Re: [FH] Americas

Beth said:
>The final straw may need to be internal, but I was wondering if
external
>factors may set the scene, or help to.

I'm doing this without the GZG History in front of me so we may need to
make adjustments, but here goes:

Let's start off by postulating that the US gets into a serious war--eg
allied with Russia against China over Siberia.	We'll have election
years in 2012, 2016, 2020, so figure we switch from an appeasing
president to a hardliner who's inaugurated early in 2017 and war breaks
out later that year.

Only it turns out that Chinese has stronger support from allies in South
America (setting up for LLAR) and the Middle East than we expected and
it turns into a slogging match, with a second theater in Indochina and
maybe some action in Panama or Colombia.  The West Coast suffers
biological attacks--San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and
Pearl Harbor.  The plague spreads to Mexico and from there into Texas. 
Mexican and Texas officials scream at the Federal government for being
slow to implement quarantines and slower to provide vaccines or tailored
antibiotics.  The US and its allies eventually (2022) grind to
"victory", in the sense that they lose somewhat less than China and its
allies, and impose sanctions (aka reparations).  
  There's a post-war economic boom coupled with increased hedonism.  US
trade with Indochina increases.  Drug use skyrockets, particularly in
the west where enforcement of existing drug laws is essentially nil. 
Discharged troops are disaffected and begin forming veterans
organizations for political influence.
  China begins rearming, and repudiates the sanction agreements in 2131.
 Russia is preoccupied in the west and evetually decides to accomodate
China.	War jitters plus corporate scandals lead to a depression.  East
Coast senators try to cut federal aid being sent to the West Coast.
  There's a Chinese-backed coup in Indochina, threatening our
investments.  The west coast states are adamant that we stay out of war,
the northeast demands that we protect our industries, the southern
states are split.  Hotly contested elections result in Isolationist
(called something else) candidate Koslowski winning the presidency by a
narrow margin, but Interventionist (also called something else) control
of the House and a 50/50 split in the Senate.  Fighting between
Indochinese factions continues.  The pro-Chinese faction secures control
of the northern portions of Laos and Kampuchea and nationalizes
important American assets.
  Koslowski is assassinated; the VP (the general who later calls in
UK/Canada) is wounded and temporarily incapacitated.  The Speaker of the
House, a hardline Interventionist from New York, claims the presidency
and orders naval battlegroups to relocate to Taiwan and Vietnam.  China
demands the US stay out of the situation.  Plague breaks out in San
Francisco--apparently from a contaminated area from the last war.  Panic
sets in.  Western universities demonstrate against war; eastern unions
rally in support of intervention. The VP recovers somewhat but has brain
damage similar to a stroke.  He demands that the acting president resign
and is rebuffed.  

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