NationStates Jolt Archive

New Masada, Kahanistan, 6:00 AM

President Nadia Sklenova woke up in her apartment and took a Prozac. She had declined to move into the Presidential Palace in favour of her apartment for two main reasons: the political - as a communist, she wished to not distance herself from the masses, and the practical - the "palace" was a three-story house that was only slowly being built onto and was mainly offices, surrounded by heavy infantry, attack helicopters, and various armoured vehicles.

The Prozac, in addition to the four other antidepressants she was on, was, although not mentioned in the mainstream media, the only thing that kept her going. Nadia was 33 years old, and in the last three years she had invaded Xirnium, seen her country uprooted twice, destroyed Kraven (and seen things that she wished could be purged from her memory), been betrayed by a man she thought was in love with her, been raped by a Kraven soldier and had the baby born of the rape taken from her (she never did figure out what happened to him, but at least came out of the pregnancy a cup size larger than she'd been - not that it was any consolation), lost her father to the Doomani, and had the responsibility for restoring her nation for the third time placed squarely on her shoulders.

After taking three Nardils and eating a light breakfast, she showered and changed into her "professional" wear, her favourite navy blue blazer and skirt, and drove to the Government District, mulling over her decisions. Had she done the right thing in removing her Foreign Minister? She had been a close friend of hers... but had replaced her with another politician for the sake of Kahanistan's reputation - it would not do to have a loose cannon in the M.F.A., and she wanted someone who would take a hard line against the Canadsteiner Intelligence Agency which had committed terrorist acts in Kahanistan, but not be as over-the-top as her friend had been. Had she done the right thing in cowing to the Praetonians? She'd want to talk to Rachel about that - she had forgiven her for removing her as M.F.A., or so she said.

By 8 AM, she arrived in the Senate Hall. The Kahanistanian government had decided to hold an inquiry into the reasons for the superior Kahanistanian military (the military and Senate were dominated by Nationalists) being defeated by the numerically and morally inferior Doomani, the technologically inferior Kriegos, and their allies. Senator Alyssa Petrova, president of the Senate, and Fleet Admiral Carl Jenkins, Commander of Naval Operations, were there. Both had run against her in the Presidential elections, but they all wanted the same thing - answers.

---

"I demand to know," President Sklenova fumed, her anger dulled by the half bottle of Chardonnay she'd put away before entering the building (not being one to drink and drive), "how we managed to lose twelve thousand fighters in battle against a force we outnumbered at least twenty to one. How one Doomani legion was able to take a city defended by over four hundred thousand troops. How 200,000 Doomani soldiers almost singlehandedly beat over sixty million Kahanistanians, including reserves and armed civilians. I want answers, and I think the country wants answers. That's why I asked the Senate to hold public hearings, to clear up these miserable failings." She slammed a sheet of paper down on Petrova's desk. It had a list of Kahanistanian generals, admirals, survivors of the most disastrous battles, and weapon designers she wanted to testify at the hearings.

Petrova nodded. "There is no excuse for this," she said. "I'm all for the hearings. I'd like the Praetonians to be here, too... they may have useful input. And our new Axis Novan allies, definitely." When it came to such serious matters, to her there were no communists, nationalists, anti-Catholics, or others... only Kahanistanians. Kahanistanian people who wanted answers, a solution to their country's problems, people who had elected a new government with little hope it would change things, and in many cases, had pissed away their votes for extremist parties to show their dissatisfaction with the ruling parties.

---

The Senate convened to conduct the hearings into the state of Kahanistan's military. To the side of where the Senators sat and debated, President Sklenova and several Kahanistanian generals waited to be called to testify, and awaited any allied generals who would also speak. The course of this hearing would result in a massive piece of legislation put up to reform the military...

---

[OOC: This thread is inspired by a similar one (http://www.forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=443094) by Sarzonia. It's open to pretty much any nation which has relations with Kahanistan and is willing to aid in the reforming of its military. I don't like arrival posts, so if you have good relations just feel free to post your general or whoever testifying before the Senate.]

bump

OOC: If you don't mind, I'd like to get involved. I'm semi-allied with Prae atm, for reference.

IC:
To: High Command, Kahanistani Military
From: Field Marshal David G. Oliver, CINC, Prestonian Armed Forces

Gentlemen, we have seen the Kahanistani military in action several times over the last three years. The recent decimation at the hands of the Doomani was in a word, despicable. I do not believe in beating around the bush, so allow me to get right to the point.

My nation as a member of UFAN holds no love for the Doomani pigs whatsoever. Though as a general rule we do not hold much affection for Communists, as the old saying goes "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." To this end, we would like to send members of the Prestonian Armed Forces from all branches to train and indoctrinate your armed forces. I assure you that within six months your ragtag military shall become a force to be reckoned with.

Please reply in good order.

Semper Fidelis, Semper Paratus.

While I resent your characterisation of our military as a ragtag force, and must ask what form of indoctrination you propose to administer to them, I am willing to invite a Prestonian general to attend the inquiry we are planning into the failures and strengths of our armed forces, and to offer input into training our forces.

While I personally am an avowed communist, Kahanistan is not a communist state; rather, it is a social democracy inching dangerously close to unregulated capitalism such as exists in Praetonia, God forbid.

I await your response to my letter.

Signed,
Nadia Sklenova,
President of Kahanistan

Rear Admiral Koushiro Izumi stood up and proceeded to a nearby microphone, well aware of the hundreds of pairs of eyes on his back, most of them hostile. He carried with him a number of portfolios, several of which were labeled 'Classified'. He stepped up to the microphone, adjusted it, and then began to speak.

"I thank you all, especially Madam President Sklenova, for the invitation to speak before you in New Masada. First, allow me to express my sincere regret at the loss of so many lives. Whatever one's goals are in warfare, the suffering of the innocent masses is rarely a stated objective, and it is unfortunate that death came to so many doorsteps." He took a sip of water and continued. "I am here to present an objective evaluation of Kahanistan's military in their most recent conflict, one which saw the complete leveling of your nation at the hands of Doomani forces. This report was compiled by Terran High Command using data gathered from allies, SIGINT and various other sources."

"In essence, our conclusion is that the Kahanistanian War Machine found itself outmaneuvered and outmatched on every level, from the lowest echelons to the highest. A complete failure to anticipate the thrust of the initial attack saw your forces caught off-guard, without any chance to stall the enemy advance. This indicates a breakdown in the entire realm of military intelligence; an enemy force as large as the one that laid waste to your nation is hardly an easy thing to miss. To the best of our knowledge, there were few attempts to make good use of the terrain to enhance your defense, nor did your commanders make use of defense in depth. Once the Kahanistanian lines were broken, they rarely reformed. In the past, your habit of holing up in urban areas served you well; the decision to fight the enemy on neutral ground was a huge mistake."

"Your subterranean airfields were effective in preserving your air force during the initial strikes, but these thousands of aircraft were thrown up against a force that was both technologically superior to yours and fighting a war with their brains, not their hearts. In one instance, several squadrons of your aircraft ignored a massive formation of vulnerable Candrian bombers to continue a losing fight against Doomani air-superiority fighters. The superior C&C capabilities of the enemy allowed them to overcome your numerical superiority; as we analyzed the data it became increasingly clear that Kahanistan's capabilities in the realms of military intelligence and command-and-control are almost nonexistent. Any advantage gained by preserving your air force was quickly lost to boneheaded decisions that revealed the location of many Kahanistanian airfields.

"Artillery was ineffectively deployed, and munitions stores were quickly depleted in futile counter-battery salvos. Your ground forces lacked mobility, and quickly found themselves encircled and destroyed. Your paramilitary forces were completely ineffective, and the decision to order resistance to the last man carried with it the greatest price of all. I will say little of the state of your Navy, but I am not kidding in the least when I say that its performance in this war has been adapted into a course at the Tellerus Naval Academy...as an example of how not to wage combat on the high seas."

"Most damning, perhaps, was the decision to utilize nuclear weapons in a last-ditch attempt at...well, we're not sure exactly what the objective of that was. Indeed, we were disturbed by the willingness of several parties to engage in complete nuclear annihilation. Ancient Terra herself would have fallen prey to thousands of nuclear weapons had it not been for the combined effort of Allanea, Vetaka and our own ABM network. This conflict came very close to ending all civilization as we know it." He paused, shuffled his notes, and glanced down for a second before resuming.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, as I'm sure you all know, the Republic of Ancient Terra and Kahanistan have never shared what one would call an amicable relationship, and Terra's past confrontations with the Allaneans have only fueled that animosity by proxy." He paused to take a sip of water before continuing. "Today, however, Allanea is one of our most stalwart allies, and as a result the Terran Diet instructed me to come here in the hopes of extending a helping hand. I urge you to take what I have said into consideration, because we in the Republic of Ancient Terra do not wish to go to war, now or ever, with Kahanistan; at the same time, we pray that the world must never again witness destruction on the scale of that which wiped your proud nation from the face of this planet. Thank you for your time."

While I resent your characterisation of our military as a ragtag force, and must ask what form of indoctrination you propose to administer to them, I am willing to invite a Prestonian general to attend the inquiry we are planning into the failures and strengths of our armed forces, and to offer input into training our forces.

While I personally am an avowed communist, Kahanistan is not a communist state; rather, it is a social democracy inching dangerously close to unregulated capitalism such as exists in Praetonia, God forbid.

I await your response to my letter.

Signed,
Nadia Sklenova,
President of Kahanistan

My apologies for insulting your military Madam President. My last letter was dictated to an aide, but not read. It is not a mistake I will make again and needless to say he has been dismissed.

My proposed indoctrination would involve quite simply training your officers in the art of modern warfare. To that end we wish to set up a military academy within Kahanistan, to train all officers in the art of war. It is our hope that these officers will then carry their training to their men in the field, and thus improve the overall quality of the Kahanistani military. Eventually, the military academy will be turned over to Kahanistan where we hope to see it continue to function.

In addition, we would like to send mid-level (platoon to brigade) commanders to Prestonia to assist in the direct training of Kahanistani enlisted troops while their commanders are learning how to lead effectively.

Through this double-training method, it is hoped that the Kahanistani military will be sufficiently able to defend itself when the need arises.

Semper Fidelis, Semper Paratus
Gen. David G. Oliver
CINC, Prestonian Armed Forces

The President sat with her laptop, fielding the communications from Prestonia. After inviting the Prestonian general to attend (the inquiry would likely stretch over a period of several weeks) and approving his proposal, she took a drink of water and watched as a Kahanistanian general stepped up to the podium.

The general was a large man, about 6'3", with a muscular build, and in a solid black uniform, with three stars on his rank badge and several medals. He was not as well decorated as many other generals, who often had chests plated with enough medals to function as a suit of plate mail, but such was to be expected of a man not even 40.

He spoke in a low, emotionless voice. "I am Lieutenant General Igor Kaselev, Director of Military Intelligence." That voice would never be that of a politician - he sounded too much like Mr. Spock from Star Trek. "To be fair to our intelligence service, the Kriegos military is woefully under-equipped. (http://www.forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=428384) They mostly use Lee-Enfield rifles, whereas many of our civilians own FN FAL's and other, more modern, weaponry. The northern front was... and rightly... considered to be the greatest threat, and we placed the largest concentration of troops there."

Kaselev stepped down and sat next to President Sklenova. An older man in a naval uniform took his place at the podium. He was about 60 years old, and only slightly shorter than Kaselev, but about the same weight. He had short white hair and spoke passionately about his forces.

"I am Fleet Admiral Carl Jenkins, Commander of Naval Operations," said the admiral. "I commanded the naval forces of which you spoke." After pausing for a couple of seconds to gauge the Terran admiral's reaction, he continued. "You must consider that my objective was not to defeat the Questarian Navy, but merely to protect the ships of refugees until they got out of range of the Doomani, and delay the Questarians until either the last ship had left or the Doomani threat had been neutralised. When the enemy attacks our fleet from outside the range of our surface-to-air missiles, I see little choice but to deploy carrier-based fighters to stop the missiles. If you can provide me with the strategy you would have used, I would be glad to hear it." He hoped he had not shown his anger, but honestly wanted to know what the Terran would have done.

"As for our air force... I'll defer to our President on that issue. She is a former fighter pilot herself. What I can say is that in our military, you shoot what is shooting at you before you shoot that which is not. Otherwise, you will be shot by your attacker while you are concentrating on the other threat. Our air force was actively engaged by the Doomani A.S.F.'s, which we saw as the greater threat, and only after downing them would we be free to pursue the bombers without fear of being picked off at leisure by the Doomani Air Force."

Admiral Jenkins nodded to the crowd and resumed his seat. The next Kahanistanian to speak was a young woman, about nineteen, in dress uniform. Unlike Kaselev and Jenkins, who were adorned with medals, the girl had very few medals and only a corporal's rank insignia. She was tall, very thin, and had long dark hair and tanned skin.

"Corporal Sarah Bergman," she said. "First of all, let me agree with the Terran Admiral, 'never again.' I'm a survivor of the Battle of North Freetown. I can think of several things wrong with that battle, but the deployment of our artillery isn't one of them. The biggest thing I can see is our C.O. was a religious fanatic. Whenever I'd go by his office he was reading They Must Go, I still remember that dog-eared book, with the autograph and all sorts of handwritten Hebrew notations. He talked about how HaShem, that's God for the Gentiles here, was going to punish him for surrendering to the Doomani in the first war, how one must not 'stand idly by one's brother's blood', and he was always calling the Doomies the sons of 'Amalek.' He was the biggest nut I've ever met, and I've met General al-Ghazi."

"But, he wasn't stupid. He knew that the Doomani chemical artillery had to be stopped, the only way to survive that gas was to have an oxygen tank with us, or to chemically treat the filters to resist halon. It was some kind of binary, one gas rose and the other fell, so whether you took the high ground or the low you'd get one of them. He threw everything he had at that artillery, and even had the little armour we had charge its position."

"Our paramilitaries did exactly what they were supposed to do. Stay in the city and protect the civilians. They weren't supposed to go out there and fight the enemy, they were supposed to stay in town, and fight alongside the regular military and reserves."

Sarah looked nervously into the crowd. She made eye contact with the President, who merely nodded to her. The girl stepped down from the podium, and waited for responses.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii50/citationxiv/sealgovernment-heavenlasts.png
_________________________
Official Communiqué

Classification: Confidential (encrypted)
From: Office of the Minister, MEA (UIK/COV)
To: President Nadia Sklenova of Kahanistan
Subject: Senate Hearings

Madam President, warm greetings,

His Serene Majesty's ambassador to your nation has brought your Senate hearings into defence to the attention of this office.

As you are aware, certain of His Serene Majesty's Subjects are engaged in administering upgrades to your civilian transport network, as a non-governmental programme of economic assistance.

Separate to that, yet in the same spirit of assistance, others of His Serene Majesty's Subjects, specialising in military consulting, advice, and assistance, have requested that this office inform you that they are willing to offer their services to your nation; this has been cleared by SIS. Please remember that their activity in your nation will be limited to advice and consultation, so as not to undermine Covenant Neutrality.

In addition, I will ask our Ambassador to make the Military Attaché at our Embassy in New Masada available to provide supplementary testimony to your inquiries; however, as we had only a very peripheral interest in the matters central to your inquiries, I regret to inform you that he will not have access to the full range of information required for a comprehensive assessment. His answers will also, for security reasons, be limited in their scope.

Kind Regards,

The Lady Justina Valdir,
His Serene Majesty's Minister For External Affairs
UIK/COV

Official Statement of the Free Republic of Kahanistan
Encryption Code Omicron-8-Omega-7-Tau

I am more than willing to listen to the information provided by your nation's military attache, as well as any other military official you care to send.

While we can provide information he may need, and even attempt to have him cleared for certain sensitive matters, we suspect it may harm your neutral position and will therefore only give him that information which he specifically requests.

Signed,
Nadia Sklenova,
President of Kahanistan

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii50/citationxiv/sealgovernment-heavenlasts.png
_________________________
Official Communiqué

Classification: Confidential (encrypted)
From: Office of the Minister, MEA (UIK/COV)
To: President Nadia Sklenova of Kahanistan
Subject: RE: Senate Hearings

Madam President, warm greetings,

Our attaché, one Major Simon Koreldes, will need to have access to the publicly available records of the particular battles you are interested in, as well as transcripts of testimony supplied so far. It is highly likely be that his own input will consist merely of supporting, confirming, or objecting to, the testimony of others.

Granting of security clearances, or the dispatch of any higher official in this capacity will, we feel, compromise the non-involvement clauses of our neutrality commitments.

I need to also caution you that, should Praetonia request that the Major not testify or advise you, we shall need to accord their request strong consideration.

Kind Regards,

The Lady Justina Valdir,
His Serene Majesty's Minister For External Affairs
UIK/COV

*******

The Major turned out to be a rather normal-sized, normal-proportioned, nondescript European sort in an olive-green army uniform, and promptly buried himself in documents and papers. He indicated that it would be some time before he was ready to comment on the matter, but was overheard to mutter something about "simple tactics".

One of the President's aides passed down a carbon copy of the minutes from a secretary. The copy would pass through several Kahanistanian and foreign generals and diplomats before going through a large, intimidating-looking colonel who gave the Macisikan a dirty look as he handed the major the copy, which contained the testimony that had been given so far. Apparently, he objected to the implication that he didn't understand simple tactics.

The man seated to the major's left handed him a folder of unclassified and recently declassified material from the invasion (http://www.forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=532860). His uniform and insignia suggested this was General Mustafa Lavalle, Minister of Defence.

The Major's eyes were detached and clinical as he silently accepted and read the reports; his impassive expression wouldn't change for the duration, and, unless spoken to directly, the only sound heard from him would be the soft scratching of a pen.

He had the look of a man who was there for the long haul.

"Major... what is your assessment?" asked the Defence Minister. He didn't want him facing the angry-looking colonel on his right, who looked like he wanted to deck him.

"My assessment is still in progress Minister," the Major replied in bland tones looking up. "But I do have preliminary analysis," he clasped his hands on the desk, indicating he was giving the other man his full attention. "Please remember that, like my civil service counterparts, I am charged to provide frank, impartial, and fearless advice, and I can tell you that you will not like it; the early indicators point towards a gross, almost criminal, incompetence on the part of the defending force, both at the operational and strategic levels," his eyes didn't leave the Minister's face.

"I will have a more detailed report available for you shortly." If the Minister knew anything of Macisikani procedures, he'd know that "more detailed" meant "an inch thick. At least".

The Defence Minister clenched his teeth. He had not been in that position when the war had broken out; he had been one of several Air Force generals at the time. He was not looking forward to reading three centimetres of recriminations, but he was here to learn how to reform the military, not strangle the messenger.

The Major delivered his report quite quickly; a good three-and-a-half-inches thick, it was a massive tome, and was organised quite efficiently into discrete chapters (with many graphs, references, and tables; large amounts of numbers had gone into this). At the end was a sealed section, labelled "For the President's eyes only". The tone revealed the hands of at least three authors, but was bland, dry, and stilted.

It was, for the military, a thoroughly unpleasant read.

The executive summary (which was only a few pages long) showed the report to be supportive of the conclusions reached by the Terran Admiral (a chapter had been devoted to his testimony). It stated that a person could save themselves considerable time by remembering that the Kahanistani were simply out-generalled; the "how" though, was complicated.

The Defence Minister, as it turned out, needed not worry that much; the heaviest criticism was reserved for the political leadership of the day, who failed to remove an obviously unstable leader whose policies "could not be considered beneficial". The insistence by General Abdullah Hassan al-Ghazi that the Kahanistani fight alone against the Doomani received a full fifteen pages (including graphs) as to why, tactically speaking, it was an unbelievably stupid idea, and another five as to why it would have been better to have removed the General then and there. The political system, that section concluded, had failed to act in the national interests; and once al-Ghazi had been removed, the weight of momentum was not with the Kahanistani.

The tactics of the land army (six chapters) were listed as being riddled with mistakes; missed opportunities, basic errors of deployment, a failure to adequately re-deploy when outflanked. The ineffective deployment of artillery (chemical weapons against a Doomani tank formation was cited as a highly visible failure of the army to employ the correct tool; that was a nation that had made an art of chemical warfare after all) featured, as did the failure to manoeuvre correctly, or in some cases, at all. As did "inefficient" instructions (General Ben-Ithamar's instructions to ignore a Questarian in favour of a Doomani was cited here). The report stated that the army's biggest error was to emulate General Gamlin of France in 1940 and fight with the tactics and timetable of 1914. There were a couple of bright notes though, such as the army's refusal to simply cave in, and the concession that the Kahanistani had to fight a two-front war, with one front un-looked and unprepared for.

The Navy received four chapters dissecting their tactics and deployment, and another stating alternative methods suggested by computer simulation; the report did concede that every alternative shown resulted in a greater or significant loss of civilian life, and stated that Fleet Admiral Carl Jenkins deserved praise for his decision to target vulnerable supply lines.

The Air Force actually escaped lightly (three chapters); wrong place, wrong time, was their greatest sin, rather then sheer incompetence on the part of field commanders... although the higher levels were not treated favourably in that respect.

The actions taken against Clandonian civilians and other "terrorists" were heavily criticised as an example of misdeployment; the wholesale slaughter of 60,000 citizens of Metzuda being cited first (as it happened first). Chillingly, the report didn't touch on the moral issues at all, merely stating that "such actions sap international goodwill", before noting that such efforts wasted manpower, energy, and resources that could have been put to better use elsewhere. The bombing, being a primary motivator for the withdrawal of Allenean support, was described as a "tactical error".

Two chapters were devoted to Kahanistani Military Intelligence; during it, the section was dissected and its performance labelled a failure "so complete, as to raise the question of complicity with the invading forces". A full invasion was an awfully big piece of troop movement to be done on a whim.

The only area of the entire effort to escape criticism was the efforts of the morale officers; the fighting spirit, the report stated blandly, that they had nurtured and fanned was the reason there still was a Kahanistan.

The report's conclusion placed the blame squarely on the supreme command; thinking tactically, on the scale of small theatres, individual battles, discreet campaigns, rather than strategically, on the scale of the whole war, was "extremely debilitating at this level". The utter failure to even consider the area of grand strategy, the global situation, the long-term future, was "equally debilitating".

The last sentence read; "Ultimately, the Kahanistani failure came from the very top; a collapse in the decision-making process resulting in the defending forces employing the wrong tactics and stratagems against the wrong enemy; as Lord Damien Dreadfire has stated time and time again, there is no call to fight humanely against an enemy that has shown he or she has no such inclination."

The sealed section contained the recommendations; refurbishment or replacement of military equipment, requests for assistance in this area from the Lord Protector (the Praetonian King), a purging (the word was actually used) of the intelligence forces and upper military leadership, and long, hard, and continued combat exercises in multiple environments. And retrain, retrain, retrain, from the lowliest private, to the highest serving officer.

The Major was extremely aware that the report was not going to be received favourably; a pair of utterly forgettable, nondescript men with a cold look about them accompanied him, and a temporary transfer to a posting inside the Covenant had already been arranged.

ooc: Bloody hell that's a long RP to read from start to finish... but speaking oocly K'stan; you did a damn good job. And so did everyone else in it.

The Defence Minister looked through the dossier. He did not receive as much criticism as an Air Force officer as he thought he would, but didn't understand about 'wrong place, wrong time.'

"It seems that the bulk of the criticism... falls on our land forces," said Lavalle. He handed the dossier to an intelligence officer, a female lieutenant colonel of about 35. Her insignia and name tag identified her as Lt. Colonel Harris. She scanned through the part about intelligence. It was lulsy to watch her face, from a medium skin tone when she picked it up, to the colour draining from her face as she read that they failed, to a deep crimson when she got to the part where collaboration with the Questarian Commonwealth and Doomani was seriously floated as a plausible explanation.

THUMP.

The woman slammed the dossier on her desk. Her eyes narrowed on the Macisikan Major, looking as if she wanted to shoot fireballs or laser beams from them. "Retards," she said in a low, cold, angry voice. "You think we did not know of the attack? We had a line of defence inland. The politicians decided that if we put it on our border, it would make us appear the aggressor and it could be used in enemy propaganda. We saw the fortifications going on up north, knew that we weren't invading, assumed they were preparing for war. It is our overall policy to let the enemy take the first shot."

"If you think not adhering to a policy of pre-emptive war is complicity with enemy forces, you think showing restraint for the sake of international goodwill and trying to get the will of the world on your side is treasonous, then there is no other word for you than retard. And when you accuse me of treason, you had better have some good evidence to back it up."

"I'm not an infantry soldier. I'm a member of Military Intelligence. Take what I have to say with a grain of salt. You quote Damien Dreadfire, may he burn in hell, that there is no need to fight humanely against an inhumane enemy. We nailed them to bloody crescents and six-pointed stars. We fried thousands of Clandonian terrorists. I don't agree with sacrificing our own civilians, but we did not fight humanely, like we had in earlier wars. I think al-Ghazi was an idiot. He cared more for national pride than for military success. The Allaneans who took him, they deserve him. They can have him." The officer stormed over to where the President was sitting and handed her the dossier, so she could read the sealed section.

The Major raised an eyebrow at Harris' reaction, but there was no flicker of emotion in the eyes, which were curiously flat; they slid across to the President. It was quite clear that he found the lack of discipline to be... disappointing.

"I respectfully remind the Lieutenant Colonel, and the Chamber, that we are not now, and never have been, enemies of Kahanistan," he said calmly; he hadn't forgotten that the Kahanistani Senate was watching them. "I was asked to produce frank and fearless advice, with no partiality either way; this I have done. If I might draw Madam President's attention to Appendix B; simulations indicate that, if different tactics and stratagems had been employed, Kahanistan has been assessed as having a 61.41-83.28% chance of being victorious in that conflict."

Another set of thick dossiers were handed over; they would double the length of the entire work.

Appendix A was merely lists of references cited in the report proper, and suggested further reading. Appendix B was the simulation results and findings. C, a set of unclassified Covenant documents "for reference". D was a breakdown of estimated casualty lists for all sides; it was a separate volume all by itself, and added over an inch to the piles. E contained press clippings, reports, and references "for additional reference". F contained SNMC's publicly available assessments of Kahanistan, and predictions as to likely courses for the nation to head in. Finally there was Appendix G; simulation results of an assault upon Kahanistan, right now, by a variety of enemies at varying strengths and technology levels (though none past the colloquial "PMT" level) - part 1 was without Praetonian assistance, part 2 was with Praetonian assistance, and part 3 had the Praetonians as the enemy. The best scenario was a committed defence effort by Praetonia and her allies, and gave Kahanistan a 98.42% chance of victory. The worst-case was Kahanistan, alone, against Praetonia and her allies - a measly 1.13%.

Rear Admiral Izumi stood once again to speak, but declined to proceed to the microphone. He was surprised to hear of the survival of his Kahanistanian counterpart, but not displeased; Terran Intelligence had been unable to get much information on the naval engagements in this conflict, and consequently Admiral Jenkins was a genuine asset at the moment.

"I hear your explanations and will relay them to the appropriate branches of the Terran Command for assessment, but as far as the realms of land and air go, I'm not truly qualified to give my opinion. It would seem from your explanations, however, that the fanaticism of certain commanders robbed your forces of professionalism, which may be the true cause of this whole fiasco." He took a sip of water and adjusted his shirt.

"In the maritime realm, however, my expertise allows me to offer a response. Please, Admiral Jenkins, do not take my comments as a personal attack; I doubt I would have done any better given the situation. Rather the qualms of this assessment -he indicated the Terran Report lying on the desk- lie primarily with the order you were given to defend the refugee ships at all cost."

Koushiro sighed heavily and glanced down at the table for a moment before looking back up. "As sorry as I am to say this, there are many in the Terran Fleet that would not have even considered defending the transports. You were forced to bunch up around slow, highly-visible targets, and consequently suffered for it. The Kahanistanian Navy is a formidable force at sea, and your Superdreadnaught and Fast Battleship Battlegroups are highly mobile, flexible assets; why some pencil-pusher would force you to give up this advantage and turn you into the equivalent of shore batteries is beyond me."

"Additionally, some question the decision to mount CIWS and SAM systems aboard the various ships of the refugee fleet, as this no doubt served to increase the military value of otherwise non-threatening oceangoing vessels, but personally I feel that any laws regarding the lives of the innocent went out the window the moment the involved parties decided on Kahanistan's utter destruction."

Admiral Izumi sat back down, still looking at Admiral Jenkins.

"You found yourself in one hell of a situation, sir. I know my report was full of criticisms of your actions, but frankly I'm impressed that you even got back alive."

(OOC: Apologies for the delayed response Kahanistan, it has been a rough week.)

OOC: I am REALLY sorry for the ridiculously long post. I hadn't read the thread comprehensively until now, and I was writing this as I read, so it ends up addressing a lot of very specific things. But since such a report would probably do just that, I think it's fairly realistic. Unless anyone has questions for Yataghan, assume he sat down at the end.

IC: Lord High General Yataghan was not a patient man. Tall and muscular, the man was an impressive figure with a temper to match. Waiting as the infidel soldiers presented their various reports did very little to soothe his restlessness, but Emperor Ishamael had personally told him, "Go to Kahanistan, deliver the High Command's report, and do not piss any of them off." So he waited, and he listened, and he repressed the urge to fidget or growl in impatience, instead folding his hands and squeezing them with all his might.

Before much longer he heard his own name being read, and the eyes of the assembly turned to him ('Yataghan' was exactly the kind of name one would expect from an obvious Kregaian such as himself). Rising and carrying the booklet that held the High Command's analysis of Kahanistan's performance, the general walked over behind the podium and began without preamble:

"I have before me a copy of the Kregaian High Command's analysis of the Kahanistani performance in the Doomani invasion. Before beginning a summary, I would like to state a few things. Firstly, I have been charged by His Divine Majesty the Emperor to speak honestly, politely, and in a way that best assists the Kahanistani people. If my statements offend any of you, it is by no means my intent or the intent of the Imperium. Now then.

"First, there was the outbreak of sectarian violence in Metzuda that immediately preceded the Doomani invasion. It is fairly obvious that this conflict served to give the Doomani an admittedly tenuous casus belli; however, it is also likely that the Catholic insurgents took orders from or were incited by Doomani authorities, thus allowing the enemy to create dissent and disorder at the same time as they invaded. The conclusion of the High Command was that Kahanistan's liberal policies were its undoing here. The presence of Catholic extremists distracted you at a critical moment, and the solution is simple. Nobody of Doomani descent or with strong Catholic tendencies may be allowed in Kahanistan: strict limitations should be put on the power of the Catholic Church and, preferably, additional political, social, and economic burdens should be put on Catholic immigrants.

"The next stage of the operation, as the Doomani crossed the border, was to begin a massive bombardment of your defenses and to move bombers to destroy as much as possible before their ground forces arrived. Several things went wrong here. Firstly, RADAR installations on the ground could not function without being exposed to Doomani ARMs, which they make frequent use of. Similarly, any aircraft with active radar on was instantly a target. The best solution to this would be to find alternative methods of targeting. Use LIDAR or satellite imagery instead of radar for greater security. Secondly, you used thermobaric and chemical weapons against an advancing armored front, a terrible waste and a poor choice of weaponry. As you discovered, such weapons will at best destroy small vehicles, but the heavy IFVs and MBTs that the Doomani favor will continue unscathed. Using top-attack missiles with kinetic penetrators would have been most effective, and is a tactic you should adopt in future. Thirdly, this entire stage of the conflict was determined by your 'Maginot Line' mentality. This would have been very effective had the invaders been obliging enough to advance on it without support, but the Doomani are not fools. A defense such as that must either be fortified with thousands of SAM emplacements, or decentralized and liquidated so that each platoon, given a defensible position, can establish a strong defense with very little notice. Each has their merits, but against the Doomani the latter is perhaps preferable; the Doomani, wisely, rely on various weapons to execute the task at hand. Use of white phosphorus, Pestis Dei, thermobaric warheads, tactical nuclear weapons...one of their chief principles is always to have the weapons ready with which to crush the enemy. However, by presenting each advancing enemy battalion or company with a number of strongly-held defensive positions, held by a platoon or two of your troops, one can stretch such resources to the limit. Furthermore, by effectively using air power, one can put pressure on the Doomani artillery and other support units necessary for such special weapons, decreasing their effect. All in all, ineffective defense measures cost you more than 200,000 troops in a matter of hours, truly unacceptable losses by any standards, and your inability to counterattack effectively prevented you from inflicting similar losses on the Doomani.

"The contest in the air did not last long, nor did that on the ground. The Doomani very quickly overran the Northford Line, making use of flamethrowers to clear your bunkers and using mortars to destroy others. Both of these are powerful tactics; however, a simple remedy could be found in use of attack helicopters to destroy enemy armor and infantry, supported by troops landed by transport helicopters. Regardless, this opportunity was not exploited, and having broken the line, the Doomani pressed on to North Freetown.

"Having set up a perimeter around the city and sent bombers to destroy the civilian transports, the Doomani foolishly let you make the first move, and here you achieved the first effective counterattack of the last few days by destroying the Doomani superheavy artillery. Even putting such weapons within range of your own missiles was uncharacteristically foolish for the Doomani, and it would not surprise me if the officer responsible faced a painful death. They counterattacked, which highlights another problem in Kahanistan: your artillery are not mobile enough. You must be able to fire and then immediately move away to avoid counter-battery fire. The co-incident chemical barrage you were prepared for, luckily, sustaining only a few thousand losses. The High Command notes that here you should have attacked the Doomani. With proper armored, artillery, and helicopter support, you could have smashed the besieging forces completely and given your troops a much-needed morale boost. However, you learned the wrong lesson from the Negev, and this opportunity was not exploited.

"The next attack on North Freetown consisted of a Unity Gun strike. These weapons are rightly feared, and it is unfortunate that there was no means of eliminating them. In the future, such weapons should be prioritized and destroyed by means of ballistic missiles or godrods. Again, this bombardment should have been a potent incentive to leave the city and overwhelm the Doomani; even assuming failure in such an act was certain, it would have been a quicker, more honorable, and more useful death than simply taking their punishment, and such an assumption would have been nonsense. Inexplicably, your officers seem to have been paralyzed with fear of the Doomani, culminating in the suicide of your CO, General al-Assad. Again, as at the Northford line, your poor defensive preparations (despite your delayed success at destroying the Doomani artillery and crippling the besiegers) resulted in devastating losses. Now, at last, with your options exhausted, Colonel Ben-Shaul attacked, a tactic rendered far less effective by the most recent round of losses and the fact that the Doomani had had time to entrench. Your lack of artillery also allowed the enemy to use their artillery to slaughter you with gas and bomblets. In short, you waited too late to charge and then did so with insufficient weaponry. By that point, the better option would have been dispersing into the city's underground as a guerrilla force. Regardless, you were slaughtered. Wisely, Ben-Shaul refused the offer of Doomani surrender: the Imperium knows quite well how the Doomani would use such prisoners, and Kahanistan would gain nothing by such a surrender, and lose much.

"Finally, the Doomani commenced the ultimate attack on the city, and chaos reigned, understandably. By this point, all your options were exhausted, and all that remained was to fight to the death. In the end, Ben-Shaul acted nobly, and each one of your troops fought heroically. The flaws in this campaign have not been the fault of individual troops, but of individuals within the command hierarchy. The final capture of Ben-Shaul and his last reserve was unfortunate but neither surprising nor very relevant: those men were already dead. Now we turn to the Doomani use of nukes. Again, this is not surprising: the Doomani have no compunction about using nuclear weapons tactically, something that must be anticipated by their enemies. You could have responded with tactical nukes, and should have, but use of strategic nukes would have provoked the Doomani to do the same, something neither your nation nor the refugees would have survived. And so the Doomani ranged over your land, taking Dar al-Babil as well, and offering surrender a second time, having demonstrated adequately that you could not stop them. In a last gesture, the most glorious of the campaign, you replied in the form of a massive counterattack, destroying the Doomani occupiers before you were yourselves destroyed. I would personally like to add that this is what endears you to your supporters in Kregaia; the Emperor himself admires such a display of ferocity in the face of annihilation."

The High General stopped at last, and looked around. "And there you have it, gentlemen. A walkthrough of this document. Not a complete one, of course; there is too much here to be fully clarified in less than several hours at the least. Copies will be made available to the Kahanistani government and High Command. The summary I have just given amounts to a running report on the events and some of the mistakes made; now, if I may, I would like to deliver a final summary.

"The Kregaian High Command has identified two major themes. Firstly, gross ineptitude at the senior command level. Initially, your officers made extremely poor use of the available weaponry, and insufficient use of heavy weaponry allowed far too many of the Doomani heavy armor units to reach the Northford line; similarly, instead of striking ferociously at disembarking infantry using satellite-guided artillery, your senior officers essentially abandoned the men to their fate. In this category can be included as well the poor preparations before the war; Kahanistan did not acquire sufficient heavy weapons (such as effective anti-tank mines and missiles, field and heavy artillery, etc), nor the kind of equipment necessary to contest the admittedly formidable Doomani aircraft. If one expects to fight the Doomani, one must be capable of dealing with their stealth aircraft; suggested methods include the Kregaian tactic of sprinting to point-blank range and engaging in dogfights (advisable only when you have planes of equal maneuverability) and greatly increased use of satellites, drones, and AWACS to provide radar, LIDAR, and infrared guidance.

"Secondly, insufficient dedication to contesting airspace. In the first engagements, Doomani fighters were able to evade detection by your radar systems while using satellites to pinpoint the locations of Kahanistani targets, making the fight horribly lopsided. The remedy, again, is to similarly utilize alternative detection methods like LIDAR and infrared, supported by satellites, drones, and AWACS craft.

"All in all, your setbacks stemmed from initial mistakes at the Northford line, giving the Doomani momentum; poor timing at the siege of North Freetown; and, of course, the general unpreparedness for a Doomani attack. I will not list all the details, of course, but the Imperium's analysis includes a number of recommendations for fighting the Doomani. These range from obtaining more SSBNs with ballistic missiles to use against invaders, to adoption of godrods...you need better anti-tank missiles, stealthier and more maneuverable aircraft supported by drones, AWACS, and satellites; you need much more artillery, and you need to use effective doctrine for it. Again, a full list is in the analysis. There is much that Kahanistan could learn from the Imperium; we have refined our methods through centuries of war, and we know, better than any perhaps, how to fight the Doomani. The final recommendation of the Kregaian High Command is the establishment of an officer exchange program and an exchange of technology, for precisely the reasons I just mentioned. Thank you very much for your time, ladies and gentlemen, and if there are no further questions...?"

The Admiral nodded politely to his Terran counterpart. "Our doctrine revolves around civilian protection. This is not normally a task given to the Navy, but to the Air Force and ground troops... it was a miracle that I managed to escape alive with my ship. The Navy is normally tasked with keeping hostile fleets away, but this time the civilians were on the sea."

---

President Sklenova closed the sealed portion of the dossier. "You mark this, 'for President's eyes only.' However, I feel much of this information is useful to the higher command echelons. I would prefer greater detail on the additional tactics you mention - our best simulation, without alienating Allanean assistance and maintaining relations with Aequatio, only gave us a 35% chance of victory. One taken a month after, with a more conservative scenario involving no Aequatian and minimal Allanean assistance, gives a 13% chance of victory. In that one, any visible airfield suspected of hosting hostile aircraft was targeted with theatre ballistic missiles. We don't use godrods in our forces - they are too expensive to maintain, require precise positioning, and have many other technical restrictions we have yet to overcome."

She now addressed the Kregaian general. "We have many Catholic individuals in our high command. Only one has ever been accused of treason, and the charges were dismissed due to lack of evidence. They are about ten percent of the population... maybe seven or eight percent now, I don't have post-apocalyptic demographic data in front of me. The Church is treated as one of many religions here. While we do have an avowedly anti-Catholic political party, it's small, it got maybe five percent of the vote.

At the mention of the Anti-Catholic Party, a tall Greek-looking man in the front row nodded. He appeared from the way he was dressed and his position to be a Senator. This man was the head of the Anti-Catholic Party.

The President continued to speak. "If I recall correctly, very few of Doomani descent would come here, probably less than a thousand a year out of a nation with a population of seven billion. Almost all would likely be homosexuals, communists, non-Catholics... political refugees from their own government... and most dissidents would probably go somewhere they could be better protected."

"Until our economy is back on track... our main ASF will be the Su-30MKI, and we'll be using the Tu-160 bomber a lot. The Air Force is getting a high priority now. Maybe I'm biased, I was a pilot myself. Maybe it's because ten thousand Kriegzimmer fighters lost to a numerically inferior force of Shukusei. I'll have the senior command look over your dossier, of course."

"As for an officer exchange... I think that's a good idea. We can exchange views, and get ideas from each other's doctrine."

Lord High General Yataghan nodded politely and replied, "I apologize if I have offended any Catholics," his jaw clenching slightly at the mention of the infidels, despite his orders to maintain a civil demeanor, "it was not my intent. I am confident that naturalized Kahanistani Catholics are upstanding citizens; however, any few of Doomani descent or connections, and any Catholic immigrants, must be watched very closely at the least. As for the military, I am not authorized to make any promises, but I can tell you that the Imperium has already selected officers for an exchange, and has plans in place to contribute to the Kahanistani aerospace industry substantially. Again, Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you; I apologize but I must board my flight back to Korronis. Further questions should be directed to the Kregaian Embassy, which can put you in touch with the necessary authorities." So saying, the aristocrat bowed civilly once more and strode from the room, document case in hand.

The President nodded. She would have someone contact the Kregaian Embassy for some form of cooperation. While there seemed to be a mutual dislike for each other's culture, if it diluted the military influence of Praetonia and weakened their economic influence, it might be worth considering.

There was also Kregaia's conflict with Doomingsland to consider. A close military alliance might drag Kahanistan into a destructive war it was ill-prepared to fight. Soldiers might return home from exchange programmes filled with anti-Catholic sentiment, and spread it at home. While they might also end up spreading liberal views abroad, conservative views tended to propagate faster than liberal ones.

Even if a cultural shock did not occur, many would undoubtedly object to warming relations with such a warlike nation - especially when there was no clear picture in Kahanistan of Kregaian ideology. If they were merely considering trade relations, there would be little objection, but forming alliances with radically differing ideologies would require careful consideration...

The Major nodded in answer to the President's inquiry.

"The figure I quoted, of 61.41-83.28%, depends political as well as military changes; optimal assistance from all your allies, a decision not to fight alone from the outset, a coherent isolating policy which alienated Doomingsland from others, and so on. The remainder of the factors are primarily dependent on choosing to deploy the right resources against the right enemies at the right times; the ranges increase as your generals' timing improves, or their sources of intelligence are better provided," he paused a moment, considering.

"To be frank, Madam President," he added, "the 83.28% scenario requires you to be literally clairvoyant in your anticipation of the actions of the Doomani; most of the ones above 70 require Doomingsland to be focussed on defending against a wholesale assault upon their homeland by a power such as the Federated Klatchian Coast, or the Covenant exercising a punitive option."

"Regarding His Lordship the High General's testimony; we are broadly supportive of each other, and it would be advantageous to take advantage of his offer... that said, your Lord Protector might object. Violently. On that subject, I am at liberty to disclose to this chamber that His Serene Majesty's Government places no such offers of assistance on the table at this stage," he finished; his attention remained completely focussed on the President.

Sklenova frowned. "I... would have to discuss this with the Defence and Foreign Ministries. Normally, if something pissed off King George, I'd be all for it, but crawling into bed with a nation that was, until recently, allied to Doomingsland, and whose real intentions are a mystery, is... not something I just want to jump into. I personally favour closer relations with Axis Nova, and with ViZion and other nations that hate Doomingsland and are democracies. I could see working some kind of deal that would allow us to produce their weapons, but there's also the morale issue to handle - I can't imagine our soldiers would like to go into battle flying Kregaian aircraft, I know I wouldn't."

She sat back and crossed her legs. "Somehow, I doubt isolating Doomingsland from its allies is feasible. We tried turning MassPwnage against them, and they only responded with hostility. The Questarian Commonwealth supports them because it's 'in their national interests' to do so, and with that support, our allies in COMECON refused to aid us. Even Allanea has normalised trade with them."

The Major remained silent; Ambassador deMalara may have offered input (doubtful, seeing as he viewed Sklenova as a vassal of King George), but the military attaché had been instructed to deliver his report, and answer any direct questions related to it, within parameters dictated by security of course, and no more.

The President shook her head sadly. "I see." She picked up the Macisikan dossier, the Kregaian report, and a copy of the minutes of the meeting.

"I'll take these, and consult with the General Staff. Hopefully we can formulate a list of recommendations to submit to the Senate. We should become a formidable fighting force again with this. I thank you for your time and assistance."

There was no room for pity in the Major's sky blue eyes as he saluted.

"Madam President," he said in clear dispassionate tones, before turning on his heels and leaving the chamber, his step precise and measured.

The President returned to her office. She spent the rest of that day consulting with generals from the Army and Air Force, as well as high-ranking naval officers and military designers. After much consumption of Red Bull by all involved to keep them awake, and President Sklenova stuffing her face with several different antidepressant pills, the entire General Staff stayed up in the office for three days straight.

The Army, under its new Chief of Staff Marshal Leon Kostanov, took the Kregaian recommendation and ran with it, adding their own implementations of doctrine. Infantry in the future were to be used for holding territory and supporting armoured advances to cut off enemy forces in salients. There was to be no more holing up in Maginot Line fortifications and waiting for the enemy to come to them.

More importance on defence in depth was to be implemented, with massive rings of defences built around cities. Focus was to be made on highly mobile artillery with anti-armour capabilities, to eliminate enemy armoured capabilities. Helicopter-mounted artillery platforms were to be researched.

Finally, every soldier in a defensive bunker was to be provided with an oxygen tank and flame-retardant NBC suit, to reduce the effectiveness of using flamethrowers to clear them. Foxholes with machine-gunners, snipers, or mortar crews inside were also to see use.

The Air Force would also see extensive reform. It was something of a project of Sklenova's, given her background as a fighter pilot. A highly manoeuvrable air superiority fighter had to be designed. While the Su-30MKI was good for its long range, decent speed, and heavy weapons capability despite its lack of stealth, it wasn't a good idea to try to test its manoeuvrability against a far more advanced Aquila, let alone a Shukusei.

For this plane, speed was critical - no matter how manoeuvrable it was, if it couldn't catch up to the enemy, it would be worse than useless. The Design Bureau would have to research needs there. In the meantime, a force of 2,000 Su-30's and 100 Tu-160's would have to be raised for immediate homeland defence.

The Navy would see the biggest reform. Admiral Jenkins agreed that the state was no longer capable of supporting a blue-water fleet, and would oversee the transition to a green-water one modeled on the modern Japanese navy. It was still debated whether or not to use carriers in the new fleet - Jenkins supported it, but many of the lower admirals opposed it, wanting to put more emphasis on destroyers, attack submarines, naval mines, and arsenal ships. With the long range of the Su-30, camouflaged airbases on beaches and in remote coastal areas could deploy aircraft with extra fuel tanks, jettison the tanks when the fuel was consumed, and continue toward their targets. It probably would not be terribly expensive to modify the Su-30MKI's in the Air Force to include a LIDAR suite, as well. The bill to be submitted before the Praetonians for royal assent would not include carriers until this debate was resolved.

Five billion shekelim were to be allocated for the construction of a satellite defence network, including research on godrod technology, satellite protection, satellite communication, fast launch, and backup defences should the satellites be lost.

A trial exchange programme with the Kregaian military was to be scheduled, with soldiers and officers chosen by both nations to take part, before massive cultural conflict could take place as a result of mass cross-training.

The bill that arrived on the desk of King George IV of Praetonia two days later for his assent, having been signed by the President, would, if approved, allocate one hundred billion shekelim for the following developments:

Procurement or development of a new artillery system, with a focus on mobility and anti-armour capability
Procurement of 2,000 Su-30 MKI's to be modified with LIDAR suites
Procurement of 100 Tu-160's for bombing of heavy concentrations of enemy forces or deploying heavy AShM's
Development of a coherent green-water navy, with large numbers of destroyers and attack submarines, as well as few arsenal ships and ballistic missile submarines
Training of up to two and a half million active duty soldiers (1,500,000 Army, 500,000 Air Force, 475,000 Navy, 25,000 Marines) and five million reserves, as well as basic firearms training for all civilians
Acquisition of high-grade NBRC gear
Construction of defensive rings around major cities, with supporting mobile ground forces
Civil defence focusing on protection of water and food supplies, including powerful home water filters capable of protecting water even if the treatment facilities were destroyed
Officer exchange programmes with friendly nations
Wargaming with friendly nations

{ How does Kstan move from this (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y273/blast_archives/lulzkstan.png) to purchasing 2,000 fighters?

Boggles the mind. O_________________o }

Ministry for Protectorate Affairs
Concerning the Kahanistan Military Appropriations Act 2008

Sir,

His Majesty is pleased that Kahanistan has taken pro-active steps toward the establishment of a viable defensive force for the purposes of its own protection. His Majesty would be willing to supply a number of Kahanistan's requirements from reserve stock of the Imperial Navy and the Royal Flying Corps at a cost significantly less than the purchase cost were Kahanistan to buy new on the international market.

However, despite the limited scope for achieving these ambitious targets on a limited budget, His Majesty is concerned particularly by the large number of aircraft that Kahanistan wishes to purchase, and how these would be affordable. The initial purchase cost of the fighter planes alone would be in excess of $80 billion, or some $530 per person. In a country where GDP is very low and many are unemployed, this sort of spending does not appear practically possible.

Before the Secretary of State can recommend this Act to the Lord Protector for assent, he would like assurances that the Kahanistani government is aware of the likely costs and has an idea of how it will be paid for.

Official Statement of the Free Republic of Kahanistan
Ministry of Defence

We in the Defence Ministry are most grateful for His Majesty's offer. We would, of course, like to know the exact quantities of equipment you would be willing to supply. If this reduces the amount we would need to spend, that is of course beneficial to both our nations - we would have perhaps superior forces and you would be relieved of maintenance costs on old equipment.

We are currently in contact with our nation's leading economic minds to find ways to reduce unemployment, and believe we are making headway.

Signed,
Mustafa Lavalle,
Minister of Defence

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii50/citationxiv/sealgovernment-heavenlasts.png
_________________________
Official Communiqué

Classification: Confidential (encrypted)
From: Office of the Deputy Minister, MEA (UIK/COV)
To: Office of King George IV, of Praetonia
Subject: Report on the State of the Military of Kahanistan

To His Sovereign Majesty King George IV of Praetonia, Greetings,

His Serene Majesty's Most Excellent Ambassador to Kahanistan, was recently called upon to provide advice to that nation in the course of their recent Senatorial inquiry into the performance of their military in their last conflict. With the consent and instruction of the Ministry of External Affairs, His Excellency did accede to this request, and the military attaché to the Covenant diplomatic mission in Kahanistan did compose a document for this purpose.

As your sovereign majesty is the Lord Protector of that nation, and this document concerns that nation's continued national security which is your charge, His Serene Majesty's Government now makes available this report to you and your relevant authorised ministers, officers and officials, in full.

We recommend that the document be accorded a "Restricted" national security classification.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Count Ethelred Aldreset,
His Serene Majesty's Deputy Minister for External Affairs
UIK/COV