One Possible Future

A possible future newscast:

“It's July 4^th, 2036, a day of celebration and remembrance. We celebrate the 260^th anniversary of the founding of the Republic. We also remember the 20^th anniversary of the deadly attacks in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston that left 11 million dead and many times that wounded.”

“It was during the traditional Fourth of July fireworks in those cities that Al Qaeda struck our nation. In those cities, each a symbol of the American Revolution that brought us our freedoms, the Islamist terrorists unleashed the power of the nuclear weapons they'd smuggled into the US, detonating them at the height of the fireworks displays.”

“First it was Boston, destroyed as the Boston Pops was playing the traditional end of their concert at the Hatch Memorial Shell, The Stars And Stripes Forever. It was as the stirring rendition of John Philip Sousa's classic was coming to a close that the 250 kiloton fusion warhead was detonated on the 52^nd floor of the Prudential Building.”

“Minutes later a similar bomb was detonated just outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia, followed shortly after that by a third bomb in New York City that had been placed on the roof of the Metlife Building in Manhattan.”

“In less than 10 minutes, millions of Americans lay dead or dying. Three of our great cities were destroyed. And less than half an hour later, our nation went mad.”

“After a spokesman for Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attacks, the National Command Authority unleashed a retaliatory strike against the Islamist regime, destroying every major city throughout the former Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, and a number of other countries and political entities allied with them. The first targets were some of the holiest cities in Islam – Mecca, Medina, and Qom, just to name a few. The death toll may never be known but it estimated that well over 250 million people throughout the Middle East were annihilated.”

“American allies Great Britain, Russia, Israel, Poland, and other NATO members were apprised of the nuclear retaliation strike before it was launched. Records show that all of the remaining signatories of NATO agreed the strikes were justified. British, Polish, and Russian troops were mobilized and sealed their borders with the Islamic Republic of Europe.”

“The President let it be known to the fundamentalist Islamic government of Europe that any actions taken by the IRE's military would be seen as a hostile act and a full scale military strike would be launched by NATO. As then-President Thompson said in a speech from an undisclosed location after the strikes in the Middle East, “We've been tolerant long enough, allowing these vile creatures to spread their hateful ideology for too long. This has been the result. I am serving notice that we will no longer be tolerant, we will no longer negotiate with those whose only wish is our destruction. This is an ultimatum: cease all hostile actions against the US and its allies, or we will end it for you.” The government of the IRE made no response to President Thompson's ultimatum.”

“However, just two weeks after the President's ultimatum, the IRE launched an air strike against a NATO naval task force in the Mediterranean enroute to Israel. According to IRE spokesmen it was to prevent any further reinforcement of “the thieving Zionist regime”. The task force was escorting three new Israeli destroyers to their home port of Haifa when the IRE attacked.”

“Though the task force suffered some casualties, the attacking aircraft were either destroyed or driven off. This attack elicited a response by NATO, with missile attacks and heavy air strikes against the IRE capitol in Madrid as part of the opening salvo of the North Atlantic War.”

“After six years of heavy fighting, NATO defeated the last of the IRE's military forces and occupied all IRE territory, from the Atlantic Coast of what was once again Spain, Portugal, and France to the eastern border starting at Poland and all the way down through Turkey and into southwestern Russia. The hunt for IRE holdouts and former regime members was swift and, even by our standards, brutal. NATO did not want a repeat of what happened during the Second Gulf War.”

“Shortly after the fall of the IRE, millions of European expatriates petitioned the League of Democracies for the right to return to their homelands. Many had fled Europe after the Islamist coup that had overthrown the European Union government in the summer of 2011. They feared their new masters, a fear that turned out to be well founded. Forced conversions to Islam and beheadings became the norm. Slavery, once considered a thing of the past, returned with a vengeance, with non-Muslims being imprisoned and enslaved. Many fled. Many died. Those that survived and waited in exile wanted to return to their homes.”

“Over the years many have asked what brought the world to the state we experienced all those years ago. Many pundits have tried over the years to point to one cause or another, but few were willing or able to point to one moment in history and say “Aha! This is the cause of the horrors we experienced all those years ago!” But looking over the history of the past 100 years it became evident to everyone what the tipping point was that sent the world to the brink of destruction.”

“A job that should have been finished was abandoned. A people looking to us to help keep them free were left with no hope. The blind in our government couldn't or wouldn't look far enough ahead to realize that they were handing an intractable enemy a victory that would embolden them to commit even greater acts of violence. The blood of millions is upon the hands of those members of Congress that chose surrender over victory. Let us never forget the lessons they failed to learn.”

“We'll check on the weather after the commercial break. Stay tuned.”