Bush vs. The Axis of Evil - TL

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Changundramon

Changundramon

Today, on a news portal, I read about a South Korean pastor convicted of sexual abuse committed on underage North Korean defectors he claimed to be saving from the Kims.

I suspect Moonies will get to do as they please in the North. Horrible.
 
Mitridates the Great

Mitridates the Great

Oh no, but why is the invasion of Ukraine supposed to happen again? It seems like basically the Putinists are going to get what they want without firing a shot, so it doesn't make sense...
 
Cascadiawank

Cascadiawank

Wellstone wins let's go!! Too bad his domestic agenda will prolly be stifled, and 2008 will not do him any favors, but hey, we gotta take the wins we can get
 
theg*ddam*hoi2fan

theg*ddam*hoi2fan

Cascadiawank said:
Wellstone wins let's go!! Too bad his domestic agenda will prolly be stifled, and 2008 will not do him any favors, but hey, we gotta take the wins we can get
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Some, yeah. A new GI Bill though I'd say is an easy one to pass - neither side will want to look like they're disrespecting the troops in this atmosphere...
 

Dementor999

Sorairo said:
In July 2004, a French investigator in Lebanon realised that a mansion in the outskirts of Beirut was producing significantly more garbage than would be expected for the supposedly two people that lived there. Upon investigation, it revealed that the owner was a Christian militiaman who had fought in the Civil War, but also one who had supported Hezbollah’s wars against Israel. His house had never been searched in the initial raids to try and discover Nasrallah, which had disproportionately fallen on the Shia community. The house was also surrounded by a wall of security systems that may have been explicable if he had grudges from the Civil War, but still seemed excessive. Finally, after finding enough evidence, the question was put to President Chirac on whether to proceed with the raid, and whether they should tell the Americans. Ultimately, perhaps due to lingering resentment over American conduct, or, as Chirac explained an altruistic attempt to keep the Americans out of a potentially incorrect assumption, the French First Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment raided the compound. Killing first the owner, the squad shot another male caught trying to escape while running down the stairs to escape. They took a look at the now dead body and confirmed it was the man they were looking for Hassan Nasrallah.

With the perpetrator of 9/11 dead, some may have expected a boost to the Republican Party at the polls, but this was far from the truth. Americans complained that the French had ‘stolen’ the Nasrallah hit to make themselves look internationally important. They then complained among themselves that not only had the French worked out where Nasrallah was before they did, but that they had fought a whole war in Iran with one (albeit not all) of the justifications being that Nasrallah could have been there. It made grieving families, especially of draftees, feel that their sons and brothers’ deaths had been even more pointless. Many conspiracy theories began to float that Bush and the Neocons had deliberately sat on the information to have an excuse to take out their old enemy in Iran - many Iranians suspect that to this day. French citizens in the meantime rejoiced at the news, feeling that the ‘Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkey’ stereotype was wiped out in a single raid. This would engender a new, much more internationally daring France than had been since in decades. Chirac has since become remembered among some in France as the man who reversed French decline in geopolitics. Certainly, France would play a much more active foreign policy role in the coming years in Europe and the Middle East, admittedly not always in the altruistic fashion.
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Vengeance is sweet. A great twist to witness, as France has willingly stepped in to do what America failed to accomplish, to prove the latter wrong.
 

Beanstalk

Sorairo said:
The low labour costs in North Korea coupled with less need to import materials gave Korean industries a critical edge. On top of a global investment package from America, China, Japan and the EU, the South Korean economy became the world’s fastest growing economy in 2004 with a barnstorming 25% GDP growth-rate (admittedly not as impressive as it could be given the destruction of GDP in the intervening years). While Pyongyang remained a wasteland, by 2008 Seoul had returned to its old glory. Now sitting on significant uranium deposits, South Korea observed their issues of oil dependency and decided to embark on a peaceful nuclear program to domestically power their industrial sector, something whose significance could not have been imagined in 2004. President Lee would also make a deal with incoming Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose popularity had exploded owing to his strong stance on North Korea and the abductions before the war. Japan would renounce their claim to the Liancourt Rocks and give compensation to the Comfort Women of WW2. In return, South Korea would endorse Japanese rearmament and the abolition of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution (Abe’s long-time agenda), the naming of its eastern sea as ‘The Sea of Japan’, accepted the use of the Rising Sun Flag by the Japanese Navy and, off the record, would pressure schools to minimise their focus on Japanese crimes during the colonial era and instead focus on Japanese collaboration during the Second Korean War. By 2004, 70% of South Koreans recorded a positive opinion of Japan, whereas only 10% had a similar view of China.
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South Korea seems to be doing quite well.
Sorairo said:
On January 13th, the anniversary of the Church’s founding, Moon would announce the formation of ‘The Unification Party’ [1] to stand in elections both north and south, a play on his church’s name and his desire to unite Korea.
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Sorairo said:
However, in the North Korean Council elections that had rapidly been established to act in de facto nothing more than an advisory role to the South Korean administrators, the Unification Party won an astonishing 60% of the seats, many of whom didn’t even understand Moon or Christianity but voted for him because he wanted to unite North and South Korea and thus give them more rights.
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And North Korea seems to be screwed.
 

athgtq16129

Alright so can a map about this TL be made now? (unfortunately my PC is in repairs, so I do not have access to my map making tools yet)
 

Judge Dredd34

athgtq16129 said:
Alright so can a map about this TL be made now? (unfortunately my PC is in repairs, so I do not have access to my map making tools yet)
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A map would be great.

What exactly is good about Japan rearming? It’s one thing to want American troops to leave the archipelago, have a fair alliance with the U.S. as well as restore authority Japanese authority to Okinawa. It’s another thing to cause a mild scare to China as there’s not much reason to rearm. Seriously Japan rearming in a non-defensive system would easily stoke fears and anger in China of a Japanese-Korean military alliance. Something that would bring back memories older Chinese of Imperial Japan and their atrocities.

Also not sure about the whole French Stereotype changing, really it only came about from what I understand from Charles de Gaulle being intolerable to U.S/Britain. Not sure how the Anglo-powers changing their stereotype will somehow change world opinion, or effect the French in anyway.
 

Sorairo

Judge Dredd34 said:
A map would be great.

What exactly is good about Japan rearming? It’s one thing to want American troops to leave the archipelago, have a fair alliance with the U.S. as well as restore authority Japanese authority to Okinawa. It’s another thing to cause a mild scare to China as there’s not much reason to rearm. Seriously Japan rearming in a non-defensive system would easily stoke fears and anger in China of a Japanese-Korean military alliance. Something that would bring back memories older Chinese of Imperial Japan and their atrocities.

Also not sure about the whole French Stereotype changing, really it only came about from what I understand from Charles de Gaulle being intolerable to U.S/Britain. Not sure how the Anglo-powers changing their stereotype will somehow change world opinion, or effect the French in anyway.
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The Chinese are resentful about Japan re-arming, but are still somewhat set on economics as their ticket to power and don't want to disturb their partners prematurely - the response of the Abe government is 'Korea doesn't mind, why should you?' But yes, Abe is already deeply unpopular in China, and it's going to get worse.

The French exerpt is just to help get a feel for the world on the ground - since the stereotype permeates the English-speaking internet, a world where France is seen as a tough and militarily effective power would be something that would be different in everyday conversation. Just like how there used to be a stereotype especially prior to the Six Day War among antisemites that Jews were weak and ran from battle - Israel's military victories put a major dent in it.

athgtq16129 said:
Alright so can a map about this TL be made now? (unfortunately my PC is in repairs, so I do not have access to my map making tools yet)
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Anyone is free to make a map and I'll give any advice/corrections needed, though I'm not sure there's much you can do except show the new Korean borders.
 

Lalli

athgtq16129 said:
Alright so can a map about this TL be made now? (unfortunately my PC is in repairs, so I do not have access to my map making tools yet)
Click to expand...

Perhaps someone could make but it wouldn't be very different since by this point only changes are in Korea and probably in Iraq is some factions controlling notable areas of the country.
 

arrowiv

I was thinking that the returned abductees from Japan and South Korea from NK would have quite a time readjusting to "civilization" and catching up with what has happaned in the past forty or so years, especially in pop culture. I foresee that North-South reunification will have to be gradual, of course.
Would we hear again from Kim Jong Il and his son in China a few years down the line?
As for the American Neocons like Cheney, Rumsfield, Perle, Wolfowitz, and Gaffney, would they permanently retire from the fray or stick around in Washington waiting for the next Republican president to get ahold of?
 
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