NationStates Jolt Archive

President Vale Odgers sat with his top advisors and military strategists in the War Room of his palace in Abuja, Nigeria.

"Sir, we need more territory. We are seriously overcrowded, and population is now crowded into less than a third of the needed level of land," explained the Secretary of State, Andrew Anderson.

"He's right sir," said Trey Sanders, the Secretary of Health. "The levels of crowding are astounding. And with the crowding is coming disease."

Boris Alexis, the Secretary of Agriculture, nodded. "Sir, in addition to that, we don't have nearly enough land to hold our people and grow our crops. Our agriculture has been in serious decline, and we have turned into a nation of subsistance farming. We are alarmingly dependent on other nations as a source of food now. We simply need more land if we want to be able to survive an embargo."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"But what land are we going to take? If we become a war-mongering nation and just start invading our neighbors, other nations will bring international sanctions against us. We might be able to take on one or two nations, but if the whole world starts invading US, Binthor will be no more. In addition, I feel badly about invading a nation just because we need land. Binthor has never been an instigator of wars for no reason, and I don't ever intend it to be," said Vale slowly.

"Sir, I understand your reasoning, and I have found a solution to it," explained Amy Enfant, the Commander of the Armed Forces. "The Cottonmouth, owning Mali, the Ivory Coast, and Liberia, right beside our Ghana and Burkina, have fallen into anarchy. If we start a campaign to take the territories, and we succeed, we can effectively double our land area and half the effects of crowding. It will also bring a vital connection to Guinea, so it will not be cut off from the main territories in the event of war."

Vale thought about it for a moment. "How will our defenses be if we took the extra territory?"

Eric Kaldin, the Secretary of Defense, thought it over a moment before he replied. "We have more than enough air and sea forces to cover the extra land. I am also confident that with little effort we could increase the size of our army by millions and have enough ground forces to defend the land while still maintaining a 1 or 1.5% military percentage to population."

Vale nodded. "So be it. In light of the problems that you men and women have explained to me, I agree with your decision to take the land." Vale looked at Amy Enfant. "Prepare for plans to inavde Mali. I will start writing my speech for the press. I want low casualties on this one, both for us and the Malians. Try to make the takeover as peaceable as possible. We don't need bad public and international relations with this one."

Marcus Air Force Base
20 miles north of Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Major General Mendoza's personal secretary sat at his desk. He assumed another boring day was in store for the base, as the days had been for the last weeks and months he had served there. Nothing ever happened here, and it seemed nothing would ever happen. Even when Mali, just a few miles away, had fallen into anarchy, nothing more than a few extra drills were ever put into effect. And now, as if he wasn't tormented enough, it had become blazingly hot in the area, in the high 90's. The man now wished he had become a pilot instead of opting for the desk job, even though it was more risky.

Just as the man was pulling out a deck of cards from his pants pockets so he could play Solitare, the phone started to ring. He picked it up, guessing it was another boring, routine call or assignment. He was wrong. His face paled as he listened to the man on the other end of the phone. He nodded repeatedly as he listened, stamered a quick "Yessir," and dropped the phone onto his desk, completely missing its cradle. He had stood up by then, and he walked quickly to the door on the opposite end of the room and jerked it open without knocking. Major General sat at his desk, gazing out of his office window towards the tarmac and the jet fighters outside. He quickly turned to the secretary and sighed.

"What is it, Hasty? I thought I told you to knock before coming in here."

"I'm sorry sir, but you just got a message from high command. I put them on hold. They wish to speak to you. It sounds big, maybe a deployment."

Paul Mendoza picked up his phone. "Yes sir, I'm here." He paused and listened for a few seconds. "Yes sir, immediately. I will have the planes ready right away. Yes sir." He paused again, and listened for nearly a minute. "Yes sir, I've got it. We will follow these orders immediately. Exactly as you said, sir. Thank you." He slowly lowered the phone into the cradle. "Get the deployment team ready, Hasty. We're going to Mali."

In multiple bases, both in Guinea and Burkina Faso, men and equipment began to stir as they all prepared to cross the border into Mali.

Abuja, Nigeria
Outside the Presidential Palace

Vale Odgers walked out of the palace, with a large cohort following in step. He stopped at the top of the stairs leading toward the pathway to the busy street. An enormous amount of reporters stood on the lawn, waiting for the president to make his speech. As soon as he came into view, cameras started flashing and people started shouting. He raised his arms to calm the crowd, and stepped up to the podium prepared for the occasion.

"First off, I would like to welcome you here and thank you all for coming at such short notice. Today, I have huge news that could affect everyone in the nation of Binthor for ages to come. In light of recent events, The Cottonmouth has fallen into disrepair, and Mali, Ivory Coast, and Liberia have fallen into anarchy because of it. Because of the lack of police or military to enforce the laws and the lack of politicians to govern the nation, crime rates, including homicide, rape, assault, and illicit trade, have been dramatically increased. Drug lords, gang leaders, and militia generals have taken control, and because of this, Binthor has made the decision to put an end to it. As we speak, the men and women of the Binthorian Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines are moving to secure Mali from several different staging points. As we have better equipment than the militias, we are expecting minimal casualties. The military forces are entering as peacably as possible, and are taking many steps to prevent civilian casualties from occuring. Time to secure Mali is expected to be anywhere from a month to several month, depending on th amount of opposition. I assure you, this decision is a good one, and will greatly help not only the Binthorians, but the Malians as well. Good day."

As Vale turned and walked away, people started shouting questions, and his advisors took over. Vale was still pondering the wiseness of his decision as he walked through the large oak doors of the palace.

*tag*

***In a small sealed envelope delivered by a midjet to the Binthorian capitol building, adressed to Vale Odgers.***

While we appluad you efforts to qwell the warlords that have taken power in Cottomouth, we also feel that your overcrowding probelm could be dealt with peacefully. With the installiation of air filtration systems, a rework of your sewage system, the reconstruction of outdated habitations, and, if possible, the addition of subterranian housing, your population could eaisly live comfortably within its current borders without the need to remove agricultural areas or wildlife preserves. If resources or manpower are porblems we may be able to work with you.

-Lyran Milasta, CEO Modern Construction and Furnishings. Tasth City, Hyperbia.