[War] Russia: "A Candid Letter"

[Michael Downey]

"A Candid Letter"
President Leonid Nemerenko
Russian Federation
5 March 2014
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

It was a rare thing for Nemerenko to be nervous. Annoyed, dismayed, even
fretful. But this feeling that he had now was a genuine inkling of fear. Of
uncertainty about the future and what was going to happen. Not just to
Russia, but to the entire world.

"And over what," he cursed quietly, resisting the urge to slam his fist onto
his desk. Good leaders let themselves be guided by logic and pragmatism, not
unbridled emotion. That was a key lesson his Sensei had taught him. Still,
he could not help but feel an immense amount of frustration. Who honestly
cared about North Korea? Maybe when they had been a rogue state with nuclear
weapons, but now they were just another war-ravaged, dirt poor nowhere. No
threat to Russia, no threat to world stability. Or at least that should have
been the case. He cast an angry look at the phone on his desk. Nemerenko had
picked it up twice with the intent of calling Williams and let that
irrational pretender to the Oval Office have an earful. You never heard
cursing until you heard Russian expletives.

You made a fatal error Ivan, thought Nemerenko. And now you are too proud,
stupid or both to give up and go home and are making the situation worse.

An embargo on China! What utter idiocy! To simply cut off all trade with the
second largest economy on Earth and expect it will make everything better!
That lull after the fall of the Soviet Union truly had made America arrogant
beyond measure. This was not some pissant Arab state that could be smacked
around with some choice sanctions and a few F-16s buzzing airfields, this
was a superpower! A *nuclear* superpower!

A disruption in trade between China and America would cause severe economic
loss for both, which would in turn affect Europe and Asia and in turn affect
Russia. The Soviet Union had been a completely different economic bloc than
the USA, but the Americans and Chinese operated within the same market
system. This... lunacy was the start of a global recession. And if they were
unlucky, it might turn into something even worse.

And Russia had terrible luck.

He began to type.

---
To: President John Williams, USA
From: President Leonid Nemerenko, Russian Federation
[Encrypted, Moscow/Washington Protocol]

Ivan,

Please allow me to be candid in this letter. I write to appeal to you, one
leader to another, to end this mad fiasco before the fallout has severe
consequences for the people of America, Russia, Korea and the world as a
whole.

Let us be honest, this is not about freedom for North Korea. This is not
about you protecting the world from some sort of new Soviet Empire, this
isn't about democracy versus communism (if there is such a thing anymore).
This is about fear. Fear and pride. You are afraid of China as a potential
rival on the global stage, a nation that can openly defy the United States
after nearly a decade of the world being your playground. And pride over the
fact that your reckless scheme in North Korea has been uncovered and that
you have been caught.

Make no mistake, I believe the Chinese. Even before your own public
admission of guilt, the GRU had confirmed the authenticity of the PRC's
information. What you have done is a gross violation of international law
and the sovereignty of China.

You attempts to hold China to some sort of standard are foolish and
hypocritical. America is responsible for just as many atrocities as China.
Or Russia, for that matter. How many Iraqis did you butcher? A hundred
thousand? A hundred and fifty thousand? I believe the death toll in Vietnam
was over two million. And despite the adamant denials of your government I
and every other world leader with even a second-rate intelligence agency
knows about the incidents of torture and illegal detention your government
carried out during that farce you called the 'War on Terror.' So much for
democratic decency. You also gave Saddam Hussein the means to produce
chemical weapons that he used to massacre hundreds of thousands of Iranians
and Kurds, supported the Shah and his SAVAK killers, ignored human rights
abuses by Israel (and post-Soviet Russia) that were just as inhumane as
anything China has ever done.

Ah, and let us not forget when America was funding the operations of Mr. Bin
Laden against my countrymen. Not that I deny our own atrocities in
Afghanistan, but so long as Bin Laden's murderous rhetoric was directed at
Russia and not America you had no problem getting into bed with that madman.
I'm sure you recall how that turned out in the end.

I can sympathize with attempts to undermine a rival. This is politics, after
all. But to so blindly pursue this confrontation with China while pretending
that America is something that it is not, namely a nation that cares about
the right, lives and decency of anyone other than its own citizens, is
irrational and irresponsible. If this was just about power and balancing the
scales against China, you would have cut your loses and moved on. Pursuing
this is dangerous to global stability. China will not back down. This
embargo and escalation of tension will only hurt the American economy and
economy of the world. It is unfortunate that your men will be executed by
the Chinese, but both you and they knew the risks when you (illegally) sent
them to carry out this operation.

Do not bore me with transparent outcrys of 'democracy' and 'human rights.' I
will let your country's records speak for itself. And do attempt to dismiss
my warnings as irrelevant based on the past atrocities of my predecessors. I
am well aware of the crimes Russia stands guilty of and I have taken care to
learn from that. Perhaps you should as well.

The world tolerated the arrogant and irresponsible behavior of America in
the post-9/11 world because your actions only affected smaller nations. Now
you have angered a superpower with nuclear weapons and possesses a critical
role in the world economy. Your CIA operation in North Korea was
irresponsibly foolish and your embargo on China is as well. End this now,
Ivan, before it becomes worse. And I can assure you, it will become much,
much worse.

With regards and hope,
Leonid
---

Actions:
1) Russia thinks the American embargo of China is a bad idea
2) Send a rather scathing private letter to President Williams
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://esteroic.com/pipermail/war_esteroic.com/attachments/20080401/c78463e7/attachment-0001.html