New Manth
20-08-2007, 01:44
In war, truth is the first casualty
-Aeschylus
Far Northeastern Sinai
Like many of the citizens of outlying Manthian territories, Mohammed Bekar and his friends had turned to the military to escape a life of poverty. Mohammed's grandfather had worked in a garment factory in southern Sudan, toiling hour after hour for thirty-five years and dying a poor man. His father had worked in the same factory for ten years, until his job was eliminated in a factory modernization and he descended into abject poverty and alcoholism. For young men like Mohammed, the army was one of the only ways to escape the long hours, the low pay, and the vicious exploitation of the provinces which bought the elites in the cities their power. Though it was only a small step up, from the virtual slaves of the industrialists to the tools of the state, at least the state took good care of its tools.
So it was that Mohammed was sitting in the middle of the godforsaken desert near Manth's northeastern border, enjoying the cool night air, puffing on a cigarette, and watching over a fuel and ammunition dump that served units on their way to the border and back. There had been quite a lot of those, lately, not that it mattered to him or his buddies much. The military was always on the move somewhere or other, but the Sinai desert was a peaceful place at night. You couldn't see the stars from the cities, but out here...
"Who's that?"
The terse whisper brought him down to earth. A figure was darting out of the depot, making for the fence.
Mohammed turned to look, and that's when the world turned to fire.
****
As the fighting around Cazelia and Duneria heated up and the situation in Africa became ever more unstable, one thing was clear to the military command in Manth - if war broke out, defeating the enemy on the battlefield would only be part of the equation. Controlling enough resources to support a large Manthian war machine would be critical, especially considering the small population of the Greater Economic Union compared to some of the combatants. Manth could very soon be facing the largest war in its history, and every possible advantage was needed.
Sitting just east of the Union's possessions in Israel and the Sinai, Saudi Arabia was a tempting target. The billions of barrels of oil that lay beneath the desert sands were enough to fuel the Manthian military for years to come, and the location of Saudi Arabia would be extremely valuable in controlling the Arabian Gulf and securing Suez for allied shipping. And unless the ViZionians chose to involve themselves, taking the country would be unlikely to put much strain on the Manthian military. Along the way, Manthian forces would march into Jordan as a 'necessary precaution' to protect the country from Saudi or ViZionian occupation. By the time the Jordanians realized that a temporary occupation had turned into annexation, it would probably be too late.
Of course, first a pretext would be needed, or at least preferred, in order to turn a coldly calculated strategic attack into a popularly justified war. There was little chance the Saudis would be so utterly suicidal as to provide one themselves, and so one would have to be manufactured. A few terrorist attacks against military and economic targets near the border by Manthian operatives disguised as Saudi soldiers would start the ball rolling... once a 'captured' soldier confessed to working for the Saudi government, the government would bay for Saudi blood, dragging the citizens along by sheer force of propaganda. Once the Manthians took the country, there were plans for Manthian investgators to uncover 'evidence' of a Saudi-ViZionian secret agreement in which the ViZionians agreed to send the Saudis money and military aid in return for covertly disrupting the Manthian economy and military, and all this would effectively serve as an ex post facto justification for invading the country in the first place, strengthening the Manthian case and hopefully weakening the positions of any Manthian protesters who dared arrest and disappearance to challenge the official line.
Ironically, if the Saudis had actually committed the offences which would be used to justify the invasion, they might have been better placed to fend it off.
Five hundred thousand soldiers - only a little finger of the hand stretched over Northeast Africa, but all that Central Command had judged necessary to defeat the Saudi military - had been earmarked for the invasion. In the deserts of the Sinai, tens of thousands of tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery guns were being prepared. In the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, Manthian warships and submarines were gathering. And at airbases across eastern Manth, interceptors and bombers were being marshaled for the coming campaign.
Soon after the news of the Cazelian invasion arrived, the operation received the go-ahead. A day after the Vetalian army reached the Cazelian capitol, an ultimatum was delivered to the Saudi government.
The people of Manth have long been patient with the Saudi government, in hope that peace could be maintained between our two countries. However, the recent actions of the Saudi government have revealed bad faith and regrettably forced us to act. The Greater Economic Union's forces are mobilizing, but war between our nations can be avoided on the following conditions:
-The Saudi Navy and Air Force will officially disband and turn over their equipment to Manthian authorities.
-The Saudi Army will reduce its standing military to ten thousand men, who will act as a heavier-armed police force and help guard the borders.
-Manthian troops will be allowed to enter Saudi Arabia freely, and will assume responsibility for the security of the country.
-The civilian government will temporarily turn over authority to a Manthian military governor, to ensure that order is maintained in the country. The new overnment will be granted free access to all Saudi archives, organs of state power, records, information and in all other ways will assume the duties of government.
-The terms of this agreement may be modified at the discretion of the UCPLC, with the agreement of the Saudi government.
Of course, the results would be more or less the same whether the Saudis accepted or, as was expected, refused the demands - thousands of Manthian troops pouring into the country, the abject loss of sovereignty, the humiliation and exploitation of the Saudi nation. In the view of Central Command, the only difference would be in how many Saudis they would have to kill to get the job done.
-Aeschylus
Far Northeastern Sinai
Like many of the citizens of outlying Manthian territories, Mohammed Bekar and his friends had turned to the military to escape a life of poverty. Mohammed's grandfather had worked in a garment factory in southern Sudan, toiling hour after hour for thirty-five years and dying a poor man. His father had worked in the same factory for ten years, until his job was eliminated in a factory modernization and he descended into abject poverty and alcoholism. For young men like Mohammed, the army was one of the only ways to escape the long hours, the low pay, and the vicious exploitation of the provinces which bought the elites in the cities their power. Though it was only a small step up, from the virtual slaves of the industrialists to the tools of the state, at least the state took good care of its tools.
So it was that Mohammed was sitting in the middle of the godforsaken desert near Manth's northeastern border, enjoying the cool night air, puffing on a cigarette, and watching over a fuel and ammunition dump that served units on their way to the border and back. There had been quite a lot of those, lately, not that it mattered to him or his buddies much. The military was always on the move somewhere or other, but the Sinai desert was a peaceful place at night. You couldn't see the stars from the cities, but out here...
"Who's that?"
The terse whisper brought him down to earth. A figure was darting out of the depot, making for the fence.
Mohammed turned to look, and that's when the world turned to fire.
****
As the fighting around Cazelia and Duneria heated up and the situation in Africa became ever more unstable, one thing was clear to the military command in Manth - if war broke out, defeating the enemy on the battlefield would only be part of the equation. Controlling enough resources to support a large Manthian war machine would be critical, especially considering the small population of the Greater Economic Union compared to some of the combatants. Manth could very soon be facing the largest war in its history, and every possible advantage was needed.
Sitting just east of the Union's possessions in Israel and the Sinai, Saudi Arabia was a tempting target. The billions of barrels of oil that lay beneath the desert sands were enough to fuel the Manthian military for years to come, and the location of Saudi Arabia would be extremely valuable in controlling the Arabian Gulf and securing Suez for allied shipping. And unless the ViZionians chose to involve themselves, taking the country would be unlikely to put much strain on the Manthian military. Along the way, Manthian forces would march into Jordan as a 'necessary precaution' to protect the country from Saudi or ViZionian occupation. By the time the Jordanians realized that a temporary occupation had turned into annexation, it would probably be too late.
Of course, first a pretext would be needed, or at least preferred, in order to turn a coldly calculated strategic attack into a popularly justified war. There was little chance the Saudis would be so utterly suicidal as to provide one themselves, and so one would have to be manufactured. A few terrorist attacks against military and economic targets near the border by Manthian operatives disguised as Saudi soldiers would start the ball rolling... once a 'captured' soldier confessed to working for the Saudi government, the government would bay for Saudi blood, dragging the citizens along by sheer force of propaganda. Once the Manthians took the country, there were plans for Manthian investgators to uncover 'evidence' of a Saudi-ViZionian secret agreement in which the ViZionians agreed to send the Saudis money and military aid in return for covertly disrupting the Manthian economy and military, and all this would effectively serve as an ex post facto justification for invading the country in the first place, strengthening the Manthian case and hopefully weakening the positions of any Manthian protesters who dared arrest and disappearance to challenge the official line.
Ironically, if the Saudis had actually committed the offences which would be used to justify the invasion, they might have been better placed to fend it off.
Five hundred thousand soldiers - only a little finger of the hand stretched over Northeast Africa, but all that Central Command had judged necessary to defeat the Saudi military - had been earmarked for the invasion. In the deserts of the Sinai, tens of thousands of tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery guns were being prepared. In the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, Manthian warships and submarines were gathering. And at airbases across eastern Manth, interceptors and bombers were being marshaled for the coming campaign.
Soon after the news of the Cazelian invasion arrived, the operation received the go-ahead. A day after the Vetalian army reached the Cazelian capitol, an ultimatum was delivered to the Saudi government.
The people of Manth have long been patient with the Saudi government, in hope that peace could be maintained between our two countries. However, the recent actions of the Saudi government have revealed bad faith and regrettably forced us to act. The Greater Economic Union's forces are mobilizing, but war between our nations can be avoided on the following conditions:
-The Saudi Navy and Air Force will officially disband and turn over their equipment to Manthian authorities.
-The Saudi Army will reduce its standing military to ten thousand men, who will act as a heavier-armed police force and help guard the borders.
-Manthian troops will be allowed to enter Saudi Arabia freely, and will assume responsibility for the security of the country.
-The civilian government will temporarily turn over authority to a Manthian military governor, to ensure that order is maintained in the country. The new overnment will be granted free access to all Saudi archives, organs of state power, records, information and in all other ways will assume the duties of government.
-The terms of this agreement may be modified at the discretion of the UCPLC, with the agreement of the Saudi government.
Of course, the results would be more or less the same whether the Saudis accepted or, as was expected, refused the demands - thousands of Manthian troops pouring into the country, the abject loss of sovereignty, the humiliation and exploitation of the Saudi nation. In the view of Central Command, the only difference would be in how many Saudis they would have to kill to get the job done.