Cold War, between the freedom loving Pakistanis against the Soviet-aligned Indian forces seeking to forcibly reunite the Indian subcontinent under its control."
---
Portions from the Interview with Former US Marine Lieutenant Colonel Greg Ballard
The TrippWire with Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky, released on July 19, 2018
Discussing the 1986 Indo-Pakistani War and its Consequences
TRIPP: Mr. Ballard, in your book, 'Tiger's Fangs: The Growth of India's Military Power', you've mentioned that for the most part, the former Soviet Union has become one of India's major weapons supplier, following the West's refusal to send them military aid because of its invasion of Pakistan's portion of the Punjab region. Yet, in the same book, you've also mentioned that Germany has also sent military equipment to India as well. Could you please explain to us that passage?
BALLARD: Certainly, Ms. Tripp. You see, when the two Germanies had reunited, the Bundeswehr had inherited a massive stockpile of former East German military equipment, of which most of them were Soviet in origin. Only the MPi 44, which was essentially the Stg 44 rebranded for the East German military, was not Soviet in origin. However, as the Bundeswehr didn't want to keep all of the former East German military equipment, they wanted to sell them all on a discounted price.
LEWINSKY: Other than India, which countries were interested in buying up old East German military stocks?
BALLARD: The Iranians wanted to buy them, but due to Western sanctions and their crippled economy, they couldn't buy those military stocks, and yet in 1999, the Iranians managed to buy the former Soviet frigate called the Storozhevoy, which played a role in a failed mutiny back in the 1970s. It is now renamed the Azadestan, and is currently under the service of the Iranian Navy. Indonesia was also an interested party in buying them, especially their BMPs, as well as Vietnam.
TRIPP: It made sense that Vietnam and Indonesia would want those former East German BMPs, given that they're quite suitable for amphibious warfare. In addition, Vietnam was starved for more military equipment, as the crisis in what we should now call the West Philippine Sea, had unfolded. Even though Vietnam and the Philippines were not really enemies, the Vietnamese government still wanted some extra military equipment in the event that they would go to war against the Philippines. However, the Chinese threat had forced the two uneasy neighbors to become reluctant allies. Did Vietnam eventually buy those ex-East German equipment?
BALLARD: Let me see. Out of the major buyers of the ex-East German equipment, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, and surprisingly enough, Turkey, though they would later resell this to Azerbaijan.
LEWINSKY: I'm sure that the Germans were making a huge killing out of the firesales of the ex-East German equipment. It was also helpful too after the 1986 Indo-Pakistani War that India gradually replaced some or most of its military equipment of Western origin with Soviet equipment, though they later served as a testbed for Indian-licensed versions of those same weapons. In fact, right now, the Russians and the Indians are collaborating on designing a new tank that would be perfect for their own use, as well as to make it affordable for export and maintenance.
BALLARD: I agree, and the main problem with the Soviet and later Russian tanks was the abysmal reverse speed. I do remember that there was a massive financial investment and technological overhaul in the previous Soviet/Russian experimental tanks that they decided to simplify them.
TRIPP: OK, going back to the Indo-Pakistani conflict, you also mentioned that while India would eventually win the conflict against Pakistan, the heavy casualties sustained in the conflict caused by the presence of the Mujahideen that was redeployed from Afghanistan had forced the Indian government to address the issues facing them, namely the vulnerability of the Indian military vehicles to guerrilla attacks, as well as constant raid on supply lines that lessened the Indian military's capability to launch its offensives. In addition, while the Soviets were supplying the Indian government with military intelligence, ultimately it was the diversion in the disputed area of Jammu and Kashmir that allowed the Indian Army to reach the capital of Islamabad that forced Pakistan to come to the negotiating table. Do you agree with this statement?
BALLARD: Well, I don't entirely disagree with it, but there is also one additional factor that I have to point out as well. When Pakistan launched airstrikes against Indian military positions in the city of Amritsar, they accidentally struck one of the great holy sites of Sikhism, which is the Golden Temple. While the Pakistani government has apologized for it, the Pakistani Mujahideen has not only praised such an attack, but they were also eager to expand their jihad against India to include the attacks on literally every single Indian civilian, who they viewed as infidels ripe for conversion to Islam. That placed the Sikh separatist movement in a difficult situation, as they now have to deal with the dangerous twin threats of Islamic fundamentalism and a vengeful Indian military that's angry at them over the cross border raids. It wasn't long before Pakistani Mujahideen fighters and Sikh separatist commandos began to attack each other that allowed India to pause its operations to allow the destruction of both of its enemies. However, everything changed when Sukhdev Singh Dhillon, or Labh Singh, had approached the Indian forces currently besieging Lahore on December 17th, with a proposal for a ceasefire between the Khalistan Commando Force and the Indian Army. Major General Kulwant Singh commanded the forces besieging Lahore, so he had the unfortunate task of treating with the Khalistani separatists.
TRIPP: It must have been awkward for the Sikh troops that were fighting for India when their fellow kinsmen who were basically separatists had practically all but surrendered. Given that the relations between Hindus and Sikhs, as I vaguely remember, had soured because of the incidents at the Golden Temple, and the assassination of Indira Gandhi at the hands of her Sikh bodyguards. Now you have these separatists that are now targets of both Indian military forces and Pakistani mujahideen fighters, they're stuck between a rock and a hard place.
BALLARD: Yes, and even before Sukhdev Singh's defection, some of his subordinates were actually giving out Pakistani military positions around Lahore and other key areas close to the border with India to Indian military intelligence. In fact, the Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan was ambushed by both Pakistani forces and Mujahideen fighters after its members were caught giving out their locations to the Indian Air Force, shortly before Lahore fell on January 31st, 1988. When Sukhdev Singh was told about the mass grave containing the executed BTFK, he was shocked, but wasn't surprised. Moreover, he confessed that some of his own people were so demoralized by the presence of the Pakistani Mujahideen, that there were a few defections. The Sikh Light Infantry were mostly tasked with keeping these defectors safe, and they transported them into Lucknow, where Indian intelligence had interrogated them on the activities of the Khalistanis on Indian soil.
LEWINSKY: In addition to the Indian capture of Lahore, were there any foreign players involved in the conflict?
BALLARD: Well, the Punjab conflict that triggered the 1986 Indo-Pakistani War had been a bad timing for the United States, as we were basically funnelling the arms and volunteers to Afghanistan, in order for them to be able to resist the Soviet and Afghan communist forces. Yet, the diversion of the aid to Afghanistan to Pakistan had not only allowed the Soviets to launch the bombing campaign that killed Osama Bin Laden, but had basically turned the Afghan-Pakistani border into a literal hellhole. The Soviets benefited enormously from the Indian diversion, but we managed to get back at them.
TRIPP: You mean, getting even with the Soviets by covertly funnelling aid to anti-Soviet factions that played a role in the violent collapse of the USSR and the Soviet, or should we say, the Second Russian Civil War and the Baltic and Ukrainian Wars of Independence, right?
BALLARD: Correct, and once the Soviets had began to gradually withdraw to deal with the growing political divide between the Gorbachev and Lukyanov factions, they still maintained advisors to the Afghan Army. The battle tested Afghan Army was then deployed to invade western Pakistan that was predominantly populated by the Pashtun ethnic group, which also made up the majoity of the inhabitants of Afghanistan. The Afghan-Pakistani Border War of 1991 however, proved to be a disaster to both nations, because Afghanistan's attempt to expand its border gave Pakistan a much needed goal of defending itself once again, and for the Mujahideen fighters that were fighting the Indian forces to seek revenge against the Afghan Army that was backed by the Soviets until 1995, when the left-leaning Afghan government fell and Afghanistan was mired in the warlord period.
---
"The Iranian offensives against Iraqi positions had been rather costly, as numerous casualties have rapidly risen, although the surprise capture of Al-Faw would force the Iraqi Army to divert much of its troops into recapturing the recently lost strip of land that guarded their only port on the Persian Gulf, namely Um Qasr. However, the Iranian offensive aimed at capturing the city of Basra had turned out to be a diversion, as the real target of the Iranian forces turned out to be Khanaqin, a strategically important border town that was close to Iraqi Kurdistan. Coupled with the Kurdish rebellions against the central government in Baghdad, Saddam Hussein was struggling to maintain a sense of momentum among his troops as their own casualties also began to mount heavily against them. Growing desperate for an advantage against his enemy, Saddam would resume the War of the Cities for the final time on January of 1988. This time, he was not going to hold back in his onslaught, as Iraqi missiles would be fired into various Iranian cities. On February 22nd, 1988, while Ayatollah Khomeini was addressing his supporters during a patriotic rally in Tehran, an Iraqi Al-Hussein missile had struck Azadi Tower, where the rally was being held. The missile that had struck Azadi Tower also contained mustard and nerve agent, which had affected the Ayatollah to the point where he had difficulty breathing for five days, until his death in February 27th. All of Iran was at a shock as to how not only Ayatollah Khomeini had been killed in a cowardly manner, but additional 2,900 of his supporters were also affected as well, though some of them would survive the chemical attack. In retaliation, Iran would launch a limited bombing campaign against Iraqi positions, but the sudden Iraqi counteroffensive against the exposed Iranian positions in Al-Faw would enable Saddam to isolate the Iranian forces that are now cut off in Al-Faw. To make things even worse for the Iranian forces, Saddam would give the go ahead for a prominent Iranian exiled leftist named Massoud Rajavi to send the Mojahedin-e-Khalq's militant arm, the National Liberation Army, into battle for the first time. Thus, the first clashes between the MEK and the Iranian Army would take place in March of 1988 at the Iranian border town of Khosravi. The confusion caused by the death of Ayatollah Khomeini had paralyzed much of the Iranian military leadership, though the paralysis didn't last that long, as Brigadier General Ali Shahbazi would eventually lead several other officers, including those from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, to a palace coup against the clerics, and threatened them with arrest and incarceration, unless they stayed away from military affairs, and allow them to manage the war without any interference. Once the divided clerics had no choice but to agree with the generals' demands, Ali Shahbazi would order more air strikes against Iraqi and MEK military targets throughout the borderlands. Suddenly, Saddam's war fortunes would once again turn for the worse, as MEK fighters under Ali Zarkesh's command was ambushed and destroyed by IRGC troops in the Iranian recovery of Khosravi from MEK control. Once the IRGC discovered the ghastly conditions of the town that suffered under MEK occupation, they would go on the offensive. On March 29, 1988, Iranian regular military and IRGC retook Khanaqin from the Iraqi forces, and at the same time, the Iranian Air Force would launch an air strike that killed Ali Hassan al-Majid in the city of Baqubah, while supervising the transportation of various chemical weapons that would be used against Iranian forces. The loss of al-Majid had stunned Saddam Hussein, who had now scrambled to find a suitable replacement, while inside Iran, the clerics who were supporters of the late Ayatollah were becoming more disgruntled as General Shahbazi started to consolidate power around himself." From PressTV Documentary, 'Of Shahs, Ayatollahs and Generals: The Rise of General Ali Shahbazi'.
---
Excerpts from 'Shahbazi: Iran's Semi-Rogue General'
by: Farah Keshavarz
Heyne Verlag, published on March 16, 2018
Chapter Four: Chaos on Both Sides
By the time the dust had settled on the aftermath of the Iraqi chemical missile attack on the Iranian capital that killed Ayatollah Khomeini and his supporters, the clerics were divided over the succession to his authority. Already, there were ambitious mullahs that were trying to position themselves as potential successors, but the division within the clerics had added the troubles to an already chaotic management of the Iranian war effort that threatens to undo the recent gains they made against Iraq. That was when, on March 8, 1988, a palace coup was launched, with General Ali Shahbazi leading the way. He flatly told the clerics that unless they want to be locked up in prison, alongside their political opponents, they would step away from the management of Iran's war effort, and to let the generals do everything. Reluctantly, the new de facto Ayatollah, Mohammad Rahmati Sirjani, had no choice, but to agree with Shahbazi's demands, but to mollify the clerics, General Shahbazi promised a new power sharing treaty with the clerics after the war has ended. Thus, while the clerics were mainly focused on the domestic issues facing the war torn country, the Iranian generals were keen on finishing the war in their favor. Shahbazi's attempt at power play paid off, as he would command the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to launch a devastating counterattack against the Iraqi-aligned Mojahedin-e-Khalq that had occupied the border town of Khosravi. The results were all to clear to see: most of the MEK fighters had been eliminated ruthlessly by the IRGC, and not only was Khosravi liberated, but Khanaqin was also retaken in that same time period, as well as the neighboring town of Abd Allah Bayk. Other IRGC and regular Iranian military units have also managed to cross into Iraqi Kurdistan, where they linked up with Iraqi Kurdish separatists and together, Shahbazi would assign the command of a 25,000 combined IRGC/Iranian Army force to General Alireza Afshar. The Battle of Halabja would take place on March 27th, and it was the first time that the combined Iranian and anti-Saddam Kurdish rebels would be subjected to additional chemical attacks. This time though, the Iranians would launch diversionary attacks on Iraqi forces guarding the transport of the chemical weapons, leading to the devastation that was the Bawanur Massacre, where the chemical weapon in question had exploded, leading to the deaths of 690 Iraqi troops that inhaled their own poison gas. Among the dead Iraqis that were killed at Bawanur as a result of an Iranian bombing mission was Ali Hassan al-Majid, who was the mastermind of the chemical attacks that not only killed scores of Iranian troops, but instigated the chemical rocket attack that killed Ayatollah Khomeini as well.
The effects of Ali Shahbazi's consolidation of power on Iran as a whole were not seen until after the Iran-Iraq War had ended, when he would form a junta modeled on the recently established junta in the Philippines led by known butcher, Artemio Tadiar. Unlike Tadiar though, Shahbazi was more interested in sharing power with the clerics, knowing that they held the real power while he was directing the war effort. At the same time, the clerics around Ayatollah Sirjani also knew that their lives depended on the goodwill that General Shahbazi has towards them and they towards him. Reconstruction efforts were coordinated between the military leadership and the Shia clergy, as priorities were focused on healing the victims of the chemical attack on Azadi Tower. In addition, Iranian intelligence were successful in inciting Iraq's own Shia population to rebel against the Sunni-dominated Baghdad government, as news of a rebellion in Jarbisi broke out on April 8th, 1988. The twin threats of Shia Arab and Kurdish revolts in Iraq was exploited by General Shahbazi, who would order Iranian forces to support those rebellions with weapons and military intelligence. Another stroke of genius that Shahbazi had was the attempt to wipe out the MEK leadership that was based in Camp Ashraf, north of Baqubah. On April 10, 1988, 12 F-14 Tomcats had taken off from the airbase in Tabriz to launch one of the deadliest airstrikes aimed at Camp Ashraf, resulting in over 74 people killed. However, Massoud Rajavi was not hurt in the process, but several Iraqi intelligence officers were among the victims of the airstrike on Camp Ashraf. Knowing that time is running out for Iraq, Saddam would give Massoud Rajavi's National Liberation Army another chance to prove themselves. This time, they would be sent to capture another border town, this time at Mehran. Anticipating another chemical weapons attack, plus the inevitable advance of the MEK, General Shahbazi would order the evacuation of the populations of the borderlands, and to relocate them into northern and eastern Iran. Additionally, he would also order the withdrawal of all Iranian forces occupying Iraqi territory by April 15th, effectively giving Iraq another victory in the Basra front. Shahbazi realized that Saddam was a glory seeking hound who wouldn't waste an opportunity to pursue his retreating forces in order to eke out a victory. Just as he predicted, both Saddam and Rajavi would pounce on the opportunity to launch another invasion of Iran. This time though, they would launch a three pronged attack, with the main Iraqi army pushing into Marivan from Said Sadiq, the MEK-NLA pushing into Mehran from Badra Spend, and a second Iraqi army, led by Hussein Kamel, would push from Basra, into the Iranian city of Abadan.
---
IRANIAN TOURISM SECTOR SEES FASTEST GROWTH AS FOREIGN VISITORS ARRIVE FOR ANNUAL VACATIONS IN COASTAL CITIES, MAJORITY OF ARRIVALS COME FROM RUSSIA, CHINA AND KOREA
Vancouver Sun
June 18, 2019
(Bandar Abbas, IRAN) - Amidst the ever increasing but gradual economic growth of the Iranian economy, there is one key industry that stands to gain a massive windfall from the arrival of tourists coming to the country for vacation. According to Ezzatollah Zarghami, who leads the Iranian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism, the Iranian tourism and hospitality sector is set to witness a 15% increase in the arrival of foreign nationals seeking to visit the country, with the majority of them arriving from places like Russia, China, and even the Korean Federal Republic. Buoyed by the affordable air fare, as well as the growth of high speed rail that has connected Russia, China, Central Asia, and the Republic of Khorasan (a breakaway region located in what was then considered northern Afghanistan) to Iran, many of these travelers are taking advantage of said fares to visit Iran. Additionally, the growth of the tourism and hospitality industry has resulted in increased constructions of hotels, resorts, and other places of mass accomodations, though in certain resorts close to the Persian Gulf, strict Sharia law remains supreme, as female tourists are discouraged from wearing bikinis. Instead, shops containing swim wear are selling burqinis at a discount price at all Iranian airports and rail stations. Moreover, all hotels, resorts, and other places of mass accomodations are barred from serving alcohol to tourists because of Iran's Sharia law, and certain dietary restrictions have also been enforced. While these inconvieniences have annoyed a few tourists used to the more lax rules regarding alcohol consumption in the Gulf states on the other side of the Persian Gulf, these restrictions have in fact become a bit more popular with other tourists.
"I managed to save up to almost 870 rubles on a cocktail while I stayed in Qeshm, when they enforced a no-alcohol policy, and there were no alcohol related incidents that I knew of," said Russian tourist Olga Golitsyina, during her stay in Qeshm Island. "Everyone there was polite, and we had positive experience with Iranian hospitality."
Iran's growing tourism sector was its way of trying to promote its image to the entire world, after several historical events that saw its relations with the international community decline. From its near defeat to an armistice in the Iran-Iraq War, to the Iranian Civil War that broke out between the military junta under the leadership of General Ali Shahbazi and the Mojahedin-e-Khalq, the Iranian population has only experienced poverty and desolation. Not to mention the civilian casualties that have suffered from the Iraqi chemical attack that killed the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and the growing chaos in neighboring Afghanistan and the troubles that accompanied the bloody collapse of its Soviet neighbor in the north, Iran knew that it had to fix itself in order to regain its place in the world. Starting in 1992, General Shahbazi and Ayatollah Sirjani would preside over a new power sharing agreement that allowed the secular authorities more responsibilities of initiating an economic recovery, in exchange for giving the clerics a greater say in Iran's educational sector. While the Islamic Republic of Iran is still a strict Shia Muslim nation governed by Sharia law, its gradual introduction of progressive reforms that allowed Iranian women to gain more rights, plus additional democratization that eventually led to federalization of Iran's provinces. Taking a page out of South Korea's book on economic recovery and revitalization, the Iranian government has turned to its overseas diaspora for help with the economic recovery. Because of the lingering distrust that the Iranian diaspora overseas have for the military junta, the Iranian government had to turn to various foreign nations for loans in order to jumpstart its economic development. Only the former West Germany, Denmark, Finland, and France have given a combined total of $425 million dollar loan to Iran, in exchange for plans of repaying the loan.
Additionally, Iran's rural development also allowed its agricultural sector to recover from the devastation of its war with Iraq, as irrigation was promoted to bring water to areas that were normally known for poor quality of soil. Its rural development would also be a crucial factor in the population boom that ensured demands for basic consumer products to be met, which in turn allowed Iran to develop its manufacturing capabilities. Its primary focus on heavy industries also allowed them to develop their oil and gas sector, which generated enough profits to begin repaying some of the loans they took to the nations that lent them money in the first place. As a result, it began to grow enough grains and other forms of crops to not only feed its population, but exported their surplus harvest to its neighbors, particularly Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Khorasan. The population expansion of Iran after the Iran-Iraq War also contributed to the Iranian government's emphasis on the development of its youth, as the losses from the war meant that they needed to cultivate a new generation of leaders and workers. The growth of semi-urban and urban areas of the country would also mean that new industrial centers are springing up, giving the Iranian working class opportunities to accept jobs in manufacturing, mining, and even shipbuilding, as General Shahbazi had stressed the importance of competing with the established shipbuilding heavyweights, such as Japan, the United States, and even the Korean Federal Republic. Shipbuilding also contributed to the growth of new Iranian cruise ship firms that gave both locals and foreign tourists opportunities to sail from Bandar Shapur and Bushehr to popular destinations like the Maldives, Seychelles and Reunion.
"We've seen a slight increase in the number of foreign tourists that wanted to sail to Seychelles and Maldives, and as a result, we had to compete with Norwegian Cruise Line to offer up such a deal," says Iranian cruise ship company Mersad owner Reza Sarafraz, when asked about the challenges that his company faced with the growing demand for cruise ship sailings to popular destinations. "In addition, we're also thinking of expanding our services to even as far as Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam, just to capture the African market."
|
|
gillan1220
Fleet admiral
I've been depressed recently. Slow replies coming in the next few days.
Posts: 12,609
Likes: 11,326
|
Post by gillan1220 on Feb 21, 2023 13:00:07 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by TheRomanSlayer on Feb 21, 2023 14:34:02 GMT
I can imagine that every anniversary of EDSA Uno in this fic rewrite being marked by a lot of crying, mostly because of the Ortigas Avenue massacre that would propel Tadiar into power.
|
|
gillan1220
Fleet admiral
I've been depressed recently. Slow replies coming in the next few days.
Posts: 12,609
Likes: 11,326
|
Post by gillan1220 on Feb 21, 2023 14:49:00 GMT
I can imagine that every anniversary of EDSA Uno in this fic rewrite being marked by a lot of crying, mostly because of the Ortigas Avenue massacre that would propel Tadiar into power. Not to mention, the shooting of protesters at EDSA would slowly the start the era of rogue generals. Although it's hard to tell if historians ITTL can pinpoint the Ortigas Massacre as the start of the three-way Cold War between the United States plus allies, ESF, and China. If so, it'd be comparable to Princip's shooting of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 which is known as the "shot that rang across the world." Here, it would be the "shots that forever changed world history." |
|
|
|
Post by TheRomanSlayer on Feb 21, 2023 15:49:23 GMT
I can imagine that every anniversary of EDSA Uno in this fic rewrite being marked by a lot of crying, mostly because of the Ortigas Avenue massacre that would propel Tadiar into power. Not to mention, the shooting of protesters at EDSA would slowly the start the era of rogue generals. Although it's hard to tell if historians ITTL can pinpoint the Ortigas Massacre as the start of the three-way Cold War between the United States plus allies, ESF, and China. If so, it'd be comparable to Princip's shooting of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 which is known as the "shot that rang across the world." Here, it would be the "shots that forever changed world history." Most likely, although this time around, the ESF would not exist. The ongoing conflict is the biggest reason for the rewrite, because I realized that a continued union that involves Russia and Ukraine would never last, given the animosity. It’s more likely that in the rewrite, you’d see Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan in a closer political union, along with possibly Belarus. I think it’s more of the “shot that dragged the world into chaos”. |
|
gillan1220
Fleet admiral
I've been depressed recently. Slow replies coming in the next few days.
Posts: 12,609
Likes: 11,326
|
Post by gillan1220 on Feb 22, 2023 13:37:28 GMT
Not to mention, the shooting of protesters at EDSA would slowly the start the era of rogue generals. Although it's hard to tell if historians ITTL can pinpoint the Ortigas Massacre as the start of the three-way Cold War between the United States plus allies, ESF, and China. If so, it'd be comparable to Princip's shooting of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 which is known as the "shot that rang across the world." Here, it would be the "shots that forever changed world history." Most likely, although this time around, the ESF would not exist. The ongoing conflict is the biggest reason for the rewrite, because I realized that a continued union that involves Russia and Ukraine would never last, given the animosity. It’s more likely that in the rewrite, you’d see Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan in a closer political union, along with possibly Belarus. I think it’s more of the “shot that dragged the world into chaos”.Russia forming a military alliance with Central Asian SSRs and Belarus would probably mirror the CTSO of OTL, plus add Korea into the mix after it drifted away from the U.S. orbit. *Shots* It's kinda hard to believe that ITTL, how a popular uprising being crushed by bullets would actually open Pandora's Box for this world, considering that the Philippines prior to February 1986 was not in the headlines of most Western countries. What people only knew of the Philippines at this period was the American bases at Clark, Subic, and Camp John Hay, and the fact a dictator with wife who owns a shoe collection ruled it. Who would have thought that a simple domestic people power would lead to an era of rogue generals. |
|
|
|
Post by TheRomanSlayer on Feb 23, 2023 1:47:10 GMT
Most likely, although this time around, the ESF would not exist. The ongoing conflict is the biggest reason for the rewrite, because I realized that a continued union that involves Russia and Ukraine would never last, given the animosity. It’s more likely that in the rewrite, you’d see Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan in a closer political union, along with possibly Belarus. I think it’s more of the “shot that dragged the world into chaos”.Russia forming a military alliance with Central Asian SSRs and Belarus would probably mirror the CTSO of OTL, plus add Korea into the mix after it drifted away from the U.S. orbit. *Shots* It's kinda hard to believe that ITTL, how a popular uprising being crushed by bullets would actually open Pandora's Box for this world, considering that the Philippines prior to February 1986 was not in the headlines of most Western countries. What people only knew of the Philippines at this period was the American bases at Clark, Subic, and Camp John Hay, and the fact a dictator with wife who owns a shoe collection ruled it. Who would have thought that a simple domestic people power would lead to an era of rogue generals. We've practically traded a conjugal dictatorship for a military junta ITTL. Far worse than OTL, but a huge price to pay to kill off the post-EDSA pop culture that are very cringe. Now then, to commemorate the anniversary of EDSA Uno, here's the update. A special OMAKE will also be done tonight or tomorrow. *** CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: DESTABILIZATION AND TURMOIL
Portions from the Interview with Former Japanese Foreign Minister Yukihiro Ikeda
NHK International, released on November 30, 2018
Discussing the Revival of Japanese-Filipino Relations in the Tadiar Era (For this interview, the surname will come first before the given name)
INTERVIEWER: The current government under Prime Minister Tamogami Toshio has been instrumental in cultivating their relations with the Philippines, during and even after the fall of the military junta. Yet, in your tenure as foreign minister, you had criticized the Prime Minister for his decision to allow his government to be staffed with various right-wing nationalists that are eager to revive Japan's national glory, falling short of appointing Sakurai Makoto-san for a cabinet position. Were there any more criticisms aimed at Tamogami-san?
IKEDA: To be honest, Tamogami-san could be faulted for many things, but being controlled by his junior underlings? One must be a complete idiot to assume that. On the contrary, the path towards the Prime Minister's seat for Tamogami-san was years in the making. He had some help from Breitbart Consulting Ltd., especially Paul Manafort and Steve Bannon practically helping him manage his political campaigns. First, he ran for the House of Representatives, which he lost back in 2008, after he voluntarily retired from the Air Self Defense Force due to the essay that he wrote, outlining the necessity of Japan's rearmament, and the controversial viewpoint that Japan had nothing to apologize for in its role to liberate the peoples of Asia in the Greater East Asia War.
INTERVIEWER: Tamogami-san was already known in nationalist circles as an outspoken critic of Article 9 of the 1947 constitution, which practically made our country a pacifist nation. Was he the driving force behind its repealing in 2012?
IKEDA: It was not only Tamogami-san who had a role in repealing Article 9, but several other politicians and the military was also keen on playing a more active role in Japanese politics. For example, Iwasaki Shigeru-Kuushou was also keen on expanding the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, now the Japanese Aerospace Force, which would patrol the skies of not only Japan, but its allies as well.
INTERVIEWER: Was Shigeru-Kuushou awarded a position in Tamogami-san's administration?
IKEDA: Hai. He was appointed the role of Defense Minister, the first military man to ever hold the post since the end of the Greater East Asia War. His appointment was met with outrage from the more pacifistic population, but by then, they were becoming a minority, rather quickly. Most of the public had realized the danger of maintaining their pacifist stance, as China had started to become a lot stronger, and the two Koreas had reunited. The human resources of the former North Korea, combined with the technology and expertise of the southern half would have made them stronger, but it would take decades for the northern half to catch up to its southern counterpart. However, that was not something we could relax on.
INTERVIEWER: Would it have to do with the 2005 speech made by former Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro-san, regarding the rather infamous 'blue collar crisis' speech, where he criticized the country's overreliance on the white collar work culture?
IKEDA: Hai, and it also tied in with the growing crisis where there's more hikikomori that's emerging, as well as certain population of NEETs. We had to do something drastic, or we'd implode from within. In fact, Tamogami-san himself had saved one hikikomori who had closed off contact with the outside world for three years, because he felt ashamed for failing his university entrance exams. What was worse, was that he also developed severe depression, and was on the verge of killing himself by drowning in Lake Inawashiro.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, I remember that event! The attempted Lake Inawashiro suicide by one Okuda Mitsuru had blown open the whole hikikomori issue, leading to the Diet's major discussion about it. That also pushed Tamogami-san to call for a new training program for hikikomoris to learn a basic trade, as well as retraining in social etiquette and study habits for a more productive workforce. I also recall that Yamamoto Taro-san was vocal about this issue as well.
IKEDA: Hai. Some of those hikikomori were former humanitarian volunteers who worked in the Philippines and Vietnam after the West Philippine Sea conflict had ended, and they were traumatized by the sight of corpses, and explosions from bombs that failed to detonate.
INTERVIEWER: Okay. On the other hand, how would you best describe our country's relations with the Philippines? Given that we've become the largest investor in the Philippine economy from 2007 onwards, though unofficial investment may have started in the Tadiar dictatorship, it seems that the military junta cultivated more of their relationship with us than even America. Are you surprised?
IKEDA: Of course. Once the radicals had succeeded with calling for ending its relationship with the United States, the Tadiar dictatorship turned to us. They could have turned to the European Continental Association, or even Latin America, but they turned to us. That also opened the doors for them to rehabilitate the heroes who worked for Pan-Asian unity and the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Once they started that, suddenly you have various Filipino politicians making speeches, regretting their resistance to our efforts to liberate all of Asia from European colonialism because they were still unable to let go of their colonial mentality. It also infuriated the rest of Asia, as it was demonstrated by the military parade that they had in Kabankalan, where we had the drummers play the taiko drum in the same manner as our soldiers when they had their victory parades in parts of Asia that they liberated, and the JSDF officers were carrying katanas while Filipino officers carried Spanish style sabers and soldiers were goose stepping with the newly issued Howa Type 89 Assault Rifle.
INTERVIEWER: I also saw the protests that our people had launched in Tokyo over the parade, and unfortunately for you, it also ended your political career within the Foreign Ministry office. Do you regret your role in downplaying the scandal that broke out in Kabankalan?
IKEDA: To some extent, I do. However, by then, I was swept up in the growing nationalist sentiment that has gripped our country, and our demographics have started to shrink. That was how and why Tamogami-san had to turn to the men from Breitbart for help with his political campaigns. It also helped that the patriots who loved our country were fearful that they are going to die out, without having more children. I fear however, that once we've captured our nationalist spirit, there is no telling as to how will translate to our country's desire to carve out its own influence in the world. What frightens me more is the possibility of China or Russia today doing what America had started with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which is why many of the war hawks today are clamoring for nuclear weapons as a safety measure. Hell, the hotheads of the current generation that would have made the Ni Ni Roku mutineers blush with envy, are openly calling for a new Pearl Harbor. The youngsters are always messing things up for us old sages to clean up.
--- ANTI-JAPANESE PROTEST ERUPT ACROSS THREE CONTINENTS IN RESPONSE TO PRESENCE OF JSDF PERSONNEL IN THE PHILIPPINES AS PART OF THE NEW 'KABANKALAN-TOKYO AXIS'
Sydney Herald
March 4, 2005  Comfort women survivors and other anti-Japanese activists stage a protest during the official visit of Japanese Foreign Minister Takeo Kawamura in the Greater Caloocan area of the Manila Special Ward. The Tadiar regime's continued dalliance with Japan has triggered not only anti-Japanese protests throughout the country, but violent protests also broke out in opposition to the military dictatorship.(Kabankalan, PHILIPPINES) - Furious protests have erupted across Asia, North America, and Australia yesterday, as news of the Japan Self-Defense Force personnel's presence in the Philippines had been confirmed by both military junta sources and political exiles that have watched the event unfold. In addition to the growing anti-Japanese protests that have erupted, anti-Tadiar protests have also broken out in the Philippines over the JSDF personnel's attendance of the signing of the Banayo-Kawamura Treaty (named after Filipino and Japanese Foreign Ministers Angelito Banayo and Takeo Kawamura), in which the two foreign ministers not only signed the treaty, but they have also participated in a Japanese traditional tea ceremony, with the ageing Artemio Tadiar in attendance as well, and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. To make matters worse, a parade was also organized with the JSDF personnel wearing their uniforms while carrying old Guntos, or ceremonial swords that were once worn by former Imperial Japanese Army personnel, and various taiko drummers were leading the parade procession. Finally, the most infuriating part of the parade, as televised across the world, was the march of the JSDF officers carrying the Guntos to the beat of the taiko drum, with Philippine military officers carrying Spanish colonial era sabers and Philippine soldiers goose stepping with the new Howa Type 89 rifles issued to them."The fact that they chose the day that the liberation of Manila to sign this new military alliance between the Philippines and Japan is a deliberate sign of disrespect towards our veterans who fought against the Japanese Army during the war. The only positive thing about this is that Artemio Tadiar doesn't have any more time to enjoy what he has cultivated, as he is close to dying," says incumbent Vice President of the Philippine government in exile based in Whistler, Canada, Aquilino Pimentel. "Even worse, Japan has started to openly violate their arms export ban by sending their weapons to the Philippines."However, Mr. Pimentel's comments regarding Japan's own arms export ban was met with skepticism and outright ridicule from both the Japanese government and Major General Tadiar. Foreign Minister Kawamura and Defense Agency Chief Yoshinori Ohno had also poked fun at Pimentel's misinformed comments regarding the arms export ban."Just last month, Prime Minister Koizumi has announced the end of the Japanese Arms Export Ban, citing the growing threat from both China and the reunited Korean nation. Moreover, as the Philippine military has been badly affected by their performance in the Korean conflict, as their equipment were either sub par or no match for the ones fielded by the former North Korean military and the Chinese military," comments Ohno, when asked about Pimentel's lack of awareness of Japanese politics. "Moreover, our defense firms are growing more excited about their plans to open up several new factories where our weapons and other equipment will be produced, and as Vietnam and the Philippines are becoming reliable allies of Japan, we're in a position to supply them, and our own military with Japanese made weaponry."The military parade held in Kabankalan might have impressed the Japanese emigre community in the Philippines, including a surprise visit by former Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer turned carabao breeder Hiroo Onoda to Kabankalan, to the parade. Onoda's presence had electrified the local Japanese audience, but the parade itself had also resulted in anti-Filipino protests erupting across China and the reunited Korean peninsula. Images of the so-called 'heroic PLA soldier' bayoneting caricatures of Filipinos with faces that resembled a dog's face was seen in nationalist rallies across several Chinese cities, while in the Philippines, anti-Chinese rallies were also being held as well. Unlike the anti-Filipino rallies in China where the Chinese Communist Party played a major role, the anti-Chinese rallies in the Philippines was organized by the Fatherland Freedom Party. Larry Gadon, Nicanor Faeldon, and Elly Pamatong had shown up at the anti-Chinese rally in the Greater Caloocan municipal area (the areas that consisted of North and South Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela, and Quezon City), while their supporters had worn baklavas and ski goggles in place of the traditional bayongs once worn in earlier rallies.--- Excerpts from "A House Built on Corroded Stone: From Gorbachev to the Civil War"
by: Anatoly Lukyanov
Molodaya Gvardiya, published 2010
Chapter Six: It Had to be Done
"What is the meaning of this!?" asked Comrade Gorbachev angrily when he was confronted with several KGB, MVD, and OMON personnel that have aimed their rifles at him and his entourage. He turned to me with a furious look on his face. "Never in my lifetime have I been stabbed in the back, and from someone that I've trusted as a friend!"
It was not unexpected for the soon to be former Premier to be furious at me, because I helped launch a coup against him. However, much of the conservative old guard, as well as some of those reformists who were growing uncomfortable with the rapid speed of the reforms that Comrade Gorbachev had implemented. Right now, we were in the middle of a dacha inside the resort town of Sochi. After the plane had made a stop over in Bulgaria for refueling, it continued its journey back home. To be honest, had we allowed Comrade Gorbachev to continue with his reforms, there would have been an unexpected consequence, not only for us, but for the whole world at large. I was stunned to hear from Comrade Patrushev that there were tensions within the Warsaw Pact nations in response to our coup. This, I did not expect to happen, but I am predicting that Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and possibly Albania, would have condemned the coup. I was relieved however, when I also heard Comrade Patrushev mention that Afghanistan, the DPRK, Mongolia, and Bulgaria, have thrown their support behind us. However, it was the reactions from Yugoslavia and China that I've been waiting for, and even Vietnam was lukewarm on the coup. Right now, we have a big problem with the man confronted by many of our assault rifles.
"You're seriously close to committing treason against the Union, Comrade Lukyanov!" snapped Andriy Hirenko, who accompanied Gorbachev to the summit in the United States. Unlike Gorbachev, Hirenko actually managed to stare down a few OMON members. "This insanity will destroy us all!"
I growled back. "Comrades, the blood of innocent civilians shot dead are on your hands."
"That's rich, coming from a man who's launching a coup right now!" Gorbachev shouted, before a KGB officer pistol whipped him in the back of the head.
"Is it any better than the recent events that have traspired in Vinnytsia?" I snarled back. Only Gorbachev and Hirenko were not told of the tragedy that have unfolded in the city of Vinnytsia. "Thanks to glasnost and perestroika, a couple of fools thought that they could take advantage of such policies to not only host a series of unauthorized gatherings, but also display a bizarre kind of anti-Soviet behavior. Article 58 has been violated by these groups that are now hosting nationalist rallies that can spiral out of control."
Hirenko's face paled as he wanted to know more about the incident in the city that I mentioned. At the same time, one of the KGB agents swore loudly in Ukrainian, to our surprise.
"I was there when one of the morons had shot at the girl who pleaded with us to not use any lethal force. I'm glad that Comrade Lukyanov had the sensibility to punish the idiots that caused such a tragedy in the first place, or Vinnytsia would have become the epicenter of a large anti-Soviet uprising," said the KGB agent who swore.
"How did this happen?" Hirenko asked angrily. He glared at the KGB agent who swore at them. "How could you let this tragedy happen?"
"The tragedy would have been avoided if the civilians there had obeyed our orders to disperse without any problems. I didn't realize that they were so eager to get themselves killed that caused this tragedy to happen, and I also heard the banned anthem being sung in public. Oh, and thanks to that, we are now starting to hear whispers of 'Slava Ukraini' and 'Heroyam Slava' once more," said the agent. He turned to me and saluted. "Comrade Lieutenant Oleksander Kobets, reporting for duty."
I nodded and allowed him to interrogate the two detainees as the rest of the KGB officers beckoned for us to leave the dacha. It was several weeks after the incident in Vinnytsia and a few days after I had to chew out another group of idiots for getting too zealous in arresting some obscure Russian monk who was studying at the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, before I had to travel down to Lubyanka personally to have the man released. I was right and fearful that Gorbachev's two policies had also been taken advantage of by Russian nationalists. We feared for the survival of the Union, and Comrade Stalin would have all of us shot for dereliction of our duty when we failed to nip the nationalist seed in the bud. What was worse for us, is that the division within our Union might have an effect on our operations in Afghanistan, although our Indian comrades had actually managed to perform rather well against the Pakistanis, though they managed to succeed in diverting the Mujahideen from Afghanistan to Pakistan, allowing us to kill off more Mujahideen fighters.
***
When we heard of the news that Lahore fell to the Indian Army, it generated a large excitement as the Pakistani military became badly degraded by the constant attacks that the Indians had launched on them. Now we are hoping for the Indian Army to expand their operations against the Pakistanis in the Kashmir region, where we hoped to build a road that could link up the Indian occupied regions of Kashmir with the Wakhan corridor in Afghanistan. However, Mujahideen raids on the construction sites where we were building the road proved to be too much, and as a result, we were unable to complete it, making the possible shipment of arms and ammunition to the Indian military difficult. Now that Lahore was safely secured by the Indian military, we were more confident of their ability to take the fight into the Pakistanis and the Mujahideen fighters that were fighting inside Pakistani soil.
I was inside the building of the Soviet Ministry of Defense as newly appointed Soviet Minister of Defense Dmitry Timofeyevich Yazov was in the middle of a discussion with several Soviet generals, as well as Viktor Ivanenko, who appeared as the aide to Viktor Chebrikov, who was present as the head of the Soviet KGB. Right now, they were discussing the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, as well as the events surrounding Iraq and Iran. By the looks of it, it seemed that they were planning something big, or they may be formulating a contingency plan, in case the division between the Gorbachev loyalists and those who supported me had grown out of control. I could see a large map of Afghanistan, with several area in the map marked as either under our control, under the Afghan government's control, or under Mujahideen control.
"Torkham is one of the few remaining areas left in Afghanistan that have remained under control of the Mujahideen. Every other border crossing has been seized by our troops, with the aid of the Afghan Army forces that have not deserted. However, desertion and vulnerability to enemy infiltration remains an issue with the Afghans," says Comrade General Valentin Ivanovich Varennikov, as he pointed at the map where Torkham is located. "In the event that the Mujahideen would launch an offensive, we may need to pull back and fortify our positions in the Hazarajat area."
"That would be a great idea, but the Hazaras there are also resisting us there," says Igor Nikolayevich Rodionov. He pointed at the map where the city of Bamyan is located. "It's not only the Sunni faction of the Mujahideen that are fighting us. We have Iranian-backed Shia Mujahideen that are also fighting us there, and the Maoists that are against our military presence there."
"How about we give the task of sealing the border crossings to the Afghan Army? They seemed to be performing rather well lately, though all we have to do is to weed out the infiltrators that have embedded themselves within the Afghan military," suggested Chebrikov. "We could send more of our KGB agents there, plus they could be accompanied by Spetsnaz forces as well."
I knew better than to interrupt a planning session that was dominated by the Soviet generals, mostly because I did not know anything at all about military affairs, and I wouldn't want to go down in history as the man who constantly interrupted the generals whenever they were planning something. At the same time, other signs of discontent within the Soviet bloc were also beginning to present itself, as in addition to the nationalist gatherings that have become more frequent, environmental rallies were also common as well. This however, I would have supported, as the environmental damage done to the Aral Sea was something that we would pay for all eternity. Not only that, but there is a lot of damage that Gorbachev's policies that have done to the Union that I have to fix, but where to begin from there? It was when my colleagues and I walked back to the Kremlin, where the office of the General Secretary of the Communist Party was located, which I now occupied. I picked up the phone and dialed a number that I wasn't sure if it was the correct one.
"Hello? I'd like to connect to Minsk, please. Please relay this call to Comrade Aleksander Grigoryevich Lukashenko. Tell him that Comrade Anatoly Lukyanov wishes to speak to him."
--- Portions from the Interview with Former Chinese Foreign Minister Wen Zengxian
Russia Today, released on July 24, 2018
Discussing the Era of the Three Mandarins
Interviewer: In your book, the Era of the Three Mandarins, you've specifically talked about the emergence of figures like Wang Dongxing, Ye Fei, and Wu Nansheng. These three men were known in China as the major figures that began to oppose much of Deng Xiaoping's reforms. Yet, it was later revealed that they emerged as the most vocal supporter of Anatoly Lukyanov's coup against Gorbachev, mostly because of the so-called unsanctioned gatherings that have erupted inside the USSR. What is your opinion of these men, as an author of the book, Mr. Wen?
Wen: (in Chinese) I felt really sorry for Ye Fei, since he was not born in China, but rather, the Philippines. I distinctly remember the current President, Meng Jianzhu, who had to step down as CEO of Huawei, in order to be elected as the President of China in 2012, saying that both China and the Philippines share a kind of blood tie that not even the late Artemio Tadiar was able to destroy, much to the amusement of the son of the late Corazon Aquino. However, President Meng's comments triggered a violent protest in the Philippines and Japan, where anti-Chinese rhetoric was flared up. The reason being is that Ye Fei carried a double burden of being a Filipino Chinese politician who served China, and being suspected of treachery. In the end, many of us had valued Ye Fei as a true Chinese patriot who was killed in that terrorist attack in Shanghai.
Interviewer: What of the other two men?
Wen: Wang Dongxing was a prominent figure, having earned the reputation for his hard work in protecting Chairman Mao, up to his death. Wu Nansheng was mostly known for his rather unusual views about how Macao and Hong Kong have been corrupted by Western imperialist influences, and yet, our citizens enjoyed going to Macao to gamble, as mainland China bans gambling on its territory. Macao is exempted from this rule, allowing much of our citizens to go there to gamble. However, Macao itself has been a center of various terrorist attacks in the past, mostly carried out by Philippine intelligence.
Interviewer: Between 1996 and 1998, Fujian was the province mostly affected by these terrorist attacks backed by Philippine intelligence, despite heavy Chinese surveillance. Moreover, their support for the East Turkestan Uyghur separatist movement has also been evident by the presence of their government-in-exile that was built in Philippine soil. Did the deaths of Ye Fei and Wang Dongxing have an effect on Chinese foreign policy towards the Philippines and Vietnam?
Wen: Of course, as our two countries were still technically at war, up until 2004, when the Second Korean War had ended with Korea's reunification. Keep in mind that while we were technically co-belligerent in that conflict, the pro-junta leftovers from the previous Burmese junta had regained control of their country from the government that was friendly towards us. Not only did the old junta form an alliance with the Philippines, but it sought to gain a major ally in the US, but they did not know that they were now dealing with President Carol Moseley-Braun, and not Jack Kemp. She shot down their offers for an alliance, which would lead to the Burmese junta's decision to align itself with Tokyo.
Interviewer: Did China also lost its position in the Spratly Islands as well?
Wen: Unfortunately, yes. The Philippine Navy had been slowly rebuilt with the help of the Americans and the Australians, but it was American intelligence that allowed the Philippines to carry out a large scale naval bombardment that destroyed our military installations in the Nansha Islands. Moreover, Vietnam had also retook Hoang Sa, which was their share of the Nansha Islands. As we were about to launch a counteroffensive, the UN Security Council stepped in and flatly told us that unless we withdrew our military from the Nansha Islands and turned it over to the UN as a mandate, they would kick us out of the Security Council and the General Assembly. The Russians were outraged by the proposal, but the UN Security Council was not in the mood to argue with the Russians as well, as they were expelled from the UN while they were still the Soviet Union, and were only allowed to rejoin the UN as separate republics of the forcibly dissolved USSR. The UN would impose a ceasefire on both us and the Philippines, while UN peacekeepers would come in to guard the Nansha Islands. I was one of the vocal protesters that led the march against the UN, and in fact, I even called for China to withdraw its membership from the United Nations. Imagine how the international community reacted to that.
Interviewer: (laughs) I do seem to remember that tiny detail, where the major headlines said that you were a fringe nut case who was viewed as an anti-globalist. In fact, the Babel Group had published something called the Global Harmonization List, which had published the names and addresses of various anti-globalization activists, ranging from Linda Tripp, to even Pauline Hanson as well. Unfortunately, one of the people that was listed on the GHL, a certain Scott Ritter, was mysteriously killed, during a UN inspection tour in Syria on the handover of its own chemical arsenal. The assassination was carried out in a mysterious manner, and there was no investigation to be carried out. I'm afraid that you might be liquidated too.
Wen: It's a matter of principle, but I'm not afraid to die. The Babel Group's kill list had already included where I live, and what my phone number is, but I'm not afraid of death. In fact, the book that I published, has not been censored by the Chinese mainstream publishing companies, mostly because they wanted to know more about the Three Mandarins. Wu Nansheng's main role was his position as the Minister of Territorial Reintegration. It meant that he was placed in charge of reintegrating both Hong Kong and Macao, as well as Quemoy and Matsu, which even the renegade province of Taiwan had ceded to us, but in return, they purged the pro-reunification figures from within the Taiwanese political elite.
Interviewer: Do you hope for an eventual reconciliation between China and its former enemies, Mr. Wen?
Wen: As long as the governments of Vietnam, Burma, and the Philippines are taking their marching orders from Tokyo, there is no hope. Unfortunately, thanks to the late US President Jesse Jackson's decision to hang the former Tadiar regime out to dry, they turned to Japan for salvation, and that gave Japanese nationalists a chance to spread their message of imperial glory and national resurgence once again.
--- "It is frightening and extremely disgusting that standing up for our own sovereignty and the welfare of the people could get you labeled as a right-wing populist and a domestic extremist these days. What has happened to our friend and ally in the fight against corporate power and the globalist system is certainly an assassination, but they were not allowed to investigate it. Even within our own government, there are those certain politicians that are willing to sell our country to the highest bidder. What has happened to our beloved country, a country that both Asanuma Inejiro-san and Yamaguchi Otoya-san had fought for, as well as many of our grandparents and great-grandparents, is a national tragedy. Ever since our tragic defeat on the battlefield in the Greater East Asia War, national humiliation and a declining population has been the norm. It is for this reason that I wish to approach Tamogami-san with an offer and proposal to help revive our nation's demographics by shortening the work hours that we all have. It is a crime that we're often overworked, because it meant that we don't have time to have children. We've placed a huge emphasis on our work culture, that we've practically worked ourselves to death. There's a major unbalance between our work, and our lives, that even our fellow politicians are openly speaking out in favor of a reduced work hour, to ensure that we'd have more jobs for people seeking employment, as well as relaxation. It is also why we must also make efforts to reintegrate the large population of hikikomoris that have shut themselves off from the world, because of our harsh work culture. Only when we have solved our problems regarding our work culture, could we begin to recover as a society, and as a nation." Taro Yamamoto, while speaking during a National Syndicalist People's Party rally, August 15, 2019. |
|
gillan1220
Fleet admiral
I've been depressed recently. Slow replies coming in the next few days.
Posts: 12,609
Likes: 11,326
|
Post by gillan1220 on Feb 23, 2023 13:50:16 GMT
Now that the JSDF have been granted basing rights in the Philippines, tensions would definitely flare up. This would make Subic Naval Base a joint USN-PN-JMSDF base then?
I'm sure Onoda is still being useful to Tadiar on how to find the remnants of Yamashita's gold scattered throughout the archipelago.
|
|
|
|
Post by kyuzoaoi on Feb 23, 2023 19:01:23 GMT
I think they might conscript Hikkikomoris to the JSDF.
|
|
|
|
Post by TheRomanSlayer on Feb 24, 2023 3:46:15 GMT
Now that the JSDF have been granted basing rights in the Philippines, tensions would definitely flare up. This would make Subic Naval Base a joint USN-PN-JMSDF base then? I'm sure Onoda is still being useful to Tadiar on how to find the remnants of Yamashita's gold scattered throughout the archipelago. Yes, although in the future, I would suspect that Aparri might become an exclusively JMSDF base, while Carranglan, Tuguegarao, or possibly Cabanatuan City (or some other city in Nueva Ecija) becoming a JGSDF/JASDF military base, although having a base in Nueva Ecija might actually cause a lot of controversy. I think they might conscript Hikkikomoris to the JSDF. Bad idea, and that might only drive them further into mental issues as well. They would first have to be coaxed out of society first, before being enlisted into the JSDF. Alternatively, they might become the backbone of the workforce employed in the Japanese arms industry, What we're also seeing in this timeline rewrite that I never had a chance to cover in the original version is how the events during EDSA Uno would also affect domestic politics of foreign nations. In this case, Japanese domestic politics have to contend with the tragic reality of death by overwork, and how they'll challenge that problem. Moreover, we're also going to see more Japanese politicians featured in this timeline rewrite, which may include butterflying Shinzo Abe's death and Taro Yamamoto's political career (before he entered politics, he was actually an actor who played a Japanese Army sergeant in a Korean movie, My Way).  Taro Yamamoto, the featured politician in this timeline. |
|
