First we got the bomb and that was good,'Cause we love peace and motherhood. Then Russia got the bomb, but that's O.K.,'Cause the balance of power's maintained that way! Who's next?
France got the bomb, but don't you grieve,'Cause they're on our side, I believe. China got the bomb, but have no fears; They can't wipe us out for at least five years! Who's next?
Then Indonesia claimed that they Were gonna get one any day. South Africa wants two, that's right: One for the black and one for the white! Who's next?
Egypt's gonna get one, too,Just to use on you know who. So Israel's getting tense, Wants one in self defense."The Lord's our shepherd, " says the psalm, But just in case, we better get a bomb! Who's next?
Luxembourg is next to go And, who knows, maybe Monaco. We'll try to stay serene and calm When Alabama gets the bomb! Who's next, who's next, who's next? Who's next?
Tom Lehrer, "Who's Next?"

Well, since I've spent way too long reading detailed accounts of the Iranian nuclear program, how to build a nuclear bomb, the weirdness of Saddam's nuclear program [which has largely fallen into the cracks of history], and general things nuclear and Middle East.... and Iran is [kind of rightfully] back in the news lately...

Welcome to my explanation of "what's up with Iran's nuclear program", "what's up with Iran", "how do i make nuke", and other things of such nature. It involves a lot of history and explanations of industrial manufacturing processes, and actually fairly little recent stuff because... not much has actually changed, in many ways, and Iran's modern history is quite interesting on its own--it was a struggle not to write more, I'm afraid. Hopefully, even if I don't think it's my best written or most concise work, it proves enlightening.

1. America's Shah

Our first character here is the last of his kind. Shah Mohammed Raza Pahlavi, or, as everyone called him in America and I'll call him here, just "the Shah".

The Shah is a most curious character in history. Born at the end of the First World War, he was raised as Iran became the world's most important oil producer [only eclipsed by Saudi Arabia several decades later]. He was installed by the British and Soviets when they invaded Iran in a little-known episode of the Second World War--Iran would ultimately serve as a significant logistics route and oil source during the war, and housed hundreds of thousands of Polish refugees in an odd quirk of history. Some descendants of Poles actually remain in Iran to this day.

However, Iran, despite boasting some of the world's largest oil reserves, largely remained a backwater. A large reason for this was that Iran had an exceptionally terrible oil deal with the Anglo-Persian Oil Company [later to be known as British Petroleum], which gave Iran only 16% of the revenues and even that only in name since there was little accountability to Iran in the bargain. This situation was unacceptable to the general Iranian public, in which feelings turned nationalistic rapidly, and, in the early 1950s, Prime Minister Mosaddegh [who largely controlled the show, despite the Shah being nominally in charge] nationalized the oil, to the general applause of Iran.

What happened next remains mired in deep political controversy across the globe. Britain is almost certainly mostly to blame for what happened; as they instituted a general embargo on Iran, and managed to convince the Americans to support an effort to launch a coup [counter-coup?] in Iran to restore the Shah [who had fled the country] to power. Even more confusingly for historians, it seems that there was legitimate factions within Iran pushing for the return and installation of the Shah, and Mosaddegh began to become increasingly desperate, dissolving parliament and placing himself as de facto dictator [and it should also be noted that Mosaddegh was not legally the prime minister at this point since the Shah nominally had the power to dismiss him and did so]. In any case, the events of the early 1950s ended with the Shah back on the throne as absolute monarch, unchallenged by any parliament, advisor, or landed noble. Ultimately, the oil was not nationalized, but a better [though still not exceptionally great] deal was made with a consortium of American and British oil companies.

And so things remained, until the early 1960s. The Shah was nothing if not ambitious, and his plans never lacked for grandeur, so, with much public aclaim, he launched a program of reforms he dubbed the "White Revolution" on account of it being bloodless [in theory, anyway]. These reforms led to the rapid growth, urbanization, and development of the Iranian economy, but they carried with them the seeds of their own destruction. While they did avert the rise of an effective communist movement in Iran, they created another revolution. These reforms created a new class of urban poor, of dissatisfied farmers, and particularly enraged the Shia clergy [largely because they deprived them of their traditional rural economic and power base].

However, it is not economics that really interests us here, but the Shah's true passion: World domination. Or at least close to it. Beginning with the massive surge in oil prices in the early 1970s [some of which were in fact instigated by the Shah himself with OPEC], the Shah finally had the financial resources to pursue what he always loved: Building an oversized, incredibly well-armed, and well-trained military. The Shah ordered billions of dollars in military equipment, almost all from the United States, to the point where Congress began agitating to restrict sales--to little effect as the executive branch, at least until the arrival of Jimmy Carter in 1976, was of little mind to control arms sales. Iran got its hands on everything from highly advanced electronic intelligence equipment [in the form of a collaboration with the CIA] to F-14s. The orders that were never delivered included 300 F-16s, 300 F-18s, squadrons of E-3 AWACs, and 4 guided-missile destroyers, the largest and most capable ever built at the time, among other miscellaneous sundries. To the Shah's credit, unlike almost every third-world tinpot dictator, and especially unlike his immediate neighbors and rivals--Iraq and Saudi Arabia--his military was, by all accounts, one of the world's best trained as well as best equipped. In particular, the Shah--a trained pilot himself--loved his air force, to the point that the Islamic Republic is still suspicious of it to this very day. Their feats during the coming war, while sadly never winning widespread recognition abroad, were some of the most incredible ever achieved in the skies. The Shah also engaged in aggressive diplomacy, developing a close relationship with Israel and a very close relationship with the United States, which eventually resulted in the US being closely associated with the Shah's rule to the point where he was sometimes called "America's Shah"--though those who study him closely learn that he also cultivated increasingly developed relationships with the Soviet Union, China, and other world powers, always striving to be more than America's outpost in the Middle East.

It is around this point when Iran first began getting funny ideas about nuclear weapons [though those likely started some time before, when Iran received its first nuclear reactor in 1957 through the "Atoms for Peace" program]. It's no real surprise, knowing the Shah's character. In fact, the Shah once, saying what most of those close to him and many within American intelligence already knew aloud, stated that he wanted the bomb.

in February 1974, following a Franco-Iranian agreement to cooperate on uranium enrichment, the shah told Le Monde that one day "sooner than is believed," Iran would be "in possession of a nuclear bomb." The shah’s surprising comment was at least partially in response to the 1974 Indian test of a nuclear weapon.
Realizing the repercussions of his comment, the shah ordered the Iranian Embassy in France to issue a statement declaring that stories about his plan to develop a bomb were "totally invented and without any basis whatsoever."

[Foreign Policy, The Shah's Atomic Dreams]

This was no idle threat, either. Iran had already, unbeknownst to most, been conducting experiments with plutonium reprocessing using its research reactor. And the Shah had plans to run Iran almost entirely on the clean power of the atom, building 23,000MW of nuclear capacity. The plutonium reprocessed from these plants could allow Iran to build up to 600-700 nuclear warheads every year. Around this point, Iran began demanding what it called "total control over the nuclear fuel cycle", which involved it being able to reprocess its spent fuel and enrich uranium. The US government, probably about the only country that actually cared about non-proliferation [well, the USSR might have as well] was quite nervous about these ideas and refused to export Iran sensitive nuclear technologies without extensive restrictions on what could be done with spent fuel. France and Germany, however, had absolutely zero qualms about selling the Shah [and later Saddam Hussein] nuclear technology, and several plants with very few restrictions on them were lined up for construction in Iran. America ultimately caved when it saw that Iran was just going to get uncontrolled reactors anyway from Europe and figured it might as well be the one building the power plants, so American companies got some contracts to build some of the 23,000MW of capacity too.

However, the Shah's love of his army would ultimately lead to his downfall. Inflation spiked as Iran kept importing weapons with increasingly scare dollars as oil prices receded from their highs in the mid-1970s, and the Shah saw no reason to take austerity measures. The Shah's economic reforms were also showing problems [though as an interesting side note, the Shah planned to nationalize the oil in 1979]. The intelligentsia, which had always hated the Shah, joined forces with the general populace and, for the first time, the Shia clergy, to expel the Shah. This would later prove to be a huge mistake.

2. Revolution and War

Ultimately, it was inevitable once he returned that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini would come to power in Iran. He was the Shah's most vocal critic abroad and was beloved by the religious population, and he and the other Shia clerics even pretended to play at politics. That was until they were able to seize power, at which point they promptly discarded, imprisoned, and later executed the other factions involved--such as the intelligentsia and liberals, whom were responsible for the revolution that brought him back in the first place. The new Supreme Leader instituted a theocracy, turning back the clock of social progress decades. And he promptly began to dismantle everything the Shah had built, including the nuclear program, the entire military, and the expensive arms and nuclear purchases.

In a sense he had help on that matter, though. After early assurances and outreach, when the US welcomed the Shah for medical treatment, students [with the tacit support of the Supreme Leader] stormed the American embassy, taking the personnel there hostage. This resulted in a split between Iran--angry, nationalistic, upset at the US because it was associated with the hated Shah--and the United States, furious at the new upstart who had taken the embassy personnel hostage. A military rescue attempt failed disastrously, spelling doom for the Carter presidency and for the American relationship with Iran. Eventually, the hostages were recovered.

Iran's neighbors, however, would not remain quiet for long. Iran under the Shah had many enemies--the Soviet Union overshadowing it to the north, Iraq a danger to the west, Saudi Arabia an irritant to the south and Pakistan an uncertain factor to the east. Iran's many enemies were a large reason why the Shah had spent so much on weaponry and done so much to strengthen Iran's relationship with states on the periphery, from Oman to Israel. While the Shah was still around, none dared openly work against him. But with the Shah gone, and his mighty army in shambles, Iraq, now under the rule of Saddam Hussein, decided it was time to invade--this time actually for Iran's oil, which largely lies in the southwestern Arab marshlands bordering on Iraq.

Citing essentially made-up pretenses, the Iraqi Air Force launched a devastating surprise strike on the Iranian Air Force while the Iraqi Army rolled into the southwestern region of Iran, a marshy swamp populated by Arabs that held almost all of Iran's oil reserves. Or at least that was what was supposed to happen. The Iraqi Air Force was so hilariously bad at launching a first strike that the Iranian Air Force was able to launch a retaliatory strike the very next day that crippled the Iraqi Air Force for several years. The Iraqi invasion was able to penetrate a short distance into the region, but was fairly quickly halted, with Iraq doing incredibly dumb stuff like making unsupported armor assaults into urban terrain. It turned out that even as a shadow of its former self, the Iranian military was surprisingly good at its job.

What followed was eight years of one of the 20th century's bloodiest and least-well-known conflicts, far too long to describe here. Iraq tried repeatedly to invade Iran, with little success. Iran pushed Iraq out and took regions in southern Iraq. Iraq started frantically buying French and Soviet weapons, Iran was able to find some American hardware via Iran-Contra, and various black market sources--and, strangely enough, Israel, which actually had a team of advisors in Iran through much of the war. Iran used human wave tactics, often utilizing child soldiers, to make up for their equipment disadvantages, while Iraq turned to chemical weapons [largely supplied by European companies, with some help from... the United States] in an unsuccessful attempt to turn the deadlock. It was like the First World War, if fought with 1980s technology, but also worse somehow. Iran instigated revolts in the Kurdish regions of Iraq [which was basically what Iran had done for decades already] and Saddam responded by just gassing entire Kurdish villages. The French, the Gulf monarchies, and the Soviets backed Iraq [and at times even the United States got involved, though seldom very directly]. All the Iranians had were the Chinese and North Koreans.

In the end, the war resolved in a restoration to sine quo antebellum. Literally nothing changed. Iran was devastated from the war, which in its ending stages involved ballistic missile attacks on civilian areas.

These ballistic missile strikes, initially launched by Iraq against Iran, led to the development of an indigenous Iraqi ballistic missile program [with the support of, strangely, Argentina] along with the development of an Iranian ballistic missile program with support from the North Koreans and Chinese, along with some residual support from Israel which had been collaboratively developing long-range missiles with Iran under the Shah. That ballistic program would be one of the war's many legacies, and since then Iran has developed one of the world's most sophisticated ballistic missile arsenals, moving on from crude scud clones to highly advanced, precision-guided tactical missiles that can reliably hit within a few meters of their target. This would almost certainly be the vehicle Iran deployed any nukes it got on, and it could do so with good reliability, range, and protection.

Iraq, whom had suffered from Iranian ballistic missile strikes and air raids, but mostly from borrowing a whole lot of money from the Gulf States to finance the whole war, was also devestated. Iraq decided its solution was to just kill the creditors, in this case Kuwait, which proved to be a terrible idea as literally the entire world united against Iraq to remove it. Thus, the entire Western world, which up until a year or two before this had been loaning money and selling weapons and advanced technology to Saddam Hussein, ended up ganging up on Iraq and obliterating its army. Then it turned out that Iraq had a nuclear weapons program--largely fueled by Western technology. But to understand what they and Iran are doing, we need to learn some physics. Well, mostly engineering.

3. How to build The Bomb, a DIY Guide

Okay, I finally have gotten to the nuclear bomb part. So how do you build a nuclear bomb?

Well, what you need for the most simple sort of weapon--a pure fission weapon, a meagre few tens of kilotons of TNT-equivalent, the technology that leveled Hiroshima and Nagasaki--seems tantalizingly simple. A trivial amount of plutonium-240 or uranium-235 will do the job for you--around 15 kilograms, varying on how good you are at physics and how big you want the boom to be. Add that in a package with certain other components, none of which are especially hard to make--mostly having to do with precision explosives--and you have the bomb. It's essentially just an engineering and implementation problem [the H-bomb is a bit different, but we'll ignore it for our purposes].

Of course, that's easier said than done. Plutonium-240 and Uranium-235 of sufficient quality [around ~90% purity] are actually pretty hard to get, and while there are alternative routes--you can use reactor grade plutonium if treated right, according to Anglo-American research, or lower-enriched uranium [though in much greater quantities], or even unconventional routes like the uranium hydride bomb--these are really the two things that you need in quantity.

There are a number of ways to get Uranium-235. Uranium-235 carries with it one substantial advantage: You can just dig it up out of the ground. That's where the advantages stop. Enriching uranium from its natural levels of around 0.7% U-235 to 90% is pretty difficult, as it turns out. There are several approaches.

The first one tried is the "Calutron" which uses particle accelerators to separate out the isotopes, and turned out to be horrendously inefficient, never being used after the Manhattan Project [which really did believe in throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks] until some were discovered in Iraq in the mid-1990s when UN inspectors were allowed in. Called "Baghdadtrons", Iraq had developed them because the technology was subject to essentially no export controls [and nobody asked why the Iraqis were suddenly interested in magnets and particle accelerators] and was quite simple to master. Fortunately, they didn't produce that much uranium, but if they had gone on for just a few more years, Iraq would have ended up with a bomb.

The second major method relies on gaseous diffusion, a process requiring massive structures that could handle uranium hexafluoride, and proved quite difficult to develop. The big nuclear states all had these facilities, along with other commercial interests--the French consortium that enriches uranium actually had a 10% interest purchased in it by the Shah. However, they were never that practical for the small, aspiring weapons state--too big and too complicated, and very obvious. The only state which developed its first bomb through gaseous diffusion is, to my knowledge, China.

The third, however, and the one that has gained the most attention now, is the centrifuge. This technology, via which virtually all uranium enrichment these days occurs, relies on just spinning a centrifuge at ultra-high speeds to separate the isotopes--like you might have done in biology, but on a much larger scale. These centrifuges are rather difficult to build and rely on advanced, hard-to-manufacture materials like carbon fiber and maraging steel. Unfortunately, though, thanks to the work of Pakistani nuclear scientist A. Q. Khan, and the efforts of a number of German and French corporations, the knowledge of how to build advanced centrifuges is out there if you know the right people--like Iraq did. They were building a centrifuge using training and technology from European companies, though they never got it up to scale. Libya also got this information, and Iran and North Korea as well. Turns out the Axis of Evil is real, but it's mostly just Pakistan and European nuclear companies.

Oh, and as a minor note, there's a fourth process that's been collecting a lot of concern that relies on lasers to enrich uranium, which has actually been commercialized in Australia. There's a good deal of fear that the technology is so compact that it'll enable virtually any state to enrich uranium in secret. Also, it should be noted that enriched uranium does have other uses than to make bombs--it fuels certain classes of nuclear reactors, for instance. However, the primary reason for enrichment is usually to make bombs.

Plutonium-240, though, comes pretty much one way: Out of nuclear waste. You take raw nuclear waste--there are some specifics if you want to optimize generation of plutonium, but you can do it to pretty much any nuclear waste--then you do some fancy and extremely toxic and dangerous chemistry on it, and, if you've done everything right, out comes plutonium of weapons grade, along with some uranium. This can be reused as fuel for nuclear reactors, and often is--Japan, for instance, has literal tons of plutonium reprocessed from its fleet of nuclear power stations. However, it also produces weapons-grade plutonium [or reactor-grade plutonium, which can be turned into a crude device anyhow]. The only problem with this is that generally people are quite touchy about nuclear reactors, especially the kind good at making high-quality plutonium, and IAEA supervision and controls are required in non-nuclear states. They're also very easy targets for airstrikes, as Syria and Iraq both discovered.

Most countries historically opted for the plutonium route--they could operate nuclear reactors on their own and nobody nearby could stop them. The United States, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, the Soviet Union, and North Korea all opted for plutonium. Only China, Pakistan, and South Africa have opted for enriched uranium--though the option seems to be rising in popularity.

4. Iran [maybe] builds a bomb

Well, since Iraq isn't the focus of this and Saddam is very much dead.. back to Iran.

Iran's bomb program is thought to have begun in 1973, when the Shah summoned a nuclear physicist named Akbar Etemad, told him he wanted to launch a nuclear program, and asked him to develop a plan. And, just like that, Iran was off on the road to a bomb. An Atomic Energy Agency was formed, its employees being the best paid in the entire Iranian government. Students were dispatched to a special nuclear engineering program set up with MIT. Huge quantities of money were dumped into nuclear energy, the development of uranium mines, and, of course, the bomb program. This is when the aforementioned activities of the Shah took place.

And since then, it's never really died. It probably would win an award for longest continually operating nuclear program that hasn't built a bomb. The Islamic Revolution was a serious setback as most of the Shah's atomic scientists were purged or fled the country, and so was the Iran-Iraq War, which represented a massive drain on Iranian resources. It continued working at the bomb, but, without those people--and more importantly without the cooperation of Europe, whom were not fans of the revolutionary regime--they stood no chance at building it anytime soon. Still, they worked away--largely knowing that Saddam was pursuing nukes as well, and that he would use them against Iran if he got them first.

In the 1990s, Iran largely focused on reconstruction and development from the catastrophic war. The nuclear program kept whirring away in the background, though. With the help of new technology, new friends--including Russia, no longer committed to non-proliferation as it once was, and soon-to-be nuclear state North Korea--and with a new generation of experts, Iran kept on developing the bomb right up until 2003, when... it stopped. There were probably many reasons for that--Saddam was gone, the United States was acting aggressive, international pressure was up--but they also likely had most or all of the needed information to build a weapon--just not the materials.

However, they kept up another angle--using the very same nationalist rhetoric as the Shah did, years ago, they asserted their right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty [whether one exists is debatable] to enrich uranium and possibly reprocess plutonium in pursuit of a domestic nuclear power program. This program would both fuel Iran's energy needs [which, surprisingly, it has quite a lot of] by producing fuel for Russian-built nuclear reactors, and also provide them with the same materials required to build a nuclear bomb--making them a nuclear-latent state, just like Japan or South Korea. That's when Iran's program really began attracting concern. Along with attention from Israel and the United States, who engaged in assassinations, sabotage, or expatriation of Iranian nuclear scientists [stealing them from nuclear conferences, rescuing their family from Iran, and bringing them to the US] in order to slow the program, with mixed results--while they did serious damage, it still continued. So efforts turned to negotiation.

5. JCPOA, or, how to successfully punt the can

Negotiations began in the late 2000s to attempt to halt the progress of Iran's nuclear program, which was rapidly developing and showed breakout potential to build a bomb by about 2010. While initially they bore little fruit, in 2013, an interim agreement was signed, followed by a full agreement in 2015. The agreement, concluded by the P5+1 [USA, Russia, UK, France, China and Germany] lifted most sanctions on Iran through a phased period, including sanctions on arms exports and an embargo on selling arms to Iran, and in return Iran would subscribe to certain limits on its nuclear program.

It would limit the enrichment of uranium to a low percentage and how much it possessed at any one instance, it renounced certain activities involved in fuel reprocessing and bomb design, it had to export its heavy water [as a side effect Iran is now one of the world's largest heavy-water exporters], and numerous other restrictions were installed. However, the most stringent of them began expiring in the early 2020s, with virtually all restrictions gone by around 2030. This fact has attracted a great deal of attention--in essence, JCPOA is punting the can a little over a decade. Still, alternatives weren't great. JCPOA increased the time that Iran would have to take to get a bomb from around three months to a bit more than that, six months. It also diminished the likelihood Iran would seek a bomb--as long as it could get most of the benefits by remaining on the threshold without actually crossing it, it seemed unlikely that Iran would actually do so when it brought on so many risks--not just sanctions but preemptive military strikes and proliferation throughout the region via Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It wasn't a perfect deal by any means, but it was a deal, and it worked about as well as one might have hoped. That was, until Trump unilaterally pulled out of it.

6. Where We're At Now

When Trump pulled out of JCPOA, reinstating sanctions on Iran, the response began tepidly. But within a year, Iran systematically began breaching the limits of JCPOA. Initially, Iran hoped that other international partners would save it--Europe built a special financial instrument to trade with Iran without sanctions, and Iran turned to East Asia for economic support. However, neither of these really panned out--corporations were scared of American retaliation and Europe found itself unable to do much about the problem. So, Iran ended its good behavior and began slowly, systematically breaching the limits placed on it under JCPOA. It began raising enrichment percentages, and breached its uranium stockpile limits. Iran also became increasingly aggressive in other areas, engaging in mining and seizure of ships--most recently a South Korean tanker--and using its numerous proxy militias to target American interests. In the meantime, Iran's economy has entered freefall--it was never well-managed in the first place, especially with Islamic foundations and the Revolutionary Guard controlling much of the economy, and the sanctions and collapsing oil prices have sent it into a recession. Covid also hit Iran particularly hard, adding to its woes.

At the time I'm writing this, Iran has activated its Fordow facility--which was banned under JCPOA--and has begun to enrich uranium to 20% U-235 levels. This might not sound like a lot, but it's actually much easier to enrich 20% to 90% than 4% to 20%. In essence, with these latest breeches, Iran's breakout time has begun rapidly shrinking--probably back to three months now, or even worse.

7. Going Forward

If Iran wants the bomb, there's not that much that can be done to stop it. Diplomacy will be difficult considering what we did last time, and military strikes are risky on the part of the United States--which could face backlash via proxy attacks across the Middle East--and impossible for Israel, which does not have weapons large enough to destroy Iran's more heavily fortified facilities aside from any bunker-busting nuclear warheads it possibly possesses. Sabotage and assassination will only delay the inevitable. Iran's nuclear program, it seems, will be one of President Biden's first major challenges--vying for attention with all the other ones--and it remains to be seen what he will do about it. I myself have pretty much no clue how to handle the situation.

Other lessons that can be learned here [or at least I learned here] are:

Never collaborate with violent extremists because they just kill you when the revolution is over
Be careful about promoting nuclear technology and selling it to other countries because there very much are proliferation risks
Don't sell stuff to Saddam Hussein [big one]
We can blame Europe for nuclear proliferation [guess where AQ Khan got his first designs from, along with Pakistan... oh, and India got theirs from Canada]
There really isn't much that can be done to stop most countries from getting the bomb if they want one, despite what some suggest. Nuclear weapons... find a way.

8. Citations

Iraq's Programs to Make Highly Enriched Uranium and Plutonium for Nuclear Weapons Prior to the Gulf War, David Albright
The origin of Iraq's Nuclear Weapons Program, Suren Erkman, Andre Gsponer, Jean-Pierre Hurni, and Stephan Klement
The Shah's Atomic Dreams, Abbas Milani
Enrichment Supply And Technology Outside The United States, S. A. Levin and S. Blumkin
Just Because No One Does It Anymore Doesn't Mean It Doesn't Work, Chris Camp
U.S. Finds Iran Halted Its Nuclear Arms Effort in 2003, Mark Mazzetti
Atomic Ayatollahs, David Segal
Timeline of Nuclear Diplomacy With Iran
Iran starts 20% uranium enrichment, seizes South Korean ship
And of course others I haven't noted here in minor capacities.

[CONFLICT] Operation: Old World Blues

Operation: Old World Blues

With the Western Collective's unprovoked attack across the border as negotiations barely began, we are left in a difficult situation to deal with the Western Collective's renewed threat. As things progress, we have started looking at the different operation theaters. We have begun devising a series of plans that should bring a victory against the Western Collective.

Covert Operations:

Here

The War Within:

We are sitting on a bomb of public anger. The loss of our cities, similar to using a bigger fire to put out a smaller fire, managed to snuff out a large portion of the riots in the resulting shock. However, this shock can only remain so long as people start to seek answers and retribution to the cause. Already this is occurring and can be best illustrated in the retribution skirmishes in Denver.
However, like a bomb, the energy from it can be redirected if properly deflected. Those same skirmishes in Denver show that there is a distinct emotional pathway that can be exploited to redirect this energy from destructive to the state to constructive for the state.
To begin, after an emergency declaration of Air Incursions by the Western Collective martial law and a curfew will be declared and a recommendation to tune into local news and radio for updates and warning. After an initial run on stores, most of the population will return to their homes paranoid of a nuclear strike by the WC. Paranoia is a strong tool as it otherwise keeps people guessing at their next move. What to do, when to do it, can they do it, if they can do anything about it. This indecisiveness aims to keep people indoors and off the streets in the initial days of the renewed conflict.
During this indecisiveness, as people feverishly tune into their radio, news, and internet for information regarding the situation, we have a unique opportunity that people will be tuning in to the most up to date and verifiable local news sources for their information regarding their wellbeing and safety. Partnering with many of these sites to maintain a relatively continuous degree of accurate information we can slowly affect the narrative with state-sponsored hit pieces and disinformation targeting the WC's morality, sanity, and legitimacy.
Once paranoia and shock dissipate in our population, our internal campaign should redirect most of the hate and resentment away from the SLFR and towards the WC. While a stopgap for a slow-burning problem, and potentially larger ones in the future this will ensure that the spirit of our nation is willing and ready to "Remember Salt Lake" and avenge the unfortunate dead.
Morality-
The Western Collective is in itself an immoral nation. Military recon feeds, interviews, and live feeds from Denver will be used to draw parallels from Denver to the siege of Leningrad. Highlighting the lack of dogs, cats, birds, and eventually people we can show that instead of being besieged by an army more than willing to let them starve, Denver is instead occupied by a corporate army who have taken active measures to prevent food and aid in and allow people to escape the prison city that Denver has become. Interviews from survivors who have managed to escape Denver to our aid stations situated outside the border will take place in order to highlight what is effectively an oligarchic regime within Denver. Tales of woe, crime, and starvation will be strung together to show the WC as effectively the North Korea of the United States as defectors risk everything to seek freedom outside the hell it's becoming. Testimonials from soldiers manning the aid stations and interviews will also be used to paint light on the plight these citizens have endured within Denver at the treatment of their own government.
Sanity-
The Western Collective is in itself an insane nation. In all rules of war, one of the biggest concerns has been the unrestricted targeting of civilian population centers. A rule that the Western Collective has casually thrown away in the wake of its other humanitarian crimes. Surely, a nation that is willing to throw away millions of its own citizens lives through forced starvation and those of an enemy through cruel and unlawful means truly cannot claim sanity as it so casually throws away the lives of non-combatants in order to further its goals to wound the soul of a nation rather than to repel it.
Legitimacy-
The Western Collective is in itself an illegitimate nation. The power of the people through democratic principle has been tossed completely out the window in terms of the Western Collective. After the split of the United States, the Western Collective has organized itself more as an unruly mob, rather than of a structured nation. No elections have been called, no protocol set, does the Western Collective even have a government? If not, then who is making the brash statements against our nation? If they are who they say they are, from where do they draw their legitimacy? The entire political structure and landscape of the Western Collective are pockmarked with varying ideologies on every end of the spectrum ranging from moderate to radical. In the Western Collective, what reigns seems to be nothing more than anarchy and some vague form of "collective governance". This is not in the way how any legitimate nation acts.
Counter Intelligence-
As to their own campaign against us, they've published a half brokered a peace deal in an effort to smear us. However, without context, certain conclusions and inferences can be drawn by our savvy news folk. Highlighting the WC side of the deal as one that only aims to serve the needs of the WC and subjugate large portions of the western SLFR population into immoral, insane, and illegitimate nation such as the Western Collective. On the other hand, the SLFR response to the deal can clearly be seen as a deal from the maximalist school and one in which strong negotiation is to be countered and backed down. Clearly, the Western Collective has no room for anything other than the subjugation of the SLFR people to a bandit state.
As the Western Collective is set to be set in a state where a large degree of their power infrastructure and thus communication infrastructure (see below) a prolonged psywar campaign on the part of the Western Collective can only remain spotty and at best. However, our e-war agents will be on the lookout to counter the misinformation campaign of the WC wherever it might show it's ugly head. On the flip side of this, we can begin distributing this information to the limited population of the Western Collective who might be tuned into our social media. The hope is that this will further erode the Western Collectives populace's spirit as they begin to question the morality, sanity, and legitimacy of their own government.
The Armed Forces-
This effect can likewise be translated over to our armed forces as the shock of the situation begins to wear off. Most military units act as a very close-knit unit with many forming lasting bonds after the service many of our service members have either first or second-hand experience from the loss of cities across our nation. Those servicemen and women who've lossed have the most to gain out of direct action against the WC as even the stress of Combat Operations can be considered cathartic. Similarly, those soldiers within this tight-knit bond have been wronged by the WC as their brothers and sisters in arms have been wronged.
One of the greatest examples that there is such sentiment within the armed forces are the attacks in Denver. This shows that such an emotional pathway exists for us to direct our soldiers' energy into and so we can begin a campaign of suggestion within the ranks. Minor things being placed into the common lexicon of soldiers and commanders can have a powerful effect when applied correctly. Order's being followed by phrases as simple as "Avenge Salt Lake/Santa Fe, Langley, Richmond, etc", "Protect our Home", "God Bless the SLFR and the 410" can be used to invoke anger amongst our troops as the enemy ahead is willing to take from them everything. By applying this subtly and slowly through the ranks, orders gain just a touch more authority as the cause being fought for becomes that ever more personal.

Strategic Shortages:

We have access to most Western Collective's water, food, and power resources as it stands. As such, we will be cutting off the supply of all food, utility, and provisional aid for the indefinite future. Worsening food shortages and protests should economically disrupt the Western Collective and create a runaway effect. As a result, their internal stability should continue to decline, morale drop, and personnel to become sluggish as people continue to starve. This disruption will force the WC economy to bleed gasoline as generators and power stations are overworked.

Ground Forces:

Primary Phase-
As of the moment, no attempt by the Western Collective military has been made to corral the SLFR ground forces within the contested border regions nor assail them beyond this. Thanks to this degree of flexibility in the contested areas, we have a golden opportunity to capitalize on our gains. This gain comes in the form of a large portion of our artillery and mobile air defenses being well within striking distance of the two main airbases from which that sorties are carried out. This gives us the opportunity to commit to a series of massed artillery (gun and rocket) barrages and drone strikes utilizing the M777 (M795 rounds,M692/M731(used at the very end ), M109 (RAP rounds) primarily, and M142 Himars (ATAcaMs (Block IVA) and switchblade 300 to target and ultimately bomb out the Western Collective Airbases (with a focus on rocket artillery targeting the Arizona airbase due to gun artillery range concerns) targeting mainly ATCT, runway operations, and aircraft shelters. In addition, a portion of our Himars ATAcaMs will similarly be targeting the aircraft carriers as part of their mission to disrupt sortie time from the sea or (on the off chance one manages to hit due to the apparent lack of escort) score an operational kill. During this same time, thanks to our forces in the contested territories, we can begin some interdiction of enemy planes attempting to penetrate the border and perform ground attack missions.
Back at the homefront, thanks to the purchase of patriot systems batteries before the initial conflict erupted, we sit on a rather large supply of patriot batteries and reserve troops. Once the initial order to scramble fighters from Hill and Creech AFB is given, those patriot units in reserve will similarly be scrambled from army and air bases all across the SLFR. During emergency exercises in setting up a patriot weapon system after air transport, military intelligence surmised that a Patriot missile system could be assembled and put into operation within 12-15 minutes from touchdown. Similarly, we intend to truck many of these systems (thankfully completed as we haven't had a real reason to lift them via air freight) to locations around Creech and Hills AFB. While potentially not enough to stave off a WC incursion by themselves, they still offer the potential to harass, disrupt, or waylay enemy strikes into SLFR territory. However, no delusions to the system's effectiveness are granted (unless the WC does something like fly bombers ahead of their fighter escort or leave air refueling craft outside a similar guard).
With mass barrages taking place on the airbases and carriers (given an RPM average of around 5 for the guns) over the course of 10 minutes, we believe this to be significant in disabling (or disrupting) sorties from these airbases. At 10 minutes, our forces within the contested regions will begin a fighting withdrawal towards SLFR controlled territories utilizing forward mortar positions and artillery to deliver smoke and artillery to forestall any advance by forces within the contested regions. Once our troops have regrouped at the border and consolidated, we can begin preparations for a counter-attack in the contested territories.
Secondary Phase-
Once our ground forces have consolidated themselves, and assuming the contesting airbases have been significantly shelled to the point where drone recon can assure operational kill, we can begin to look towards regaining lost territory in a counter-attack. With artillery massed in the mountains and hills (primarily), our ground forces will participate in a creeping barrage followed by infantry and IFV/APC support with our troops on the ground providing intelligence back as forward observers. While this should be enough to get us into the first districts of the townships we intend to occupy, fire support will then switch to fire on request to better service our forces on the ground with targeting data relayed via drone/forward observers. In addition, as troops move away from the mountains, mortars will become increasingly valuable in the urban environment, and mortar teams will establish several mobile forward-firing positions.
As the fighting continues into the urban landscape, our forces must observe a slow and cautious approach. We have a distinct disadvantage as we advance further into the enemy-controlled territory. In addition, we can take special precautions that will aid in CQB.
Secondary Operations-
Secondary operations are planned to be mission-specific and carried out only if 80% of operational success is being met within their current area unless otherwise noted.
(Specific Logistics Operations (WA)): We maintain a large force in Northern Washington that, at the moment, finds itself having to bring supplies through contested territory or go without. In an effort to change this, our tilt-rotor craft will begin flying supplies, troops, and equipment in and out of the AO. While normally risky with air coverage being low to lax in the area, the team lead has assured that the maneuverability of the tilt-rotor craft should allow the flight to easily maneuver through the Cascades making us of radar shadow and limited visibility in sighting the craft. Taking off from the Yakima Firing Center, these pilots will be in charge of keeping the northern troops supplied in the event of a counter-attack or during their assault. (This operation is to occur regardless of operational success).
(Highway 20 (WA)): While the above air supply should keep our troops in fighting fit order, it still poses a rather risky venture when it comes to actually maintain that supply route. In order to alleviate this strain, a portion of the troops in the north will attempt to establish a secure corridor through Highway 20 over the Cascades. Utilizing recon drone flights ahead of any such operation, we hope to minimize the risk of an ambush to troops moving through the corridor. The populations through the corridor will be contacted by advance recon before moving through their area in an effort to secure their limited support in doing nothing. As they are effectively isolated along Highway 20 offers of food, limited medical supplies, and basic necessities will be offered in exchange for their cooperation.
Tactical Considerations-
Weapons: As we advance, we are most likely to find contention with more Marines than militia and regular army as forces cycle out. Because of this, and knowing the MTV and SPC armor capabilities most commonly used by the Marine core, we can tailor ammo accordingly to favor armor-piercing rounds in the ammo mix. Going into a city fighting scenario, we will have to make use of the best tools on hand for our forces going in. This happens to be the AT4, a weapon we will be utilizing for in close engagements, asset denial, and asset destruction.
Additional Weapons: To further enhance our soldiers' capabilities, the M202 Flash has been authorized to be allocated as needed one per rifle platoon in addition to the rifleman's standard weapon. Blowing the dust off these weapons should give our riflemen the tactical edge when it comes to building clearing, digging out entrenched units, and rapid explosive deployment. While the Flash cannot be deployed in vast numbers, it should have a measurable effect on the conflict where deployed.
Explosives: Testing and deployment of the Scalable Offensive Hand Grenade was begun in 2010, and now it's time to put them to use thanks to their ability to deliver more accurate explosive yields to a target.
Gear: With most urban warfare, the night is both an advantage and disadvantage to either side, depending on their equipment. Our troops conducting night operations will be issued NVGs and Dazzlers to make use of the night best while diminishing the advantage it gives to the enemy. Additionally, heavier protective plate carriers and rigs will be issued on an as-needed basis to keep casualty rates low well in the urban environment. In addition, small drones will be issued to our forces going forward to better make use of unmanned recon, namely the Black Hornet Nano and RQ-11 Raven.
Other Considerations: As our forces push forward, we will eventually become more exposed to the defenders as the conflict progresses in an urban environment. As such, molding the city to our benefit must be given priority in the form of constructing firing and sniping positions (basements being some of the best) as well as shelters and fallback routes along covered paths (wall knocked out to the next building/a pathway through subterranean infrastructure, etc.). This should allow our troops to be easily accessible, tactically secure, and easy to construct fallback positions should the situation call for it.
[m] please note that any gear listed above is either in addition to or supplementing current rifleman kits and is in no way meant to represent the ONLY equipment being allocated to them. [/m]
While we're not sure how far our fighting through the urban centers will get us, we are hoping that through the steady pace set, equipment issued, tactics employed, general lack of direction of the enemy ground forces other than (hold the ground), we can win out the day and push the borders of the contested territory into SLFR occupied and owned domain.
Along the periphery of the urban centers, our armored units will be put to work attempting to cordon off soldiers within these urban centers by denying them a safe logistical road in which to bring in supply and release troops. With concerns to ATGMs, AT troops, and armored units similarly acting on the periphery, we will be resorting to short raids rather than long drawn out fights, utilizing smoke rounds and drone support when and where we can. While this might only disrupt supplies into these contested zones, a disruption for us with minimal losses will be an overall win. To wit, commanders at that time will be given authority whether or not to pursue this course of action or maintain a defensive posture.

Strategic goals and Considerations-
While the total victory against the WC militarily would be ideal, it currently does not exist in the cards in terms of a "quick" war. As such, strategic level goals must be set in order to establish parameters for victory in an effort to bring the WC's government into submission.
1: Denial of infrastructure facilitating WC internal commerce, civilian and military logistics, and government functionality.
2: Denial of military resources through the strategic destruction of Air Bases and Military installations as well as forcing WC forces into a siege.
3: Denial of civilian and military port access by forward howitzer artillery and rocket artillery batteries.
Goal one and three are currently being met with goal two still to be decided, however, the situation WC is likely to find themselves will be that of contemporary modern siege warfare. Utilizing models such as the Siege of Homs, Kobanin, and An Khe Sanh we can tactically draw WC forces into the cities as the main aim is to bottle operational forces or create a strategic distraction for forces acting outside these cities and urban landscape to maneuver themselves into more advantageous positions or operations to fulfill strategic level goals.

Navy: TBA

Airforce:

The show's main star will be our air force operating out of Creech AFB, Hill AFB, and Edwards AFB. With the WC making moves to neutralize Creech AFB and Hill AFB, we cannot afford to meet them on "open ground." We must instead utilize our advantage of positioning.
Creech:
Given the direction, size of the forces, combat range, and support craft being employed to defeat Creech AFB, we give them time to target at around 15-20 minutes (this number is not assuming land-based systems are being used to intercept these aircraft, which, indeed, they are) if a massed attack is planned. If a wave tactic is instead employed, we might likely see the first craft arrive within five minutes. This gives Creech enough time to scramble a single flight before the first of the attack comes (assuming given timetables). As it appears that the WC has opted for a massed attack, given the number of aircraft entering the airspace, we can guess that a portion of our craft on the ground will likely be hit while taking off if these crafts manage to reach Creech. The goal is to waylay the incoming craft with ground defenses and E-War and limited air engagements to supply Creech AFB with time to sort out its full complement. The greatest strength we have here is that the relative areas up to Creech are well within our territory and contains a large concentration of our military equipment, including SHORAD. Effectively, passing through these areas will be a shooting gallery for our air defense units. This massed aircraft concentration only serves draws the ire of every SAM and MANPAD around, especially when it comes to aerial refueling craft.
In addition to the shelling from artillery following positive enemy contact, it is hoped that the air defense wall defeats their attempt to penetrate our airspace and will force the enemy pilots to either divert to a better air corridor or suffer a degree of damage/defensive ability as missiles score hits and chaff is expended. The longer we can delay enemy craft, or cause them to tarry, the more fighters Creech and put into the air to hammer these craft.
Hill AFB:
Hill AFB, perhaps our farthest inland, is an attractive enough target for the Western Collective to attempt to strike. Given the shortest distance between launching airbases/carriers, the limited refueling fleet servicing such massed aircraft, having to pass over the same air defense "wall" as well as mountains, we estimate the shortest time it will take the fastest craft to arrive at Hill AFB to be a little under an hour. While this gives plenty of time, forewarning, and preparation for the oncoming assault to sortie fighters as well as get Strato-Fortresses in the air and launching payloads (more to come) we cannot take the threat lightly and thus will be conducting MITO operations in an effort to get as much of our bomber fleet into the air and into a position to achieve operations goals.
Though it's not going to be all peaches and cream as the sheer amount of fighter craft coming to our direction will likely take up the majority of our air reserves to repel (within the confines of a straight dogfight). Our biggest ally in this is time and distance and the servicing of aircraft by refueling aircraft, something we intend to target and take advantage of as they attempt to take off from facilities currently in the course of being bombed as an attempt to pass over our defensive net.
If it comes down to it, our air forces will coordinate with ground air defense forces to extend the flight times of craft already at the very edge of their operational range while engaging Hills AFB. While it's impossible to say who will end up victorious, we can spoil their victory by moving our more precious aircraft away from Hills far in advance of incoming enemies.
Pulling every trick out of our ass, our advisors have devised a plan that should help to delay and potentially halt the Vanguard of the aircraft approaching Hill AFB. Utilizing our extremely limited supply of QF-16 target drones we can attempt to bait their vanguard into otherwise revealing itself while our forces remain in relative safety. The scheme goes that a single QF-16 will be a patrol course with active radar and a tag registering it as an active combatant. This QF-16 will be shadowed at distance (optimal distance to where active enemy radar might not detect them but friendly passive radar would detect hostiles going active) by two flights of aircraft. With hope, this QF-16 will draw the ire of approaching craft that will attempt to intercept and destroy said decoy craft but in the process reveal their firing position or go to active radar. Assuming the shadowing craft isn't outnumber to the point that engaging would-be suicide (even in a pump and dump situation) our craft should be able to engage from range or at minimum make their target long before they're detected. This is a one-off gambit that might bear fruit or not, so we aren't banking too much hope on it as compared to other conventional strategies.
The above strategy, to an extent, can similarly be applied to supplement the saturation campaign currently ongoing (see below).
Edwards AFB:
Edwards AFB is confusing as it seems to be otherwise being passed up for other targets. While it's altogether likely that launching from this base will cause some degree of contention with some of those traveling to Creech, we have an opportunity to effectively strike at the heart of the WC's carrier fleet through the use of E-War and Anti-Ship missiles. A large concentration of US Carriers is now concentrated in or around California's coast. Utilizing our Growlers and F-16 fleet to launch ADM-160 MALDs, the plan is to create a secure radar jammed air corridor between Edwards AFB and the carrier fleet, at which point our F-35s and F/A-18Es will launch. Through this corridor, the F-35s and F/A-18Es will track far enough to deploy AGM-158C LRASMs against their targets, hopefully scoring a series of decisive strikes against the WC's naval aviation.
While this operation is ongoing, craft out of Edwards will begin to reinforce those at Creech and (if the airspace over Edwards and Creech is secured) move North to intercept targets of opportunity flying from Oregon and Washington towards Hills AFB.
In support of ground operations, 5 AC-130Js will deploy from Edwards (at night), supporting local operations where they can, and (if the airspace north is secure) one will move to support operations in the North.
In addition to helping to secure Creech AFB, our limited flights of F-22’s will be purposed to being hunting for the WC refueling fleet. As these crafts are neither stealthy nor fast, we have no doubt that once contact is made we will be able to further cripple the already overstretched WC refueling efforts.
Assisting Stations-
Peterson Airforce base has, as it appears, been left relatively unmarked in the nuclear attacks following the initial battles with the WC. As such, this gives us the extremely powerful tool that is NORADs aerospace warning, and control systems to utilize in the coming battle and provide advanced warning of initial aircraft intrusions and massing. Being able to accurately track enemy aircraft, while coordinating and organizing our own in the horribly massed confusion that is the coming dogfight should prove to great advantage to our pilots as well as having Peterson AFB acting as a safe point to refuel and rearm before reentering the conflict.
[m] note, without clarification if Peterson AFB was hit with Shriver this will ultimately end rearmament and refueling efforts from within this airbase. However, NORAD maintains a secondary command location within the Cheyanne Mountain Complex that can still provide non-aircraft servicing assistance[/m]

Electronic Warfare:

In coordination with the forces cutting power cables leading into California, our E-War units will begin a campaign of coordinated aggression aimed primarily at the disruption of local power generation and military and civilian radar to either attempt to make craft appear or remain hidden, keeping air controllers in a consistent state of stress and delaying sortie rates further. As the WC has yet to cut many, if any, of the ISP connections between our nations, we can utilize many of the similar pathways they used for intrusion while also attempting over others. Such a disruption could have significant consequences for the WC air campaign as high sortie rates are among the few pillars keeping it together and by breaking one piece of the puzzle, the entire combat picture should collapse in short order.
While remote operations on ongoing (as long as regional power remains active), we can continue to attempt to thwart the WC via localized E-Warfare utilizing our ground forces and E-War drones to jam communications, local GPS, and attempt to thwart enemy ground radar allowing our aircraft to operate more freely in the AO and forcing WC craft to use active sensors, painting them as a major target to ground and air missile and sensor systems.

The Big Red Button:

In light of this aggression, it’s time we took back the initiative on the foreign front. Our Stratofortress, once in the air, will begin launching a series of payloads aimed at crippling the WC’s logistics network and continuing to make the war further untenable at the home from:
Targets and Payloads:
Naval Base San Diego-
The principal homeport to the Pacific Fleet, this naval base hosts most of the rearming for the carriers currently being used to harass our bases and forces. To deliver a decisive blow to the WC we will be committing a tactical nuclear strike ( W80 10 kt dialed yield) against the naval yard with 3 nuclear-armed AGM-86 ALCM cruise missiles.
National Guard/Army Armories and Equipment Storage Facilities:
As the war continues, we must face the reality that men and equipment will win this war at the end of the day. As such, we will be launching several conventional strikes against facilities containing such military equipment based on prior locational knowledge and current recon of the AO. While total destruction of these sites is unattainable (and in the long run unwanted), disruption of the flow of supplies from these facilities will go along way in a campaign of attrition warfare against our foe.
I-5 and Highway 101-
Splitting the WC will severely cripple their ability to function as a “nation” and united people. As such, we are preparing a similar cruise missile strike (armed with conventional warheads) aimed at targeting bridges along I-5 and Highway 101. The biggest ones being at coordinates 40.509491, -124.121193 , 40.805301, -124.140597, and 40.762070, -122.318664 . These strikes aim to cripple interconnectivity between California, Washington, and Oregon disrupting internal commerce and military maneuvering along the routes.
Saturation-
The airspace itself we are going to be operating in is VAST and we aim to fill this airspace with enough clutter, decoys, and aircraft to overload enemy sensors and capabilities. Helping to supply this is the already mentioned ADM-160 MALD. Utilizing this to both jam and act as a decoy in the AO, we should be able to overwhelm the enemy’s defense allowing cruise missile payloads to go through and supplementing our fighter’s perceived strength.

Fool Me Twice:

During the course of this defensive operation, we will begin to deploy our ABM missile platforms in an effort to maximize the protection of civilian and military infrastructure. Thankfully, with a large portion of our airbases out of commission, this actually leaves only a few areas to cover in terms of maximizing coverage. Should a follow-up nuclear strike occur it is important to have these systems ready and on alert come what may from our western enemy.

Planning of Failure:

While in the best world we can assume all our plans will come to fruition, assumptions get people killed.
Ground Forces (Primary): If the enemy combatants in the area manage to interdict artillery from our side of the border and within the contested regions, the plan is to initiate an early fallback strategy into the mountains and hills and entrench positions while utilizing our massed artillery to halt and forward motion by the WC army.
Ground Forces (Secondary): If our soldiers cannot find purchase within the enemy fortified points after the bombardments have taken place, a similar strategy to fallback to the mountainous and hilly terrain and entrench will be taken.
Air Forces (Creech): If the situation looks dire but an option for a retreat to Edwards AFB can be managed, all airborne assets will be diverted to Edwards to reinforce operations there.
Air Forces (Hills): If the defense fails and the enemy aircraft manage to inflict serious damage to the airbase and aircraft at the base then the aircraft will be given a general order to disperse and land at civilian airfields while awaiting further orders.
Air Forces (Edwards):
1: If aircraft do seek to interdict operations at Edwards AFB and local, air, and aircraft defenses are overwhelmed the point of non-function, aircraft will be given a general order to disperse and land at civilian airfields while awaiting further orders.
2: If an effective air corridor cannot be made to establish firing targets at the carriers, then operations will be abandoned with contributing craft being diverted to the defense of Creech AFB and Hills as well as CAS operations.
3: If interdiction efforts against aircraft bound for Creech or Hills cannot be sustained or commanders predict a low success rate, contributing craft will be diverted to aid in local CAS and ground attack efforts as well as local air interdiction.
E-War: If our electronic warfare campaign bears no fruit in dismantling the enemies radar coverage, communications, etc then efforts made to strike at the carriers will be waylaid, and contributing craft will be redirected to other missions
BRB: If your B-52 fleet manages to be interdicted before they can take off, or in a position where launching munitions is otherwise untenable, they will fly south towards Denver and the air net around it and loiter until such time as Hills AFB is cleared. If this is not met within the flight time of our bombers, they will divert to civilian airports and await further instructions.
Fool Me Twice: If our THAAD batteries come under molestation or are otherwise interdicted by enemy aircraft, they are to pull back and await deploying Patriot batteries and deploy behind them (even if under non-optimal conditions).

Planning for Success:

Airwar (general): If our air war is successful in crippling the WC airforce a long-range bombing campaign is authorized utilizing B-2 spirit bombers and B-25 Stratofortress utilizing conventional warheads as well as CAS with A-10s. With a large focus on SEAD and Anti-tank missions, the goal, if we manage an absolute air kill, is to minimize air defenses, armor, and heavy vehicle involvement in future conflicts.

[1.5 Gen Korean-Canadian] Amateur historical analysis on older generation of Korean immigrants

First, I would like to write this article, in hope that it will help someone understand how it all came to be. As a person who finally became able to see both side as free from own bias as possible, I think everyone needs to know the truth. Then again, I am not in anyway backing up the parents who caused painful griefs. Just...I need to write things here
As a 1.5 generation or 2nd generation immigrant from South Korea, I have been living in disarray, missed out so much from both side of Korea (got bullied a lot from school, for fuck's sake Seoul-Gyeongi-province (Ontario equivalent in Canada) is pretty harsh mentality compared to other) and Canada (missed out cuz I had to study hard and worked, could not really have experiences to make friends), I decided to read and this hobby carried on so much that I became interested to the history of South Korea; though I knew a bit. These key events are the markers that provides the foundation of the common brutal and competitive mentality of modern-era Korea up-until 203

No need to go back that long, about 120 years ago, this dynasty Joseon, which lasted for 500 years of prosperity and turmoil, had this interesting socio-dynamic pattern of strong centralized government ruled by Confucianism, heavily segregated by the social ranks. There was a meritocracy system called Gwa-goe (과거시험제도) which is basically like government-approved national exam to hire public servants. and only way to move up the ladder is to invest as much capitals available to make connections between senior government officials who has lots of experiences to size up how the test is going to be like and since back in those days it is hard to get textbooks (all handwritten, and many illiterate), they had to find connections to buy the expensive books. They had to travel 3 months to reach to the capital, which, back in those days, is very risky because of bandits, terrible roads, no communication.
Joseon government had a terrible history of abandoning citizens, during the Japanese invasion of Imjin Years. South Korean government committed atrocity of abandoning the citizens during the Korean War, (fed the disinformation to guard the workplace to do crowd control, and blew up the Han River Bridge, and later, some of the ultra right wing militia supported by the government framed the innocent people into commies, and shooting them)
Joseon government during the imperialist era failed to open up to the Western imperialism and adjusted. Japan had the similar incident where US navy applied gunship diplomacy to open-up the border (Adm.Perry, Kurohune incident), and decided to segregate itself from inevitable trend of the world and failed to adapt. Inside of the government, they just plainly wasted the time with this armchair discussion of Confucianist ideas, burning incense, when Japan operated modern era warships. Later, some factions of the government decided to just sell away the sovereignty to Imperial Japan. (again, leaving all the responsibility to citizens)
During the Japanese occupation era, horrible and dark, I remember that the era was segregated into three parts. First part is I remember to be Cultural assimilation, Second part is Military-Police/Governor General Ruling Era and Third Part is Assassinations of Nationalism Era. During that time, unlike Joseon dynasty, the long-standing social class of noble has been abolished, though Japanese and "in-landers" (Korean, Chinese, and any other 2nd citizen of colonized countries) segregation remains. So only way to somehow make a living under the Japanese boss was to study as much as one can and go to Imperialist University in Japan. Later on, there was some factions of Koreans who decided to just serve Japanese (very controversial topics even to now days) or decided to fight for independence. Those who decided to stick to the Japanese rules, some of their intention may be to make a living (which is understandable), there were definitely some factions to "aggressively" serve the Imperial Japan by acting as vanguard and police, (the best analogy for the Western readers is to use "collabo" during Nazi-resistance era in France, under the Louis Petain admin). There was actually a special operation groups formed only by Koreans that did black-ops in Manchuria to eradicate the fellow Koreans who is in independence movement (Imagine fellow French person, serving in SS, trying to kill off the other fellow French in Resistance, that's the best way to put it into perspective)
After Japan got hit by the atomic bomb, the US and Soviet Union took the Korean peninsula, and Japan withdrew. These two superpowers would like to see this peninsula as some kind of buffer zone between the capitalistic world and the communist world, and Korean War broke out. The independence leaders who fought against the Imperial Japan, one of them named Lee Seung Man (Anti-communist ) and the other Kim Ku (Nationalist), fought on how to lead the Korea. Kim first argued that North and South needs to talk it over, cuz of possibility of war if the difference on political stances are left unsolved. Lee, instead, said fuck commies, and later Kim got assassinated. The South was not even ready for the war, and when the North invaded, the Lee decided to "recycle" the "collabo" as anti-communist warriors that defends the South from the Red. (Those "SS" equivalents decided then, under the Red scare, justified and "eliminated" the "evidences" (that's right, traitors left unpunished but rather got rewarded))
After the Korean War, the entire nation got destroyed. To re-build the economy, the General Park (He is extremely controversial character that made the foundation of South Korea for the better or worse. I say, he is like Petain plus Charles De Gaulle in France) He successfully coup d'etat and took presidency, and ruled the country for 18 years. He decided that the only way to rebuild the country's economy when the national security is threatened would be re-introducing the fascist ideology that he learned in Japanese military he served to "militarize" the Korea to establish brutally strict hierarchal culture that obeys the command without hesitation and forced again on the ordinary citizens to endure the bullshits (poor worker's rights, harassment and whatnot) all under the nationalism and patriotism. AND it actually worked.
Park got assassinated by his right-hand man, and his other right hand man, Chun, committed the coup again, and suppressed the democracy for the sake of economy. Shot on many civilians and placed embargo on the press, labelling them as "commies"
Chun stepped down later 8 years, his friend Roh became president, became lenient to get support. During that time , economy was actually booming (thanks to Park's foundation), and it actually was super-easy to get jobs, paid off the university tuition to three kids, buying house and car, and retire (Like babyboomers in North America) so, their brutally strict "push-forward" (밀어붙여) and "if it's impossible, make it possible" (안되면 되게하라) and "mental power" (정신력) culture seemed to work (i say, foundation built at the expense of other invisible assets synergized with the timing in international politics)
1992, YSKim, the democratic leader who fought against Park, Chun, and Roh, got the presidency, and put these two on trials (death sentences applied) was cleaning out the corruption really well, until 1997, Asian financial crisis hit.
YSKim, before stepping down, gave conditional pardon to Chun and Roh, again, the bullshitter left unpunished (it's not surprising)
DJKim, got the presidency, followed by MHRoh, introducing the neo-liberalism, to South KoreaMHRoh committed suicide, a lot of Koreans believe that it is caused by smear campaigns done by the conservative parties, whose factions are majorly the descendants of the "collabo" and "land-owners" back in the past (around this time of 2004-2005, there was a lot of immigration outward happened)
MBLee, the next president, introduced neoliberalism. He is highly alleged to be behind of smear campaign of his predecessor. Though the truth lies somewhere. (He is in jail now)
GHPark, the daughter of General Park, got into presidency thanks to the halo effect of the dictatorship (some people actually misses it)
GHPark failed to acknowledge the sinking of Sewol and known to be "disappeared" during that famous 7 hours, neglecting her duty as the leader. (again, giving the bs to the ordinary citizens. The students in that ship heard the announcement that says "remain seated" and they followed the order, only to be drowned) (She is in jail now)
Interesting things: many South Korean presidents, at the end of the term, their endings are not really good if you read the history comprehensively. To join one side of the battle, systematically one cannot avoid corruption from the perspective of the opposite. Many

I understand this pretty long, and if you read this far, thank you so much for reading it. If you did not , I do not blame you. I do not want to get into details of politics but I confidently say that the key insights can be withdrawn, and somehow explain the mentality of older generation of Koreans

Educated to blindly follow the government only to the certain extent that it can benefit them by the by-product merits such as ranks given, while having mistrust to the government
"Comparing culture": Why the guy next door when to Seoul National University, and what the fuck did you do? Gaming (This mentality in a way promoted brutally hard working culture and made South Korea where it is at, and it cannot be denied, but it comes at A LOT of expense. (I remember that during the university entrance exam season, a high schooler commits suicide here and there cuz he/she got one or two wrong , and could not get into the university desired)
"Barrack" culture from the military state under the name of economy and patriotism by Park, Chun, and Roh. Such culture was promoted socially and all other social capitals such as civility, trust, respect, human rights, and civic awareness was put to lower priority.
To add on the "barrack" culture, up until 2007 (around there), the teachers were authorized to beat the crap out of the students (under the name of discipline, and i am sure some narcs exists to store the stress and put it out to students), There are a lot of school violence prevalent to these days. and I hear that there is some service that one can ask the ex-gang member to pretend as the "uncle" of the victim to intimidate the bullies (tbh, i think the bullies deserve that and works a lot better than bs ombudsman shits)
To more add on the barrack culture, up until 2013-ish, (exact date around there), brutal hazing were unofficially allowed in the military in the name of disciplining the conscripts who have no internal/external incentives to serve due to poor budget thanks to the corruption of the higher-up (even the officers who have to stop and discipline them did that amongst themselves). There are many suicide incident that is swept under the carpet, and if injured, recompensation requests gets rejected a lot (for those who served the countries, this is fucking insulting) there is old saying, "During conscription, he is the son of the Nation, if he got injured, he is YOUR son, if he gets killed, Who the fuck are you", amongst the koreans....It is widely known facts that a lot of Korean males who served in the army have some degree of PTSD cuz of bullshits they wen through. BUT, what if the society promotes such toxic culture, and in the job interview, it is unofficially required for you to serve, cuz many workplace culture is like "barrack"? (then again, military discipline culture is proven, but if this toxic culture is actually violence culture which promotes only willpower, under the nostalgia of the baby boomers, and usually proven to bloodshed many other expenses? "You got no military spirit?" (군기빠졌어??) "If smacked, they work a lot faster" (맞으면 빠릿빠릿해지거든)
"push-forward" (밀어붙여) and "if it's impossible, make it possible" (안되면 되게하라) and "mental power" (정신력) this mentality is a variant from the bs barrack culture of Imperial Japanese Military, where Army HQ (Daihonhei) had no other resources but to appeal to general masses to perform banzai and kamikaze atack on the US forces which surpasses them in term of economic powers by far, pushing them as the cannonfodders. I say this is the early version this crooked mentality that blames the social problems on to individual, (asian version)
Brutally competitive and results-only culture is prevalent, and as long as result is brought, nothing else matter type of mentality is still prevalent today. Dog-Eat-Dog world is seen as it is what it is
Lookism and Narcissism culture is promoted by plastic surgery industry, due to the shallow side of Korean culture "So ugly"
Mental health issues safely ignored and violence and power-tripping to those who are lower social status than one to get the frustration out is deemed to be okay (though things are changing)
Fogey culture prevalent (꼰대문화) from 80s company culture. "Back in my era!" (나때는 말이야!!), "You young brats" (머리에 피도 안마른놈이!), "'Alcohol poured by girl is the most tasty" (여자가 따라주는 술이 가장 맛있지") that promotes power tripping, brutal long hours of work, and another power tripping in the company dinner meeting (회식)
All these mentalities above, plus the individual family culture with twisted version of Confucianism are brought over the North America, which is closely associated with the "land of the dream" based on the remnant of "colonial mentality", stayes in tact

tldr: to find the truth of human behaviour, it is advised to read the history and contemporary politics, for everyone in certain culture, I believe, to certain extent, they are the victims and the promoteadvocate of the system.

[BATTLE] Laotian Worries and Vietnamese Struggles

Map of the situation in Indochina, August 1969

Laos - Here We Go Again!

The Free City of Vientiane: February 28th

The City has become the hallmark and the last bastion of hope for the Laotian people as every other day a few dozen refugees make the trek across the country, eager to cross the border against the hateful regime. Most were uneasy about moving into Thailand however as mixed feelings of centuries-long conflict has grown pessimism among the refugee populace. So, they elected to stay in the "Kingdom of Laos," which now has been unofficially marked as the "Free City of Vientiane." A sort of Danzig of Indochina.
PLA and actual Pathet Lao forces sit across the city, just outside of artillery range. The Thai continued to funnel in more and more resources into the City, bringing in heavier artillery weapons and restarting the campaign as they began to bomb positions as far as 20km outside of the city. The fire was initially inaccurate until OH-1 and other helicopter scouts elected to go out and provide coverage - the first few were quickly shot down, forcing the project to be halted. Nevertheless, the artillery did put some shock into the PLA and Pathet Lao Forces.
Unexpectedly, the BM-21 Grads began to fire in a continuous barrage into the city as Thai Forces continued evacuations. Their own range was 20-30 kilometers. Immediately, the Thai morale was shot - inadvertantly, they had caused dozens of evacuations to be halted in the deeper sections of the city. Them trying to pin the Reds down caused the loss of hundreds of lives. Nevertheless, the Invasion of Laos had begun. AC-47's began to fly over the Vientiane region, providing constant support from the skies while they were reinforced by nearly 40 escorts - anti-air began to lit up the skies for the next twenty minutes while Thai Forces pounded the Communists.
Until the People's Liberation Army Air Force came into the fray, a flurry of J-6's and J-7's beginning to combat the Iranian, American and Thai Pilots. Communication between all three was extremely difficult, especially operating in such a hot area. This, muddled with the fact that they were going against a force that most hadn't really fought against in such ways since the Korean War was hard on the pilots morale.
The aerial campaign over Vientiane was brutal with the AC-47's escorts being taken down one by one, the Iranians finding themselves alone and some of the last defenders of these planes as the Thai and Americans were either forced to leave to repair, refuel & rearm or were shot down. Most of the kills racked up here were performed by the Iranians, surprising most. Nevertheless, they understood the terrible situation at hand and waved off, forcing the AC-47's to follow as the PLAAF pursued until they left the airspace.

Party	Size	Casualties	Notes
PLA	18,500 (Region)	675
PLAAF	-	23 J-6, 7 J-7's, 2 H-5's
Pathet Lao	19,590	1,255	-
Thai Air Force	-	7 F-86F's, 3 AC-47's, 20 AT-28D's, 4 OV-10, 5 UH-1H, 6 CH-34, 45 KIA	Further Gunship Missions will be difficult but they were successful in wearing the sieging forces down, a decent amount of the Pathet Lao artillery is destroyed
USAF	-	7 F-86's, 5 F-106's, 8 F-4's
Iranian Air Force	24 F-86's	1 F-86 Downed, pilot recovered	-

Air Superiority was maintained in the hands of the PLA while they quickly replaced what was lost by the airstrikes. It would take some time before they could reposition, unable to assist in the Vientiane push.

Behind the Lines - February 20th One Week Before the Vientiane Push

A massive operation was underway as Thai Airborne Forces performed a combat drop in Northern/Central Laos. They were parachuted into the interior of the country, guided by F-105s and a few F-4s. The Air Operation alone was bold but thanks to the escorts, it allowed the PLA to track down the landing zones with their own helicopter scouts. A number F-105's and F-4's were shot down as well as 2 out of the 5 C-123's. One crashed into the trees, engulfing in flames with fatalities to all lives aboard as the other crashed into the ground, sustaining damage to their engines and did make a brutal landing. A dozen of the paratroopers survived with most of the crew dead on impact, 4 of them actually managing to escape the area while the remainder were arrested. They would be taken back to China, never to be seen again. Either spending the rest of their lives in a labour camp or dying on the way.
The remaining paradrop continued as planned as their chutes opened across the country, roughly 180 paratroopers making it on the ground with minimal casualties from the foliage. They immediately moved East, hoping to break as far away from their dropzone as possible before the Communists found them, hopeful to receive their reinforcements that were promised.
At the same time, the Thai Border Patrol would be moving up and down the Mekong River, opening fire on Pathet Lao & PLA Forces from their positions, attacking only out of opportunity rather than tactical gains. This was rather successful but failed to make any territorial grounds, performing hit and runs before the Commies could really retaliate.
The paratroopers however soon made contact with surrounding PLA units in the regions they operated in and sadly, were dispatched in a brutal fight, neither the PLA nor the Thai Forces surrendering. The paratroopers died to the last man as their reinforcements waited to drop. They never would. Their whole goal was to tie forces down from the South but, given the numerical supremacy of the enemy, it was moot. A force this large and spread out could not be tied down without a decisive engagement.

Party	Size	Casualties	Notes
PLA	20,500 (Region)	82	Control Maintained, forces remain on high alert for further strikes
PLAAF	-	6 J-6, 2 J-7's	Supremacy Maintained over Central Laos
Pathet Lao	6,500	154	-
Thai Air Force	-	2 C-123's, 9 F-105's, 3 F-4's	Paradrop Failed, Riverine Successful in Harassment
Thai Paratroopers	216	15 POWs, 193 KIA, 8 MIA	^

Vientiane Push - Free City No More March 1st

The RLA was evacuated from the city as more and more soldiers were participating in the evacuation of wounded civilians, hurting the amount of time that the Thai could really prepare in their mobilization. The Thai Government assisted the RLA in reforming their Army in exile but with the loss of the city, the Laotian morale was hit above all else. Most had hoped that this would be their last stand but, with the orders to evacuate, a piece of their pride was amputated.
No matter; the Royal Thai Army would send their best across the bridges into the city as an hour-long artillery and air barrage came at dawn of this day. The goal was to suppress and find a breakthrough in the enemy lines to the West, North and East positions of the City. The Thai Air Force sent what they could with the Iranian pilots electing not to participate in this operation. When they saw resistance, they called for support from the United States - who sent in a few B-52's and SAED to soften the opposition.
The Chinese SAMs would have been keen here but, the USAF, once spotting and sighting hostile SAM-Sites thanks to Thai OH-1 support, quickly dispatched this, paving the way for the B-52's to level the besiegers, forcing a retreat from the ground forces. Quickly, the Thai took great advantage of this and communicated to push the bombing further North as they began to push in.
It was the start of the liberation of Laos. The Thai took the opportunity they had and pushed as far back as the Nam Ngum Reservoir. Any forces in the vicinity of Vientiane were taken care of and the repairs went immediately underway as thousands of troops crossed back into the country. They took a major junction at Highway 13 as well as a number of Chinese and Laotian artillery pieces, hurting their capabilities in the region. For what was meant to be a holding of the line quickly turned into the Return of the King.

Party	Size	Casualties	Notes
PLA	18,500 (Region)	7,502	Forced to retreat back north out of Vientiane, overwhelming forces demanded retreat
PLAAF	-	67 J-6, 5 J-7's, 9 H-5 Bombers	Supremacy Lost
Pathet Lao	19,590	3,529	Morale High, Reformed into Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF)
Thai Forces	~32,000	4,300	Thai Morale High! Landgrabs have been achieved in Laos, Vientiane Secured
USAF	-	13 F-100, 5 F-105's, 9 F-4's, 3 A-1H's, 2 B-52's	Supremacy Achieved, Chinese SAMs dropped by 85% threat level

The Rest of Laos March 15th

As Thai and Laotian Rebels continued up North, they met less air resistance, enabling their own Air Force to consolidate what they had and continue their land grabs. The PLAAF's initial priority was to maintain supremacy but now, they're fighting whatever they can to keep bombers clear of their Air Fields.
Any hope of Chinese Air Supremacy has been lost as the West continues to push the Communists back. For most regions of Laos, the Americans, Thai and Iranians rule the skies as the Reds are bombed at nearly every turn. Morale has been hurt for the civilians, some electing to join the cause of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party but most just want to stay out of this war.
Pathet Lao
The ruins of Luang Prabang have been returned to somewhat normality as the Pathet Lao declared the Lao People's Democratic Republic, written their own constitution based off of the North Vietnamese's and began the steps to formally professionalize their military. Since 1968, their recruitment has shot from 15,000 to nearly 60,000 while they continue to recruit more and more into their army, working with the PLA in trying to defend and hold the country. Western projections declare that their military may swell to anywhere from 100,000-200,000, already having made contact with a number of child soldiers.
China
Majority of Chinese SAM sites have been downed by Western Forces as a number of airfields were bombed after the Battle of Vientiane. American support was crucial and helped lifeline the capitalists efforts in the region. Thai soldiers were pushing back into the recently liberated country and the Laotian Military was beginning to form. If China truly wished to rule the skies in Laos, they would have to paint the skies red and black. Whatever they sent before wasn't enough.
United States
American planes flying over Laos rocked the country, bringing back a decisive force and power to the table. Confidence is becoming common once again for those operating in Thailand, most happy and content that they actually get to make a difference in Laos. Bombings over the Ho Chi Minh Trail however have continued to have muted success as Vietnamese convoys continue to harass the pilots but refuse to halt their journey. Operation Barrel Roll still saw a major disadvantage with the total withdraw from Laos - any operating base within the country was gone, so they were dependent on reconnaissance obtained from Vietnam, Thailand or above the skies, putting scouts in grave danger.
It was worse when the monsoon seasons came in but as the weather turned dry, the bombings continued. Such coined the term of a "See-Saw War." When the weather conditions made it harder to perform bombing runs, the Vietnamese had their successes and continued smuggling, but when it was dry, the Americans had their own successes. This stalemate was met all over the Trail but the further North it was, the more resistance from the PAVN was met.

Vietnam

Dong Ha, Quang Trifectors - March 25th

mod note: given how intense this is and how complex the war orders are, we'll be doing each in one bulletin/paragraph.
The North Vietnamese brought in intensive amounts of resources, even pooling some from Laos which had contributed greatly to the losses within Laos, aiming to hold and attempt to capture Quang Tri. To their North, the DMZ was being dismantled to allow for more reinforcements to their lines. The first changes to the region was the introduction and proper usage by the North of their tanks and armoured units to propel any remaining ARVN forces out of the city.
It took some doing but Dong Ha returned back into the hands of the NVA entirely as reinforcements funneled into the region as roughly now, in the entire region, there was almost 110,000 soldiers on both sides. A battle for the ages - but with Laos, the United States was becoming more occupied in aerial supremacy. Would they be paying for their priorities here?
Aerial Campaigns in the North
Fuel reserves were emptying across American Airfields, forcing them to funnel in intense amounts of resources. The past year has been the most expensive part of this War for the Americans. Not only were the paying for most of the people to be here at this point but now, they're paying more and more to deliver gas and jet fuel for a rapid delivery.

Khe Sanh and Hill 37

The United States, knowing that Khe Sanh was lost, elected to completely level it with B-52 bombings ahead of the Dong-Ha attacks. They were successful, demolishing virtually all of the fortifications with surface casualties being high but not as much as they could have been. Most of the NVA forces left to take back Hill 37, which they accomplished successfully. Despite the bombings, North Vietnamese Air Force and SAM responses were brutal, taking down several B-52's and other bombers before SEAD demolished two of their radar sites, making this the worst casualties for the Air Force since Midway. Hill 37 was taken after a massive BM-21 barrage that soon converged onto the attacking forces at and around Quang Tri and Dong Ha.

Dong Ha

The North saw a decisive retreat back to where they were border, only this time most of their cover was rubble. The United States declared there must be minimum civilians left in the city and began a massive bombing campaign of the city, killing thousands of both NVA and civilians as not all had made it out. To the North, they called it the Dresden of Indochina, but in reality there weren't that many civilians killed. Still, propaganda goes a long way. Thanks to the drop in active defenders, the ARVN moved into the city, taking most of it within an hour before a large counter-assault saw it again returned to the NVA, backed by SAMs as well as interceptors to prevent any further bombing as colossal as the loss of Khe Sanh.
The ARVN was again pushed out of the city but this time, the BM-14 and BM-21 fire from the West isolated them further back into Quang Tri.
The region was becoming something akin to that from the Sommes as most of the soldiers in this fighting were seeing the worst things that the war could ever offer. White phosphorous, napalm and thousands of mine munitions were dropped into the region, curtailing the North's immediate response back into Dong Ha but it failed to make a lasting mark. The North was unable to make a counter attack at this time and elected to reinforce their positions, more supplies coming in from the North in this lasting stalemate.
Thanks to quick counter attacks from the NVA and well-placed flanking maneuvers, the ARVN's attempts of reentering the city over the next several months as well as heavy artillery bombardment kept both sides from wavering. If it weren't so wet, artillery would be perfect right about now.

Bridges North of Dong Ha

The USAF and Navy attempted to breach the bridges that led NVA reinforcements and supplies from reaching it as well as those West from Laos, but they saw immense push-back as North Vietnamese MiG-17's and torpedo boats went out to greet them, halting their attacks on the bridge and forcing the US Navy to retreat while USAF launched several F-4's to see them. By the time they reached the area of operations, the NVA's MiG's were gone and one torpedo boat was already sunk.

Aerial Situation

Future B-52 attacks were halted out of fear from SAMs as the SEAD strike teams were seeing great resistance in the province, if not beating the Americans outright, at the very least giving a good maneuverability tour of their equipment.

Across the Vietnamese Lines

Laotian Border

Battles across the border continued as PAVN forces funneled through, continuing in their attempts of either reinforcing or reestablishing their control in the Vietnamese countryside. One of the worst battles was the Battle of Hill 937, nicknamed Hamburger Hill which saw Americans and ARVN Forces be chewed up in one of the worst battles of the War. It soon ended with the Allied Forces withdrawing from the base, levelling and demolishing it with a strategic and tactical victory still achieved.
The Viet-Lao Border saw muddled success as attempted to penetrate inside of Laos were met with counter-resistance, but, just like the North, any attempts of the NVA penetrating back inside North of Pleiku were also met with resistance, now mostly by ARVN forces.

Pleiku

The situation at Pleiku was far different than before. Although II Corps saw operations being successful and successfully captured a number of VC intelligence that could have crippled them in the region, the 3rd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division saw their positions temporarily overrun. The NVA and Viet Cong weren't done with Pleiku, forcing the engineers meant to work on the infrastructure to retreat with the Infantry. Although aerial support was keen, the situation was failing until the B-52's came in, forcing the NVA forces to scatter. All seemed well but, in the time that the Allied Forces withdrew and in the aftermath of the B-52's, hundreds of soldiers made it through the lines. Efficiency of the VC in the region has risen significantly but nowhere near Pre-Tet standards.

Operation Watchtower II

Those successful from Operation Paladin were called in to unfuck those that weren't with Operation Watchtower. Thanks to the experienced fighting force (coming in with fresh and high morale) being redeployed, their assistance in pacifying the enemy in the region was extremely successful but, with America's adaption of the Australian Pearson Doctrine, it fell extremely short. It seemed that filling in the gap in this region where the Australian's excelled just simply didn't have the same weight, especially considering how late into the War the U.S. decided to adopt this.
It would take time to heal this as American engineers worked to assist villagers and sow the relations that had soured for so long. They had gathered zero intelligence from this.

Operation Speedy Express II

Operation Speedy Express II is the new name for "the pacification of the Delta region". It is where the United States will attempt to adopt, far more fully, the Pearson Doctrine to seek the goodwill of the general population with the hope that this goodwill will increase the efficiency of military and pacification operations in the region. And so, these units having received special training worked to provide food, water, medical treatment, and infrastructure to the rural populations, as well as repairing and improving structures, especially those destroyed by MACV operations. Just akin to Watchtower II, however, it fell short. The Americans gathered almost zero intelligence and their paranoia of the locals grew as the command in the area believed they were being reported by the very villagers they were helping to the Viet Cong.
Zero changes in the Delta Region.

Operation Blacksmith

The largest operation in the South Vietnamese theatre continues as the Battle for the Iron Triangle raged on, and the pacification efforts in the Ho Bo Woods continued. The largest blow to the ARVN's battle in the region was the sudden withdraw of the US Army's 1st Infantry Division to redeploy to Korea. To supplement, the 101st Airborne were sent in to assist III Corps alongside several other units. They saw decent success as tunnel rats pushed into the headquarters at the Iron Triangle, dozens dying while two had found some of the best intelligence finds for Western Forces since 1965. It had intelligence of VC movements, commanders and troop counts in the Southern Vietnamese areas of Con Bung, Song Trem and Dat Mui. This news would not be delivered until after the post.
B-52's leveled a number of tunnels, literally caving them in in most places. However, the thousands of defenders would still be alive, escaping to fight another day. The intelligence boon however was still significant.

Operation Scimitar

Having successfully passed through Svey Riang, the units assigned to Operation Scimitar have now taken up their positions on the outskirts of War Zone C. Their goal was to push on a counter assault to those relieving the Iron Triangle but, they encountered immense amounts of resisting forces, unable to flank them, they were forced to fall in air support and hold their lines. Operation Scimitar was unable to be declared a failure but their goals were unable to be achieved.

Operation Horseshoe Toss

The operation was meant to be a nighttime bombing of Vinh and Dong Hoi by Task Force 77, but were caught by a superior number of Vietnamese and Korean (unknown to them of course) interceptors who soon lost the Task Force back over the Gulf. The attempt to bomb the air bases was currently a failure.

Australia

Australian Forces shifted from a direct combat role to assisting coalition forces with the Pearson Doctrine, however due to the American relationship to the Vietnamese, it has seen almost no fruit. However, they're some of the last in the region. New Zealand has gone, the Americans are going and now, the Prime Minister will be withdrawing all Australians at the end of the year. Already with their draft suspensions, the anti-war movement has been more than satisfied.
Even greater, the Phuoc Tuy Province has been almost completely pacified by coalition forces alone. As Aussies moved out and Vietnamized their presence, they saw a slow but steady stream of Viet-Cong and NLF returning, filling in the gaps that they had once left. Nevertheless, the Australian missions were an immense success but it seems to be something so good only an Aussie could do.

Party	Size	Casualties	Notes
NVA	A Lot	23,591	Morale has been decent but with victories and stalemates being kept, it was hard to say that they were losing. Equipment wise, some of their best was being lost in Dong Ha - but they needed it there. Worst of all, they needed more.
KPAAF	200	6 KIA, 6 MiG-21's lost	Morale High, Dominance Over Sovereign Vietnamese Territory has been kept. "Treat it like your own!"
ARVN	800,000	17,491	The losses at Dong Ha and by guerrillas over the country has been monumental but now, it seems that the fate of the region was entirely in their hands. They were winning strategically but politically, with every bomb dropped, it seems they lose a little more humanity.
US Military	250,000	3,592 KIA, 12,529 WIA, 122 MIA (POWs)	American Forces have been on their way out more and more but they walk with their head hung low as the Anti-War Movement spits on them on their return. This has been a brutal blow for trust and faith in the US Military with most service members blaming My Lai for the reason the US lost the war.
Aussies	~10,000	15 KIA, 42 WIA	Australian Morale is highest out of all combatants, they see their job and mission as complete but know, once they leave, the Vietnamese will never be able to fill the role as well as they could.
UK	-	3 Meteors, 152 Personnel (In bombings)	Morale High, the British see the most kill racks alongside the Aussies. Commonwealth know their shit.

Revisions

Khe Sanh and Hill 37 Revisions

Indeed, the Combat Base of Khe Sanh was bombed to shit by the United States' B-52's. Generals under MACV undertook the idea that "If we can't have them, nobody can." And so it was. However, the ARVN were not going to side back lightly and allow it. However the base of Hill 37 was indeed held by the Reds at the expense of the rubble and ruined fortifications at Khe Sanh as ARVN soldiers took base the city as well as the combat base present, pushing out the NVA in the immediate area.
North Vietnamese attempts on retaking it were met in failure when ARVN close air support pushed up to assist their operation, immediately flying in supplies by both air drop and heliolift to the front.

Dong Ha

The City of Dong Ha was too far bombed for the ARVN to take the initiative just yet, however East of the city along the Song Thanch Han River as ARVN forces pushed to take the small "island" of Bac Phuoc, using it as an artillery position to bomb reinforcing North Vietnamese troops. They requested air support but soon found that the United States, on Presidential Orders, refused to bomb anywhere North of Dong Ha. Any air operation North of the DMZ would be refused.
ARVN attempts of pushing West of the City saw further resistance by NVA troops at Hill 37 who predicted their position would fall within weeks. Tactical advisors from the North, both Soviet and Chinese, predicted that their positions at Dong Ha would be completely overrun by 1970. Their troops have no strategic value in holding rubble. If any attempts were to be made at retaking it, it would have to be done without the United States.
North Vietnamese radios in the vicinity of the North found the following... Their primary radio stations were jammed so, communications officers and operators shifted to secondary channels. When they had, they were spammed by Saigon rock-and-roll bands, so they elected to shift their encryption networks and use another channel. The inconvenience lasted for 30-minutes, enough time for the ARVN to push into Khe Sanh with the NVA unrealizing the city had been lost.

Pleiku Revisions

The Pleiku Region still saw an increase in activity, however more ARVN units began engagements and by utilizing their mobile gun trucks as well as rapid deployment, their forces were on the scene at almost every engagement, forcing PAVN and Viet Cong remnants back into their hidey-holes.
As for the Pearson Doctrine's general usage of assisting in the construction and repairs of infrastructure, in Central and Northern (South) Vietnam, it would find less and less success as most people are simply finding this nothing more than a payout by the same people who bombed their infrastructure in the first place. Villagers continue to distrust the South Vietnamese Forces, exponentially so given the United States total bombardment policy.
Their distrust was furthered by an engagement in Pleiku as South Korean Marines attached to the mission with ARVN took fire by a village. The South Korean Marines response to this, despite ARVN orders, was to divert their march and completely level, burn and pillage. When asked for a report by a South Vietnamese Officer on their motive for this, they simply stated "it was a lesson to the Vietnamese. No cooperation."

Third Corps, Cambodia / South Vietnam

ARVN forces pushed across the Cambodian-Vietnamese Border under Operation Scimitar, an operation aimed to destroy food and weapons caches. The largest problem, and the first one of this operation, was adequately locating the Vietnamese Bases as well as their cache of provisions and weaponry, but thanks to Operation Spotlight inside of Indochina, they at least had a general idea. ARVN forces moving North of Cai Cai Camp went into the mountain ranges for a long range patrol, encountering heavy resistance with no real gains.
It would be three months into the operation before they had actually had found a small outpost containing provisions for roughly 2,000 soldiers. A few of them took what they could fill in their pockets before they torched the place, finding another outpost smaller but just like it days later. When inspecting the contents of the outpost, an improvised explosive device went off, killing 7 soldiers in the process. It was one of the worst casualties of the operation and served as a cruel reminder of the NVA's ingenuity.

Operation Blacksmith

ARVN soldiers attempted to adopt the Australian method of cleaning tunnels in the Saigon region but, just like the Australians, found mixed success. As they gassed the top tunnels, water barriers still continued to prevent gas from entering through the entire network. Indeed, it killed a few fighters but its overall success was unknown. Vietnamese tunnel rats climbed in with masks, hoping to clear out the network but found their own lives to be lost, either by punji traps, accidentally crawling on a dead scorpion or suffocating when attempting to traverse a water barrier.
They failed to completely wipe out the entire network but did force the VC/PAVN forces deeper inside to make more holes.

Map of the REVISED Situation in Indochina, December 1969

Renjun’s ethnicity? An explanation

On the US elections

People will decide tommorow in US who will be the next president. In the light of the four previus years of the Trump administration, the internal politics and class composition in US, and the effect the result will have to the rest of the world, and most importandly in the imperialized world, we will try to conduct an analysis on the choices we have and what princibled communists should do. But aside from that, there is also one outcome from the two realistic choices, and we will try what of these two outcomes would benefit the communist movement and the anti imperialist movement in general, in a global view and not just a local one.
Since imperialism is global, when one claims to be fighting it, must also consider the implications of what it means to fight imperialism and to make the class struggle within it hotter.

What Communists living in America should vote

As communists, we should never tail the bourgeoisie in power. Especially in imperialist nations. Hence, all parties express the interests, work for and are composed by the bourgeoisie in the current US elections, except from the Party of socialism and liberation. While there can be valid critiques for PSL, including them tailling social-fascist Bernie Sanders[1] in February of this year and their mostly incoherent political lines, they are the only party that has put their candidate, Gloria la Riva, to run.
Thus, the most correct thing a communist should do is vote for La Riva.
Now some comrades may ask "La Riva will not win, why should we vote her? Plus, as the bourgeoisie elections are a farce, why take part on them?".
Comrades, you vote to show to the people and the enemy our strength. To make our views more open to the public. Good or bad, the parliament, even if bourgeoisie is not useless, but an instrument we can use.
Since 2008 when the PSL first took part in the elections, they had just 7,000 votes. In 2012 this became almost 10,000 (about 40% increase) and at 2016 it became 75,000, an 750% increase. It is obvius, that rather than abstaining, is better to show to the bourgeoisie our teeths.
Thus, communists living in US should vote for PSL rather than abstaining. Biden is out of the question, and voting for Trump could be debetable, and is within the realm of possibility.
One may see this tastement as absurd for a communist to make. But if we are to use the word "anti imperialism" not as a snare, but as a true princible and immediate pillar where to base our actions around, then as Biden represents the commands of the cosmopolitan bourgeoisie, and as they themselfs have awknoledged, they can migitate the internal and external class conflict better than the group of Trump ever could for a variety of reasons, one being that the Trump group represents the middle (and some high) bourgeoisie of US, and not the outright finance and cosmopolitan bourgeoisie the democratic party represents.
If one wants to be serius on anti imperialism, then that means that the least calm the situation is in US, and the more incopentent the rulers of US are, then better for our struggle. The democrats have manifested their will to unite all the nations in US as one to conduct their imperialism fourther and to fourther spread the imperialist plunder pie to all and pacify once and for all the American labour aristocratic population.
The four years of the Trump administration have manifested the opposite.
It is the direct interest of the global proletariat for Trump to get re elected.
Thus, if some communists feel that providing a vote for Trump (and in short, helping unrest in US) is better and more practical than voting PSL just to show teeth, then, while many may critique it, it is something that could be discussed as a genuine act of anti imperialism, even if one things of it as faulty.
Both Trump and Biden represent imperialism, this is un deniable, but one represents the the teacher and the one the pupil with the bad grades who cant do things correct. The less correct things are done, the better it is for us and the global real proletariat, of the world.

Trump and Biden

As we discussed above, both represent US imperialism and at the end of the day, both compete under the umprella of the cosmopolitan bourgeoisie.
But one needs to see the basis of the voters of these two people, and how this relates to the global issue of imperialism. Lets start with Trump.
Who voted Trump? Mostly the white nationalists (who are the only real threat to the US state right now), and in general the southern and white working class. For example, the five poorest states in US, Mississippi, New Mexico, Louisiana, West Virginia and Arkansas all voted for trump except for New Mexico.
In contrary, the five richest states in US, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Maryland, Utah and New Jersey all voted for H. Clinton except from Utah. Why was Trump able to draw the votes from Clinton?
Becuase Trump promised to "build a wall", to "take back industry from China". In short, what plagued the working classes of America the last years? Immigration, which lowered the wages in general, and the outsourcing of industry to China, which created unenployment in these regions.
Thus, his promise to anwser the economic demands of the poors in US was what gave him the support of the poor working class in America. The white nationalists in the contrary supported him becuase in him they saw the representative of "Americanism" which means the original americans like them. Of course Trump does not care about that, neither the republicans. Their worst fear is for the white nationalists to simple abandon the republicans and to advance head on to the government and state demanding separatism and a second civil war. Seeing that there are already white nationalist millitias that are against the state, the scenario where they erupt to open insurgency is not impossible.
But we will talk about the varius nationalists in US later, lets focus on what the Trump administration did in the four years of their rule.
Lets start with the internal. Chaos, riots, open conflict between the varius nations of US in form of protests or police brutality (also know as public executions of black people). In short, huge ruptures within the US. This is the internal situation in US since Trump. Nationalists are arming up, Black nationalists see this as a chance to gather the remaining of the Black Nation who havent integraded to the so called "american nation" of labour aristocratic parasites and form an army, something that they have already partially if not fully achieved. White nationalists, who form the biggest and most dangerus group for the american bourgeoisie civil society and US state and goverment inside their own borders, see in Trump the expressor of this nationalism. An organization like that, three percenters directly told the world that If Biden wins, they will rise up. [2]
Thus this is the situation internally. The contradictions of US prison of nations came out during trump, and this was directly tied to the rise up of China and Russia, and the compatting of US and the cosmopolitan imperialist camp in general. This produced fewer profits and more competition to the US bourgeoisie, and thus smaller part of the pie to their labour aristocracy. Since the majority of US working class was labour aristocratic and parasitic, there was no communist movement in US, at least not a large one that could fill the void of its imperialist crisis the US is facing. Thus, the void is now filled by the nationalists at many places, and as Trump is mainly backed by the white nationalists, the "american nationalists" supporting the democratic party see a threat in him and his backers. They see in the white natioanlists and Trump a threat to the pie alltogether they see an end of US imperialism and instead a civil war.
The thing the cosmopolitan bourgeoisie and the wedded to them labour aristocracy want the most is peace inside the borders. This is why social democracy exists in imperialist nations. To migitate the class contradictions that exists inside the parasitic imperialist nations.
To the view of the white nationalists, the ones at fault are the enemies at home, the "american nationalists" who claim their righfull title. To their eyes (correctly) america is not one single nation, and thus they need their own nation state, the only true america. The imperialist cosmopolitan bourgeoisie favor the making of the american nation, something that was never completed, but we will speak about that a little later. What the reader should keep in mind, is that the supporters of the Biden and Trump see in each other the internal thorn that once took out, it would pave the way for the "real american dream". These two sides as they are cant be united under Trump.
In the case Trump wins again and does not keep his promises to his basis of supporters, then this basis will see him as just another time the government betrayed them. Their solid option would be then insurrection with the goal of separatism. But the Trump group cant keep the promises, and as long as the Trump group is in power, the less the US bourgeoisie would be able to migitate the contradictions inside the country, and thus the less effective the US imperialists can be at imperialism. The divide and qonquer applied in their own country at these levels we see today is their worst fear.
This is the internal situation with Trump.
And lets see now where Biden and the social fascists lapdocks like Bernie Sanders come to the scene. We spoke above, that Trump is almost impossible to migitate the situation internally in US anytime soon. But there is only one way to migitate the class contradictions in US, and this is open Fascism. Biden himself told to the world that they should vote him becuase Trump cant simple do imperialism correct and deliver them their share of the imperialist plunder pie. Thus, with Biden in rule, we will have the Democrats trying to finnish the procces of creating the "American Nation" out of the many nations living in US, and the material basis for this unification will be Imperialism.
More part of the pie for everyone: Equality. No one cares for your color. Equality when sharing the superprofits. This is what BLM and similar movements are, American nationalists.
They are integrationists, and integration to the American Nation, means becoming a solid member of the labour aristocracy. BLM and similar movements are in fact enemies of the global proletarait, of the imperialized nations. Their aim is to fully turn the Black nation in the US to an opressor nation.
Thus the imperialist bourgeoisie have two choices in US if Biden wins: First, either dont reconstruct the society at right, and reconstruct it slowly as they do already, (at the time trying to stop the separationists from revolting) and instead start new wars for the superfrofits and to appease the American parasites, or follow a clear fascist line of opening space and chose a place to be the next targed for colonization. In both cases, one leads to a world war slowly, one quickly.
There is no other way to unite the now clearly fragmented nations of US except from this. Unite the nation and promise them fourther parasitism. Colonies. Their forefathers did it half a millenia ago, the NASDAP tried it in the 30s-40s, and why not now? US is stronger than what Germany was in the 30s, why not try the same thing, where the prospects of winning are higher?
This is the internal situation with Biden, and this time the internal directly tied to the external.
A quick view of what happened externally under Trump is that indeed, US imperialism took a blow to the head. China and Russia kept rising, Cuba and DPRK are stronger, Iran is stronger, Syria is stronger, the imperialized nations have organized to oppose imperialism more than ever before since the fall of USSR.
This should not be controversial, the Democrats are clearly seeing and awknoledging this. This is what Biden and other mouthpieces of American imperialism said on the foreign policy of Trump at numerus occasions.
From engage cuba group, whose description of themselfs is "After nearly 60 years, the embargo has decidedly failed U.S. businesses, American interests, and the Cuban people. It’s time for a new approach. Engage Cuba is the only organization whose primary focus is U.S.-Cuba legislative advocacy. "

Cuban hardliners in South Florida, Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping all support the Trump pullback on U.S.-Cuba relations. Our retreat into diplomatic and economic isolation has opened the front door to our adversaries and left us blind on the island at this time of historic transition," said James Williams, President of Engage Cuba. "This hurts U.S. interests, and it harms the Cuban people, who overwhelmingly support closer relations between our two countries." [3]

On another issue on venezuela, Biden is again scolding trump on how to do imperialism.

Venezuelan people are worse off, living in one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. The country's no closer to a free election, and Trump's, Trump's incoherent approach is alienating international partners [4]

One year ago when trump said he will withdraw troops from Syria, what did biden say?

Donald Trump, I believe — it’s not comfortable to say this about a president — but he is a complete failure as a commander in chief. He’s the most reckless and incompetent commander in chief we’ve ever had.

This is what the US democrats are worrying about. And the cherry at the top

The events of this past week ... have had devastating clarity on just how dangerous he is to our national security, to our leadership around the world and to the lives of the brave women and men serving in uniform [5]

And these

Trump is the worst possible standard-bearer for democracy in places like Cuba and Venezuela

By this biden means that trump cant do imperialism correct like he would do.

We have to vote for a new Cuba policy. This administration's approach isn't working. Cuba is no closer to freedom and democracy today than it was four years ago. In fact, there are more political prisoners. The secret police are as brutal as ever, and Russia is once again a major presence in Havana. President Trump cannot advance democracy and human rights for the Cuban people, or the Venezuelan people for that matter, when he has embraced so many autocrats around the world, starting with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un in North Korea.[6]

What i am writing in this article, is actually awknoledged by biden himself. In the opinion of US democrats, trump is bad becuase he cant do imperialism correct and actually weakens US imperialism.
Cuba and even the Taliban have understood this.
From foreign minister of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla :

We've increased our ability to transport (oil). The way the world works today makes it impossible for the United States to impede the arrival of oil tankers in Cuba[7]

From spokeperson of Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid:

We think the majority of the American population is tired of instability, economic failures and politicians' lies and will trust again on Trump because Trump is decisive, could control the situation inside the country. Other politicians, including Biden, chant unrealistic slogans. Some other groups, which are smaller in size but are involved in the military business including weapons manufacturing companies' owners and others who somehow get the benefit of war extension, they might be against Trump and support Biden, but their numbers among voters is low [8]

Another senior Taliban leader told CBS News:

We hope he will win the election and wind up U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.

And more recently on China, Biden told

He has vowed to “fully enforce” the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act signed by Trump last year and meet with exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, if elected. Biden has labeled China’s mass detention and re-education program for the Xinjiang region’s predominately Muslim Uighur minority as “genocide” and called for an international effort to make a united stand against the campaign. The Democratic nominee said he would convene a “Summit for Democracy” to reach new commitments to fight corruption and authoritarianism and advance human rights. That would include pressing technology companies to make pledges to “ensure their algorithms and platforms are not empowering the surveillance state, facilitating repression in China and elsewhere.[9]

On belarus, after Trump suspended funding for the opposition

Although President Trump refuses to speak out on their behalf, I continue to stand with the people of Belarus and support their democratic aspirations. [10]

Things are clear, and everyone, imperialists and imperialized alike understand the rules of the game.
In short: The external situation with Trump is inability to do imperialism correct, and thus inability to migitate the contradictions within the US.
The external situation with Biden is experience and thus better ability to do imperialism correct, and thus migitation within the contradiction of US by resupplying the labour aristocracy with fourther parts of the pie.

Conclusion

The internal contradiction between the nations and the classes within the US would be hotter and heading towards a complete rupture in the US in case Trump wins. In case Biden wins, the contradictions would be migitated in the backs of the imperialized nations as all imperialist nations have done since 150 years ago.
Thus, the ultimate question comes to the scene: Who is better for the US workers?
For the US workers alone, in the immediate terms, it is Biden. Biden could fourther unite the American Nation from the smaller Nations under the pretext of imperialism or direct colonization.
In this regard, the US workers would simple continiue to be the parasites and labour aristocrats that they are, and their lives would improve in the backs of the imperialized nations.
This is what social democracy is all about, and the essence of the "Bernie Sanders" project.
But since we outlined in the very first page of this article, we communists, if we are to put seriusly anti imperialism as the corestone of our immediate princibles, should view things globally and not just locally. In this view, a Biden presidency would be worse for the world proletariat, and when we say world proletariat we mean the actual proletariat of the imperialized nations, the actual producers of this world.
Thus, if one claims to be a true anti imperialist, cannot at any rate, view a Biden presidency at the least positive.
On the other hand, a Trump presidency would be worse for the US labour aristocracy (or the US working class), but better for the international proletariat, for the imperialized nations.
In this light, if PSL cant win the elections, and if only either Trump of Biden can win them, it is obvius that Trump is the best outcome in general, since general means seeing things in their complete sphere, as a totality and not as cherry peaking specifics parts of the sphere that suits us at the moment.
American communists, vote for PSL, but dont regard Biden as a better alternative (or Sanders) to Trump. At best case you betray your narrow view point, at worst case you betray your committment to parasitism, labour aristocratism, and imperialism.

REFERENCES: [1]The Bernie Sanders campaign and building the movement for socialism in the US, PSL, February 4 2020
[2] The white pro-Trump and black power militias arming up before the US election by channel four
[3]From angage cuba, New Report Highlights Growing Influence of U.S. Foreign Adversaries in Cuba, April 16 2018
[4] NBC:Biden slams Trump on "abject failure" on Venezuela, as well as Cuba policies, Sep. 4 2020
[5]'Trump sold them out': Joe Biden hits the president over Syria troop withdrawal in Iowa speech, Oct. 16, 2019, Des moines
[6] ‘Cuba is no closer to democracy.’ In Miami, Biden attacks Trump’s plan in the Americas, Miami herald, Oct 5 2020
[7] APnews, Cuban foreign minister: Warming with US is irreversible, Oct. 1 2019
[8]CBS news, The Taliban on Trump: "We hope he will win the election" and withdraw U.S. troops, Oct 11 2020
[9] The economic times, Where Joe Biden stands on major US flashpoints with China, 28 Oct. 2020
[10] Theguardian Biden vows to back Belarus opposition in removing Lukashenko, Oct. 28, 2020

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