By a Fluke of the Gods: Cox Defeats Harding

[The Hack Hater]

I'm not sure how much I like the paralells to the later Iraq conflicts. Other than that, this is the best scenario on the board, easily.

[PBrunsel]

Big war in the Middle East. Could you post a map of what's going on there?

I have no skills in making maps, so I can't do that Xahar. This war is comprised of two sides:

Iraq and Syra

vs.

The Toronto Pact (mostly USA, UK, Canada), Israel and Egypt

[Хahar 🤔]

Big war in the Middle East. Could you post a map of what's going on there?

I have no skills in making maps, so I can't do that Xahar. This war is comprised of two sides:

Iraq and Syra

vs.

The Toronto Pact (mostly USA, UK, Canada), Israel and Egypt

My attempt.

[Hash]

Big war in the Middle East. Could you post a map of what's going on there?

I have no skills in making maps, so I can't do that Xahar. This war is comprised of two sides:

Iraq and Syra

vs.

The Toronto Pact (mostly USA, UK, Canada), Israel and Egypt

My attempt.

Try smaller than that.

[PBrunsel]

Your map looks good Xahar. I forgot to mention Iran in my last post, which was a MAJOR oversight!

I will have 1978 up by the end of the day and with that the outcome of the war and the begining of the long reconstruction.

[Хahar 🤔]

Great! I'm excited.

Bigger link to my map (so yinz can see Kuwait).

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/6315/mekq9.png

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 1-05-1978
Event Description: General Powell’s forces reach the outskirts of Basra, Iraq. The city could be taken easily, but Powell refuses to do so. In a message to President Bush, Powell explains that taking such a holy city to the Islamic world, “May open a Pandora’s box that could spark international terrorism and ignite tensions in the Islamic world.” Bush tells Powell to take the city, and Powell obeys.

Event Date: 1-07-1978
Event Description: After 12-hours of aerial bombardment from American and Israeli jets, Basra falls to the advancing coalition forces. The ancient Islamic city falls by dawn, signaling a major defeat for the Iraqi Army.

Event Date: 1-12-1978
Event Description: Iranian and Egyptian troops, backed by three divisions of U.S. Marines, invade the southern Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, widely regarded by both sides as Iraq's most vital seaport. With the fall of Basra days earlier, the port city is now isolated from the Iraqi Army.

Event Date: 1-16-1978
Event Description: The Battle of Umm Qasr rages with major casualties. 515,000 Iraqi troops fight to the last man against over 1 million coalition troops. Some Iranian regiments suffer 100% casualties while charging the fortified city. In the end, General Powell is able to enter the city and raise Old Glory over the town square.

Event Date: 1-20-1978
Event Description: Fearing that the endgame is approaching, President Saddam Hussein begins hoarding massive amounts of gold into an anonymous Swiss bank account. He also begins preparing a safe way for him and his family to safely escape the country to begin a life in exile.

Event Date: 2-10-1978
Event Description: Israeli troops clash with the Syrian army at the Battle of Urfa, a key Syrian munitions city. The Syrians are able to stall the Israeli invasion with a victory, but the Israeli Army will return to Syria before the end of the war.

Event Date: 2-14-1978
Event Description: The Iraqi Army launches a massive counter strike at the city of Fallujah against Schwarzkopf’s advancing coalition army. The Battle of Fallujah begins with the Iraqi Army breaking the coalition forces in three places and forcing them into a retreat. Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzkopf rallies his officers enough to prepare them for a counter strike in a few days.

Event Date: 2-18-1978
Event Description: After four days of almost unrelenting bombings from the American air force, coalition forces mount a second attack on Fallujah. With city defenses greatly weakened by the bombing raids, the city is taken within eight hours. The city is taken, though there are 5,000 American deaths, and Norman Schwarzkopf is promoted to the rank of general.

Event Date: 2-19-1978
Event Description: The first mass graves in Iraq are discovered by American troops outside of the captured city of Fallujah. Over 125,000 of President Hussein’s “enemies” are buried on top of each other in this particular grave sight. Ronald Reagan traveling with the army, comments that night on his radio program, “Today I saw what total power and a heart full of evil can do to people, even innocent people. In Iraq, we have a constant reminder of the sins of unchecked power and blatant disrespect for human life. Tonight, we should pray thanks to God that we live in a land where such atrocities could never befall us. May this truth one day be universal. Good night and God bless not just America, but all people who strive for freedom and dignity for all humankind”

Event Date: 2-20-1978
Event Description: Colonel Jim Webb becomes the military commander of Fallujah; a city which General Schwarzkopf knows will be a difficult one for the coalition forces to keep under control. Colonel Webb, the welterweight Marine boxing champion, was selected for the post by General Schwarzkopf because of Webb’s skills at negotiating and compromise making, as well as an ability to be tough when he needs to be. Webb will show great leadership in stabilizing Fallujah. 

Event Date: 2-27-1978
Event Description: Israeli and Iraqi tanks clash at Al Guwair, a village southeast of Mosul. Israeli Commanding General Yitzhak Rabin begins formulating plans for the final push towards Kirkuk, the fourth largest city in Iraq.

Event Date: 3-01-1978
Event Description: Following a disastrous 1977 season, the Oakland Athletics are sold to oil billionaire Marvin Davis, who moves them to Denver and renames them the Colorado Athletics.

Event Date: 3-09-1978
Event Description: The Iraqi Army launches an invasion of Iran, taking the border city Khorramshah in a quick victory. General Powell’s troops are currently too far away from the city to help the Iranians retake it, forcing the Shah to send his own National Guard to attack the Iraqi occupied town.

Event Date: 3-12-1978
Event Description: The Iranian National Guard engages and defeats the Iraqi Army at the Second Battle of Khorramshah. The Iraqis did not have the benefit of surprise, like they did at the first battle, or the advantage in numbers. There will not be another invasion of Iran during the remaining course of the Iraq War.

Event Date: 3-15-1978
Event Description: The U.S. gains an ally in the Iraq War with the outcome of the Russian Presidential Election. Former Agricultural Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, the Social Democratic nominee, defeats incumbent Nationalist President Vladimir Kryuchkov by a wide margin, partially due to his campaign stressing that Russian intervention in the Middle East is crucial to its future influence over affairs in the region. The people of Russia agree, and elect Gorbachev and a mandate for Iraqi intervention.

Event Date: 3-20-1978
Event Description: U.S. and Israeli jets begin routine bombings of Damascus, the capital of Syria.

Event Date: 4-01-1978
Event Description: Presidents Bush and Gorbachev meet at the Bush vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine, to discuss Russian intervention in Iraq. The newly inaugurated Gorbachev tells Bush that his troops will be ready at any time. President Bush tells Gorbachev, “We could use your troops for reconstruction of Iraq, but the Iranians may feel threatened if your troops are stationed near their borders.” It is decided that Russian troops will be used to maintain safety in Baghdad and the surrounding areas after the capitol is taken.

Event Date: 4-06-1978
Event Description: Cast members of the hit late-night TV show Saturday Night Live visit Camp Rhino in Kuwait as part of a USO tour of American bases in the Persian Gulf. The highlight of their appearance is a sketch by Dan Akroyd, John Belushi and Bill Murray performing a skit about the Bush and Gorbachev meeting in Maine. Belushi portrays Gorbachev, Akroyd plays Bush and Murray portrays Ronald Reagan, who ends the skit by saying, “God better bless America, because these two morons are running the place.”

Event Date: 4-13-1978
Event Description: General Powell’s coalition forces capture the city of Al Kut, just south of Baghdad. Generals Schwarzkopf and Powell are creating a pincer between Baghdad, soon to become the embattled capitol of Iraq.

Event Date: 4-22-1978
Event Description: The Kurds renew their rebellion against the Hussein regime. 30,000 Kurdish rebels overthrow the Mayor of Arbil and declare the Kurdish Republic. Bogged down with the war in the South, President Hussein lets them go. He can not fight a two front war.

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 5-01-1978
Event Description: War battered citizens of Damascus take to the streets in protest against President Assad and continuation of the war. The protesters demand that Assad break off his military alliance with Hussein of Iraq and make peace with the coalition forces. Assad responds to the rally by breaking it up with tear gas and bullets, killing 27 protesters.

Event Date: 5-03-1978
Event Description: Israeli marines capture Urfa, Syria, jump starting the faltering invasion of Syria. American soldiers, under the leadership of Colonel Oliver North, aid the Israelis in their invasion.

Event Date: 5-05-1978
Event Description: Massoud Barzani, a 33-year old attorney and son of longtime Kurdish patriot Mustafa Barzani, is elected the first president of the Kurdish Republic. President Bush is reluctant to recognize the new nation, as it is sure to spark a war with Turkey. Turkish President Fahri Korutürk has told President Bush that he views the Kurdish Republic as a threat to, “Both our national resources and sovereignty.”

Event Date: 5-18-1978
Event Description: Iraqi Republican Guard troops start fortifying defensive positions around Baghdad in anticipation of an expected coalition multi-front assault on Iraq's capital. President Hussein begins to prepare for his escape from the capitol.

Event Date: 6-01-1978
Event Description: Kirkuk falls to coalition troops after 22-hours of fighting. The fall of one of Iraq’s largest and most industrial cities is a strong blow to Iraqi morale.

Event Date: 6-08-1978
Event Description: Israeli-American troops surround Damascus, demanding the surrender of President Assad. The president responds by closing city gates and telling the citizens of the capitol in a fiery address, “Be expected to lay down your very life to preserve the independence of Syria from Zionist and American tyranny.”

Event Date: 6-13-1978
Event Description: 215,000 Israeli-American troops attack Damascus. Through a series of three bloody charges, the Syrian defenders are fought to the center of the city. The remaining 80,000 Syrian troops barricade themselves into the Presidential Palace, preparing to defend Assad to the end.

Event Date: 6-15-1978
Event Description: The Battle of the Palace rages in Damascus. In a heated fight, all 80,000 of the remaining Syrian troops in Damascus are slaughtered by more than 210,000 Israeli-American soldiers. President Assad himself is injured in the battle, but is apprehended by Private Robert F. Kennedy, Junior, before he can kill himself. Kennedy is the son of Governor Robert Kennedy (Democrat of Massachusetts). Assad will be held in a makeshift prison before being transported to a higher level security prison in Jerusalem.

Event Date: 6-27-1978
Event Description: Tikrit is liberated by American marines. Among the liberated are over 90,000 political prisoners held in Hussein’s concentration camps.

Event Date: 7-04-1978
Event Description: President Bush visits General Schwarzkopf and his army on Independence Day. The more than 350,000 multinational troops are poised for an assault on Baghdad, but the extreme heat is stopping this effort. President Bush tells the troops, “Final victory is so close we can taste it.”

Event Date: 7-12-1978
Event Description: Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Kennedy begins a campaign against child predators in the Bay State. Massachusetts, long plagued with very liberal laws concerning child molesters and rapists, will see Attorney General Kennedy introduce some of the toughest laws in the country. His plan is to stop child predators from living with 500-feet of schools, day cares, children’s hospitals and public playgrounds. He also introduces a plan for a sex offender’s registry, to be nicknamed “Teddy’s Terrors” by the press.

Event Date: 7-18-1978
Event Description: Continuous bombings of Baghdad are begun by American jet bombers.

Event Date: 8-09-1978
Event Description: The Battle of Baghdad rages, beginning at four in the morning. General Schwarzkopf hopes that dimmer sunlight will make the battle cooler for his troops. He hopes that the battle can be won before the noon sun rises. This does not happen. The first day of fighting is a major victory for the coalition troops, but by three in the afternoon, it is above 115 degrees in the shade, forcing Schwarzkopf to stop the fighting.

Event Date: 8-10-1978
Event Description: The second day of fighting in Baghdad proves to be more costly than the day earlier. The Republican Guard has regrouped and takes advantage of building to building fighting to inflict major casualties on coalition forces. By the end of the day, the coalition controls most of the city but has suffered more than 100,000 casualties.

Event Date: 8-11-1978
Event Description: Generals Schwarzkopf and Powell enter the Presidential Palace in Baghdad, now a smoldering shell of a building. The Battle of Baghdad is over, with more than 160,000 deaths, one of the bloodiest battles in world history.

Event Date: 8-13-1978
Event Description: President Saddam Hussein, his wife and two sons, Uday and Qusay, are apprehended by American marines while fleeing Baghdad in a 1978 Volvo. Hussein and his family are imprisoned in a makeshift army prison, and will be taken to a prison in Istanbul, Turkey.

Event Date: 8-15-1978
Event Description: President Bush and Vice-President Love attend the American Legion Convention in Washington, D.C., to declare that the Iraq War has been won. “Hussein and Assad are behind bars and their nations are under the jurisdiction of coalition forces,” President Bush tells the cheering veterans, “We have won the war and your comrades can begin coming home!” The convention explodes upon hearing these last lines.

[Хahar 🤔]

The A's are gone! HOORAY!!!

It'll be interesting to see what happens in Iraq, Syria, and Kurdistan.

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 9-10-1978
Event Description: The Treaty of Basra is signed by representatives of the coalition forces and Iraqi and Syrian diplomats. This treaty ends the Iraq War and the dictatorships in Iraq and Syria. Senator William Hathaway (Democrat of Maine) questions the treaty’s perceived dedication to ending tyranny. “This treaty still allows the Shah’s iron fisted domination of Iran,” Senator Hathaway tells his senate colleagues, “That truly shows this treaty’s dedication to democracy.” Heathway’s comments are ignored and the treaty is signed.

Event Date: 9-15-1978
Event Description: Ahmed Chalabi, a former anti-Hussein revolutionary and leader of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), is elected president of Iraq to replace the deposed Saddam Hussein.

Event Date: 9-20-1978
Event Description: The first Russian troops arrive in Baghdad to begin patrolling the capitol. Presidents Bush and Chalabi, realizing that reconstruction will be very difficult, welcomes them with open arms.

Event Date: 10-02-1978
Event Description: In German Reichstag elections, Chancellor Heck’s Conservative Party defeats Eric Scholl’s Labor Party for the third time. However, the Labor Party wins enough seats to prevent Heck from having a working majority in the Reichstag.

Event Date: 10-12-1978
Event Description: Abdul Halim Khaddam is elected President of Syria, officially deposing the Assad Regime. President Khaddam promises to end the terror campaign against Israel.

Event Date: 10-30-1978
Event Description: U.S. President George Bush, U.K. Prime Minister James Callaghan, Iraqi President Ahmed Chalabi, Turkish President Fahri Korutürk, Syrian President Abdul Khaddam, the Shah of Iran, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Casablanca, Morocco, to discuss the post-war Middle East. It is quickly decided by the leaders that deposed Presidents Hussein and Assad must be tried for crimes against humanity by a world court. The debate over the Kurdish Republic is far more vehement. President Korutürk refuses to give an inch on recognition of the new republic. He sees its existence as a threat to Turkey’s land and oil. Despite heated debate, the Turkish president can not be persuaded to recognize the new republic. The issue is left open as the world leaders depart.

Event Date: 11-06-1978
Event Description: With victory in Iraq and the economy stabilizing due to the jobs created by the war, the American voters reward President Bush with Republican majorities in both houses of Congress. Two flukes also occur due to the president’s popularity, both involving Republican victories in the South. In Virginia, John Warner is elected to the U.S. Senate, the last Republican to represent the state since the 1870s. In Tennessee, former Nixon Administration aid Lamar Alexander is victorious in the race for governor. In Massachusetts, Governor Robert Kennedy is reelected over Republican Congressman Edward King. Despite all the pundits declaring it would be a close race, Governor Kennedy beats Congressman King in a 59-40% landslide. His brother, Attorney General Edward Kennedy, is reelected without opposition. Governor Kennedy is beginning to eye the White House in 1980.

Event Date: 11-11-1978
Event Description: The city of Basra erupts with anti-western and anti-occupation riots today. Remnants of Hussein’s Baa’th Party, who have a strong presents in Basra, chose America’s Veterans Day for the rioting. General Schwarzkopf, who is overseeing the reconstruction of Iraq, tells the press that the riot “Is a singular act and has not been repeated throughout Iraq.”    

Event Date: 11-29-1978
Event Description: Governor George L. Rockwell (Democrat of Virginia) announces his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. “As president will withdraw all troops from the Zionist war in Iraq,” Governor Rockwell declares. Many are aghast by his usage of the word “Zionist” and the Anti-Defamation League calls of him to retract his statement. Governor Rockwell refuses, simply adding fuel to the fire by telling the Associated Press, “This country has lost over 100,000 troops for a war over Israel.”

Event Date: 12-09-1978
Event Description: The new Iraqi Government bans all members of the Baa’th Party from serving in government. General Schwarzkopf had warned that doing this would lead to upheaval from former Hussein supporters, but the government refused to listen to the general. They will come to regret this decision.  

[Kaine for Senate '18]

It's nice to see John Warner in the Senate; good job on the update.

[Хahar 🤔]

Gorbachev? President? In 1978, he wasn't even in the Politburo.

[PBrunsel]

Xahar,

I should have done more explanation on Gorbachev.

Since Russia is a republic and has fair and free elections, Gorbachev was elected to the Duma in 1957 as a member of the Social Democratic Party. He worked his way up to Chairman of Commitee on Agriculture. He did such a good job in this role that President Andropov appointed the 37-year old Gorbachev to the job of Minister of Agriculture in 1968. Gorbachev held this position from 1968-1972.

Gorbachev was overlooked for a few years until the Social Democrats needed a compromise candidate to oppose President Kryuchkov. Gorbachev was given the nomination and the young politician defeated the conservative president.

[Хahar 🤔]

Okay. Thanks.

[The Hack Hater]

Chalabi, president of Iraq? Crap....

[Captain Chaos]

Was Jack Kemp born ITTL? If so, I assume his tax cutting views would make him a Democrat.

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 1-03-1979
Event Description: Tikrit, the home town of Saddam Hussein, experiences the first of many terrorist attacks from former Baa’th Party members. The town marketplace is attacked by a car bomb, killing 31 Iraqi bystanders and three U.S. soldiers. General Schwarzkopf immediately asks President Bush to activate the army reserves to help stabilize the situation.

Event Date: 1-18-1979
Event Description: President Bush meets with Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld in the Oval Office, their first post-war meeting. Bush asks Rumsfeld’s advice on how to deal with the growing insurgency in Iraq. Secretary Rumsfeld assures the president that the insurgency in Iraq, “Is pure poppycock. Good heavens, it won’t last six months!” President Bush, who is nervous a quagmire in the reconstruction of Iraq will harm is reelection chances in 1980, is heartened by Rumsfeld’s words.

Event Date: 2-12-1979
Event Description: Shiite militias take the city of Amarah, a town patrolled by primarily by British troops. The attack kills 62 British troops and takes six hostages. The militia was supported by many of the town’s residents, upset over the foreign occupation of their town, which had been opposed to Hussein’s regime. General Schwarzkopf sends the Shiite leaders a message to ask for an audience with them to, “Hear your grievances and try to remedy them.” The Shiites tell Schwarzkopf they have but one demand, “The complete and total withdrawal of foreign soldiers from our city.”

Event Date: 2-13-1979
Event Description: British Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher chastises Prime Minster Callaghan on the floor of the House of Commons, declaring that his weak leadership “Has led to chaos in the Middle East and six brave soldiers held hostage by fanatics.” Prime Minister Callaghan realizes that something must be done about the hostages, but he has no idea what to do. Foreign Minister David Owen has advised the prime minister to bide his time and wait for General Schwarzkopf’s negotiations with the Shiite militia leaders. Fear that the militias may kill the kidnapped soldiers if the British storm the city is key in the decision to wait for Schwarzkopf.

Event Date: 2-20-1979
Event Description: The meeting between General Schwarzkopf and Shiite leaders outside of Amarah breaks down with no agreement on releasing the British hostages. Schwarzkopf refused to pull out all British troops from the town, believing that such a move would allow the city to become a breeding ground for terrorists. In response to this breakdown of diplomatic relations, Prime Minister Callaghan Okays a risky hostage rescue plan: Operation Desert Jack. This military operation involves twenty-five British commandos, the most highly trained members of the UK army, storming the building where the hostages are being held, freeing them, running to the roof of the building and then being airlifted to safety. “It’s a million in one shot,” Callaghan confines to his diary.

Event Date: 3-01-1979
Event Description: Operation Desert Jack is initiated, with disastrous results. The Commandos are outnumbered and outgunned by the Shiite militias, which have tripled in size since taking Amarah. All six hostages are killed, as are eight Commandos. The mission is a complete failure, and sours the British public to the reconstruction in Iraq. With unemployment and inflation on the rise in the United Kingdom already, the last thing the Labor Party needed before the June elections was a foreign policy disaster.

Event Date: 3-06-1979
Event Description: President Bush signs the Foreign Intelligence Act of 1979, making all unwarranted wiretaps illegal. “This act stands to strengthen our commitment to civil rights and liberties,” President Bush proudly declares as he signs the act, introduced by Congressman Ron Paul (Democrat of Texas), who was elected in 1978. Despite the act being introduced by a fellow Democrat, Governor Kennedy, known for a love of wiretapping, attacks the act as, “A weaken the USA resolution.”

Event Date: 3-12-1979
Event Description: Saddam Hussein and Hafez al-Assad stand before a special tribunal of their fellow Iraqis and Syrians. Over the course of ten days, seventy-eight people testify before the tribunal, telling the horror stories of living under the regimes of these two men. “In hearing these stories of murder, rape, theft, beatings and evil,” Ronald Reagan declares that night on the Voice of the Nation, “We can truly see the spectacle of what thugs, barbarians and terrorists can bring onto the most innocent of people.” The tribunal charges the two with crimes against humanity and abiding torture. The two men are to go on trial in December 1980.

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 4-07-1979
Event Description: The first nation wide elections in Iraq go well, with few incidents of voter suppression or terrorism. The Iraqi National Congress (INC), the party of President Chalabi, wins an overwhelming majority in the Iraqi Legislature. The conservative Islamic Values Party finishes in second, and the far-left Iraqi Toilers’ Party finishes a distant third. The very pro-American, pro-oil industry INC will work well with general Schwarzkopf and the foreign troops in a reconstructed Iraq.

Event Date: 4-11-1979
Event Description: Almost mocking the hope for calm started by the peaceful elections a few days ago, Baa’thist terrorists set off a fertilizer bomb outside of city hall in Baghdad, killing several members of the city government, including the city council president. Chaos ensues around the disaster zone until Russian troops regain order. “Baghdad is becoming a nightmare,” General Schwarzkopf tells Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld in a letter, “We need more troops here or we need to call it a day. To continue this limited strategy is not just foolish, it’s insane.” Rumsfeld refuses to change course, calling Schwarzkopf’s request, “Balderdash!”

Event Date: 4-20-1979
Event Description: Former Vice-President Jimmy Carter announces his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Announcing from his Plains, Georgia, campaign headquarters (a renovated train depot), Carter calls the Iraq War, “Foolish and poorly run. I have the military experience and knowledge to return our nation to a sensible foreign policy.” Gallup Polls show that in the race for the Democratic nomination, Carter is in a solid second behind Governor Kennedy. Governor Rockwell is in third.

Event Date: 4-23-1979
Event Description: Peace protester and known left-wing activist Blair Peach is beaten to death by police in London while protesting the Iraq War. This police brutality sets off a three day riot throughout the sums of London, already enflamed by the growing unemployment rate.

Event Date: 5-02-1979
Event Description: U.S. marines storm Amarah, fighting a bloody battle with the Shiite militias. By the end of the day, the militias are routed, but 55 marines lie dead, with many others wounded. The risky attack liberates the city, but does not end the Shiite militias. They simply limp out of town and regroup to fight another day.

Event Date: 5-04-1979
Event Description: The Conservative Party wins a massive landslide in the United Kingdom Parliamentary elections. Anger over the Labor Party’s mishandling of the economy and Iraq led Margaret Thatcher to be elected the new Prime Minister. Thatcher promises to begin withdrawal of British troops from the Middle East by January 1980.

Event Date: 5-10-1979
Event Description: The Shah of Iran, still popular due to the successful war against Iran’s enemies, orders the Iranian Army to crush an uprising in Tehran led by radical Islamic fundamentalists. The army easily crushes the rebels, ending what may have been an Iranian Revolution.

Event Date: 5-22-1979
Event Description: The Turkish Parliament votes down a resolution recognizing the Kurdish Republic. Despite President Bush’s continuous bribes and promises of favors for Turkey, the Turkish view the Kurdish people as threats to their oil and to parts of Turkey’s national borders. “It is just a matter of time,” New York Times columnist William Safire writes, “Until the new powder keg of the Middle East, Kurdistan, is set on fire.”

Event Date: 5-30-1979
Event Description: Colonel James Webb meets with Baa’thist leaders in Fallujah. With city elections approaching in June, Webb overrules the official Iraqi declaration barring former Baa’th Party members from holding office. Webb allows a Baa’thist to run for mayor and five to run for city council. When President Chalabi protests this decision, Webb tells him, “My choice was letting those guys run for office or having a riot, I think I made the right decision.” Webb has become increasingly independent from Schwarzkopf and Chalabi while trying to govern the rebellion ready Fallujah.

Event Date: 6-03-1979
Event Description: In the Fallujah city elections, two former Baa’thist win seats on the city council. The people of Fallujah do not riot or even protest, the elections are a success. In Baghdad, President Chalabi refuses to recognize the elections of two former Hussein supporters. “Allowing these monsters to serve the people is sickening!” President Chalabi booms in a speech to the Legislature. Dominated by the vehemently anti-Hussein Iraqi National Congress, the Iraqi Legislature passes a resolution refusing to recognize the election of these new city councilors.

Event Date: 6-05-1979
Event Description: The newly trained Fallujah police force attempts to stop the inauguration of two former Baa’thist as city councilors. Baa’thist elements in the city rise up to stop them, fighting a pitched battle on the steps of city hall. Colonel Webb sends U.S. troops to break up the fighting, but this only throws gasoline on the fire. For six hours, the area surrounding city hall is in open rebellion against the police and the U.S. army. In one of the bloodiest days since the beginning of the Iraq reconstruction, 110 U.S. soldiers are dead along with 215 police men. The Baa’thist militias are nearly decimated, but the remaining members are free to regroup. The two Baa’thist city councilors lay dead, killed by Fallujah’s police force. Unrest in the city will continue.

Event Date: 6-19-1979
Event Description: Presidents Bush, Gorbachev and Barzani meet in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdish Republic, to discuss oil sales and the increasing difficulty to bring down gas prices. President Barzani promises that as soon as his nation’s oil industry is reestablished his two chief trading partners will be the United States and Russia. With gas prices in the USA hitting 4.00 a gallon, President Bush welcomes this news.

Event Date: 6-30-1979
Event Description: Governor Robert Kennedy announces his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Flanked by his wife Ethel, war hero son Robert and his oldest brother, 64-year old former President Joseph Kennedy, Junior, Governor Kennedy declares that America needs, “A break from economic tailspin, foreign escapades and endless regulation.” Kennedy promises that his camping will focus on three issues, “Economic recovery, economic recovery and economic recovery.” He declares that first on his list for economic recovery is, “Complete withdrawal from the endless, pointless occupation of Iraq. This war is robbing our nation of our fighting men and women, our workforce and our tax dollars.” In the White House, President Bush and Chief of Staff Cheney see their nightmare playing before their eyes on al three major news networks: A Kennedy declaring his candidacy for president.

Event Date: 7-01-1979
Event Description: Baa’thist militias begin a terror campaign from Baghdad and along the Euphrates River, seizing several small villages. General Schwarzkopf mobilizes his troops along the Euphrates River, but they are unsuccessful in stopping the militias. The month of July will see the highest U.S. casualty numbers since the beginning of Iraqi reconstruction.

Event Date: 7-04-1979
Event Description: In an Independence Day address to a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in San Diego, Vice-President Love blasts Iraq War critics as, “Shameless, senseless and brainless pessimists. They want this nation to lose in Iraq so that they may benefit from the political fallout.” All three Democratic candidates for president react to the remarks, but Governor Kennedy’s statement is the most stinging. “It appears as if Lover and Bush are upset not about the lives lost or the money wasted in Iraq,” Kennedy tells a crowd of supporters in Manchester, New Hampshire, “They seem to care more about their poll numbers and the ‘political ramifications’ of the war. I for one see no problem in pointing out the waste of lives and money that Bush and Love have forced upon this nation.”

Event Date: 7-11-1979
Event Description: In some good news for the United States, Baa’thist militia leader Izzat al-Douri is captured by U.S. marines in the city of Kahtaniya. General Schwarzkopf orders his troops to extract information from him, using peaceful means. When al-Douri refuses to speak, Colonel Oliver North, Lieutenant Bo Gritz and three other marines perform some increased tactics to get information from the Baa’thist leader. These tactics include threatening al-Douri with a lighted torch, barking dogs and brandishing a club. They also submit him to water boarding, a form of coercion which simulates drowning.
After this stepped up coercion, al-Douri gives North and the rest information on where his militia is planning on attacking. North forwards this information to Schwarzkopf, but doesn’t tell him how he got the information.

Event Date: 7-26-1979
Event Description: U.S. and Russian troops surprise a large Baa’thist militia at the city of Karbala. The militia was planning on detonating an explosive device near a road used by U.S. military convoys. The leaders of the militia are captured and put on trial by a military tribunal.

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 8-09-1979
Event Description: The Army Times releases the number of U.S. casualties caused by the July Baa’thist revolt. The numbers are sickening to most Americans. 4,817 U.S. soldiers died from terrorist attacks and shoot outs with the militias. Over 20,000 troops are injured and many are every seriously injured. President Bush addresses the nation that night, urging all Americans to, “Support the troops and the mission. It is too important for our national security to turn our backs on a newly democratized Iraq and Syria.” President Bush further warns his citizens that, “The Iraqi insurgency can not defeat and humiliate the United States. Only citizens of the United States can do that.” In what is Bush’s most controversial speech, many Americans see a president who is ignoring masses of casualties and putting the blame for a quagmire on the shoulder’s of American citizens. Bush and Chief of Staff Cheney made on the gamble on the speech, and the gamble didn’t pay off. 

Event Date: 8-21-1979
Event Description: Mass marches against the Iraq War meet the second anniversary of the intervention in Iraq. Former presidential candidate Ralph Nader leads the largest march, over 350,000 people protest on The Mall in Washington, D.C. “This war for oil is bankrupting our nation in money, talent and morality!” Nader booms in his address to the marchers, “This war has been lost and can not be turned around no matter how many young soldiers shed their life blood on the alter of war!”

Event Date: 9-06-1979
Event Description: The Bush Budget for 1980-1981 is introduced. It has plenty of funds for the war and for social welfare spending. Funding for free clinics, government housing and job training programs is doubled, as is money going to the reconstruction of Iraq. Columnist Pat Buchanan, a former Nixon Administration official, scoffs at the budget as, “A strange attempt to give guns and butter to the American people.”

Event Date: 9-12-1979
Event Description: Secretary of the Treasury Blumenthal announces that the Ashbrook Tax Cuts will be allowed to expire, an announcement which is met with both boos and applause. While Representative Andrew Young (Republican of Georgia) declares that the tax cuts were, “Simply a subsidation of the rich and the revenue gained will benefit the poorest in society,” well known conservative publisher William F. Buckley declares that allowing the tax cuts to expire is simply, “An invisible tax hike.” Both sides are telling the truth, but a majority of Middle Class Americans responds more to the talk of “tax hike” than to “benefiting the poorest in society.” President Bush’s approval ratings are at 44%, the lowest of his presidency.

Event Date: 9-20-1979
Event Description: General Schwarzkopf meets with President Chalabi in Baghdad, requesting that he drop his ban on Baa’thists in government. Schwarzkopf tries to explain to Chalabi that allowing former Baa’th Party members into government again would decrease resistance to his government, but President Chalabi refuses to listen to the general. “I still have the scars on my back from when these Baa’th Party barbarians threw me and my family into a work camp!” Chalabi screams at Schwarzkopf, “I will never let inhuman beats like that to ever think of being in government again!” The meeting ends after this outburst, with Schwarzkopf believing that there is no way the Baa’thist militias will ever be stopped short of a full scale military engagement with them.

Event Date: 10-03-1979
Event Description: Militant members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK in the native language) attack a Turkish military installation along the Kurdistan-Turkish border. The PKK terrorists opposed the Turkish military being so close to the Kurdistan border. Turkish military officials declare that this act should lead to war between the Kurdish Republic and Turkey, but President Fahri Korutürk is reluctant to go to war with an ally of the United States. He gives Kurdish President Massoud Barzani a chance to explain the attack, but none comes.

Event Date: 10-05-1979
Event Description: Turkish infantrymen engage in a 45-minute firefight with PKK rebels in Northern Kurdistan. The skirmish kills six Turkish soldiers and ten PKK rebels. President Korutürk now demands that Kurdish President Barzani, “Explain the actions of these Kurdish militias or face an invasion of his nation so that the nation of Turkey may protect itself from terrorism.”

Event Date: 10-06-1979
Event Description: President Barzani meets with Presidents Bush and Korutürk in Istanbul. The three men address the PKK and the terrorism in Northern Kurdistan. “Our new nation is currently struggling with far-left revolutionaries,” Barzani explains to Korutürk, “These PKK extremists hate your nation as much as they hate my government. We are doing all we can to control them.” “Well you aren’t doing a very good job,” President Korutürk responds, “And unless you get your northern border under control than expect the Turkish military to intervene.” President Bush visibly recoils at this statement. “Now Mr. President,” Bush addresses the Turkish president, “We only need one war at a time.” President Bush is able to talk Korutürk and his generals into waiting at least until December to allow the Kurdish Republic the chance to clean up their northern border. For now, the Kurdish problem is solved.

Event Date: 10-10-1979
Event Description: Three regiments of U.S. infantrymen are sent to the troubled northern regions of the Kurdish Republic. Their job is to hunt down and kill PKK members and their leaders. Governor Kennedy tells a crowd in Des Moines, Iowa, that this act proves that, “The Iraq War has done nothing but destabilize the Middle East and the entire world!”

Event Date: 10-19-1979
Event Description: Bombing raids of PKK held territory in northern Kurdistan is begun by U.S. jet bombers.

Event Date: 10-25-1979
Event Description: Mayor Reginald Jackson (Republican) debates Congressman Bill Green (Democrat) at the Philadelphia Civic Auditorium. Mayor Jackson, well liked because of his outreach to urban youths through community work projects, has been attacked by Congressman Green as, “Another Bush Republican.” In the debate, Jackson attacks Green for deploying to the lowest play in politics: the guilt by association play. “I’ve played a lot of football, Bill,” Mayor Jackson tells the congressman, “And I’ve taken some hits from 400-pund linemen, but this attack is worse than any of those.” He goes on to outline how he differs from Bush on many issues, such as support for the Iraq War, but also applauds the president for his increased funding of job training and applauds First Lady Barbara Bush for her work with eliminating illiteracy. The press and the people of Philadelphia applaud “Mayor Reggie’s” response and he takes a commanding lead in the polls.

Event Date: 10-31-1979
Event Description: PKK leader Murat Karayilan is interviewed by Al Jazeera television, the most watched television station in the Middle East. He declares that the USA is now included with Turkey as, “Enemies of the Kurdish nation.” Secretary Rumsfeld responds to this interview, declaring that the PKK will be treated, “As enemy combatants against the United States.”

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Another great update, keep it up

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 11-08-1979
Event Description: Mayor Reginald “Reggie” Jackson is reelected by a 63-37% margin over Democratic Congressman Bill Green in the Philadelphia Mayor race. Mayor Jackson’s urban improvement programs have cut crime by more than 70% and increased the number of minorities graduating from high school in the City of Brotherly Love. Some see Mayor Jackson as a potential candidate for Senate in 1980.

Event Date: 11-22-1979
Event Description: General Schwarzkopf testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “Gentlemen,” Schwarzkopf begins, “We are in grave shape in Iraq, to tell you differently would be a lie.” Schwarzkopf outlines the crisis of fighting, “A thousand front war with an enemy who has no organized battle plan besides kill as many Westerners as possible.” The general requests more troops in Baghdad, a city which has never been tamed, and along the Iraqi-Kurdish border, where militias have become increasingly hostile to U.S. troops. President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld, though disagreeing on a “surge” of U.S. troops, support Schwarzkopf’s plan.

Event Date: 11-30-1979
Event Description: Senator George McGovern (Republican of South Dakota) announces that he will oppose President Bush in the Republican Presidential primaries next year. “I have been supportive of the president throughout his term,” Senator McGovern declares in his announcement address from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, “This support now must end. President Bush’s war in Iraq is making it impossible for the Republican Party to continue being the party of the poor and indigent. It will be my goal as President of the United States to end the foolish program of juggling ‘guns and butter’. Our nation needs the New Day, not a new war.”

Event Date: 12-01-1979
Event Description: Prime Minister Thatcher orders all British troops out of Iraq and Syria by February 1980. “It is time we end this pointless war,” she tells the British press. President Bush condemns this withdrawal of troops as, “A turncoat withdrawal.” Thatcher is quick to remind the world that she is now Prime Minister, not James Callaghan, who sent the troops into the Middle East.

Event Date: 12-09-1979
Event Description: The Congress approves of General Schwarzkopf’s troop surge, with much arm twisting from the Bush Administration. An additional 200,000 troops will be sent to Iraq to help secure that war torn nation.

Event Date: 12-24-1979
Event Description: PKK terrorist attack a Turkish military convoy as it drives to Yerevan, Turkey. This attack is the last straw for Turkey’s military commanders. President Korutürk orders three Turkish armored divisions to enter the Kurdish Republic. In response to this invasion, President Bush sets sanctions of Turkey.

Event Date: 12-31-1979
Event Description: After a week in Northern Kurdistan, Turkish and U.S. troops meet in a small Kurdish sheep town and defeat a PKK militia. President Bush is not impressed by this event. “The Turks are illegally in Kurdistan,” Bush tells Secretary Rumsfeld, “They need to get out immediately.” “Let’s not be hasty, Mr. President,” Rumsfeld tells Bush, “We can’t provoke a war with Turkey. After all, this has been a very mean year.”

[War on Want]

Keep the updates coming. This is great stuff.

[Хahar 🤔]

Chalabi being a fascist. BOO!!!

Not to you, of course, Paul. Keep it up.

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 1-01-1980
Event Description: General Schwarzkopf meets with Turkish Defense Minister Semih Sancar in Casablanca. Schwarzkopf practically begs Minister Sancar to order his troops to withdraw from northern Kurdistan, but his pleas go to deaf ears. “Turkey is not safe while Kurdish rebels dominate the region,” Minister Sancar tells Schwarzkopf. “Stormin’ Norman” assures Sancar that the recently approved troop surge will also affect troops in the Kurdish Republic. General Schwarzkopf gives Sancar his solemn oath that U.S. troops will eradicate PKK rebels by the end of the year. In light of this promise, Minister Sancar promises General Schwarzkopf that he will order the withdrawal of all Turkish troops from the Kurdish Republic by March 1980.

Event Date: 1-05-1980
Event Description: Colonel Webb forms an agreement between Baa’thist and Mayor Taha Bidaywi Hamed in hopes of ending the violence between the two forces. Mayor Hamed agrees to appoint two Baa’th Party members to the city council (to replace the two murdered councilors) if the Baa’thist militias promise to lay down their arms. In an odd moment of common sense in the Middle East, both sides agree to the accord. Colonel Webb keeps this agreement secret from President Chalabi and the Iraqi government.

Event Date: 1-19-1980
Event Description: The Dow Jones Industrial tumbles 55-points today as the Stock Market begins to slow as the new budget takes affect. “President Bush’s wars, both on Iraq and the economy, have clearly been shown today,” Governor Robert Kennedy declares at a rally in Dubuque, Iowa, “These wars must be ended, and the treaty will be signed when George Bush is kicked out of office!”

Event Date: 1-21-1980
Event Description: The Iowa Caucuses are held today, with both primaries being hard fought. President Bush defeats Senator McGovern 63-37%, which most see as a clear victory for the Bush Administration. McGovern vows to fight on that night, declaring that through the turmoil of Iraq, the economy and the election, he hopes his campaign can be, “A bridge over troubled water.” On the Democratic side, Governor Kennedy narrowly defeats former Vice-President Carter. Kennedy wins 43% of the vote to Carter’s 35% and Governor Rockwell’s 22%.

Event Date: 1-29-1980
Event Description: Baghdad is rocked by rocket attacks from a Shiite militia. This attack kills 25 American soldiers and more than 300 Iraqi civilians. Over the night, hundreds more will die in the fires caused by the missiles.

Event Date: 1-30-1980
Event Description: “Where in the heck did they get rockets from?” President Bush demands from Secretary Rumsfeld the morning after the mass fires in Baghdad. “I don’t know, sir,” is Rumsfeld pathetic response. “Well find out!” the enraged president demands. The entire day Secretary Rumsfeld has the Defense Department rummaging through ten years of Congressional funding records, and nothing comes up in relation to funding Shiite militias. Rumsfeld decides to call former Secretary of State James Buckley to find out if the Ashbrook Administration had intervened in Iraq secretly. “I don’t expect Buckley to talk,” Rumsfeld tells his wife Joyce that night while eating a late dinner, “But perhaps his slip up.”

Event Date: 1-31-1980
Event Description: In a meeting at the Watergate Hotel Restaurant, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and former Secretary of State James Buckley discuss funding for anti-Hussein militias. The meeting goes nowhere until Rumsfeld produces some financial information from Texas’ 2nd Congressional district. “I don’t think that many millions of dollars went to building bridges in Kingwood,” Rumsfeld tells Buckley with a glare in his eye, “So where did it go?” Buckley stutters for a while until finally leaving the table. As Buckley storms off, Rumsfeld wonders to himself, “So who represents that district again?”

Event Date: 2-01-1980
Event Description: Secretary Rumsfeld begins his morning in an odd way: knocking on the door of a run down apartment in a bad neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Answering the door in a half-drunken stupor is Carl Bernstein. The one time Washington Post White House correspondent was fired in 1973 for printing perceived overblown stories on Nixon Administration scandals. Bernstein, now an alcoholic, broken tabloid writer, has lived in obscurity until today. Secretary Rumsfeld asks him to do some research into Representative Charlie Wilson (Democrat of Texas), whom Rumsfeld believes help funnel money into radical Shiite militias during the 1970s. “What’s in it for me?” asks the cynical Bernstein. “If you can get the dirt on Wilson,” Rumsfeld tells Bernstein, “You will have the choice of any newspaper in the country to work for.” Bernstein jumps on this opportunity.

Event Date: 2-20-1980
Event Description: While visiting Denver to meet with Governor Richard Lamm (Republican of Colorado), President Bush is faced down by an assassin, Sarah Jane Moore. Moore, a follower of far-left winged causes and an Iraq War opponent, tries to shoot Bush point blank but her gun fails to fire. She is taken down not by secret service but by a young man from Centerville, Iowa. John Engle, a 19-year old Iowan visiting the city to meet President Bush, tackles Moore as her gun recoils. When asked by the media how he feels upon rescuing the president, Engle responds, “I’m just glad I saved Bush before he was nearly shoot by a mad man.” That night on CBS Nightly News, Dan Rather comments, “Never before have wiser words been spoken by a more humble man.”

Event Date: 2-21-1980
Event Description: Despite the anti-war atmosphere in New Hampshire, the assassination attempt on President Bush yesterday leads Republicans to rally around their commander-in-chief. President Bush beats Senator McGovern by a 65-35% margin, but McGovern vows to fight on. On the Democratic side, Governor Kennedy’s “home state” advantage gives him a large victory in New Hampshire. He takes 47% of the vote to Jimmy Carter’s 33% and George Rockwell’s 20%.

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 3-01-1980
Event Description: Congressman John Anderson (Republican of Illinois), Governor Patrick Lucey (Republican of Wisconsin), Governor Richard Lamm (Republican of Colorado), Ralph Nader, Tom Hayden, Barry Commoner and wealthy businessman H. Ross Perot hold a press conference in San Francisco announcing the formation of a new political party. “For too long the Republican and Democratic parties have embraced war and waste, not the needs of the people,” Congressman Anderson declares, “This is why we men of differing political ideals and philosophies are joining together to form a new political force in this country.” The new party is: The Progressive Reform Party. This party is dedicated to preserving social entitlements like Social Security and free clinics, while opposing all forms of war and the, as Nader puts it, “The ravages of the military-industrial complex.” 

Event Date: 3-04-1980
Event Description: The Vermont and Massachusetts Primaries are held, with President Bush and Governor Kennedy taking easy victories in both states. Vice-President Carter had tried to use his farming credentials to appeal to rural voters in the Bay State and the Green Mountain State, but he failed to break 35% in either state. On the GOP side, the vote is close in Massachusetts. Bush takes 52% to McGovern’s 48%. “So much for the theory that the only state McGovern would win is Massachusetts,” Chief of Staff Cheney chuckles in his office.

Event Date: 3-08-1980
Event Description: Vice-President Carter stops the Kennedy winning streak by taking the South Carolina Primary by a 44-43% margin, with Rockwell taking only 13% of all the votes cast. “It looks like it’s the end game for this Democratic campaign,” Governor Rockwell tells his supporters, “But our campaign is not over!” In the following days, Rockwell will announce his intentions to seek the Constitution Party nomination for president.

Event Date: 3-10-1980
Event Description: Senator McGovern announces that he is ending his campaign for the Republican nomination, declaring that, “There is now way I can defeat President Bush and to continue in this race will only damage the party in the general election. It is far too important that there is a Republican Congress when President Kennedy takes office.” This statement huts like a percussion grenade to both the Bush Administration and the national media. “Senator McGovern is sadly mistaken,” Vice-President Love tells the press, “No Kennedy will ever come close to the Oval Office again after the last Kennedy catastrophe.” Being interviewed that day by Ronald Reagan at his home in Boston, former President Joseph Kennedy reminds Love that, “It wasn’t my administration that got us in this quagmire in Iraq, now was it.”

Event Date: 3-11-1980
Event Description: Vice-President Carter sweeps all three primaries held today. The Alabama, Florida and Georgia Primaries are wins for Carter, but only Georgia is a comfortable win for him. Governor Kennedy holds Carter to less than a 5-point win in Florida and 10-points in Alabama. The Kennedy Campaign is still the dominant one in the 1980 election.

Event Date: 3-16-1980
Event Description: Baa’thist terrorists detonate a bomb in Tikrit as Iraqi Vice-President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite, is reviewing new Iraqi troops. The explosion kills over 100 Iraqis and thirteen U.S. soldiers. Worst of all, Vice-President Abdul-Mahdi is killed in the blast. This murder enraged Shiite militias, who begin mass riots in Tikrit and Baghdad. General Schwarzkopf is able to utilize the new surge of troops to quell the rioters in two days.

Event Date: 3-18-1980
Event Description: Governor Kennedy easily defeats Vice-President Carter in the Illinois Primary. Despite Carter’s strength in Southern Illinois and anger in the Chicago machine against the crime-busting Robert Kennedy, the Massachusetts Governor wins by a 59-41% margin.

Event Date: 3-20-1980
Event Description: The last Turkish Troops leave the Kurdish Republic. In their place are 120,000 fresh U.S. troops, who’s only job is to hunt down PKK rebels and secure the Kurdish government.

Event Date: 3-25-1980
Event Description: The New York and Connecticut Primaries are held, with Governor Kennedy winning both by wide margins. Vice-President Carter had tried to tap into the conservative Catholic voter base in Connecticut, but they came out for the Catholic Kennedy.

Event Date: 3-31-1980
Event Description: The Shah of Iran is treated for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma at Bethesda Naval Hospital. The treatment is successful and the Shah will return to Tehran in good health.

Event Date: 4-01-1980
Event Description: Vice-President Carter is able to stop the Kennedy winning streak by taking a comfortable victory in the Kansas Primary. However this win is ignored by most of the media as Governor Kennedy wins the Wisconsin Primary by an even wider margin. Carter is beginning to complain that the media is, “Giving me a raw deal.”

Event Date: 4-03-1980
Event Description: Former President Richard Nixon appears on the Johnny Carson Show, the first television appearance of the president since leaving office. The two men size each other up and share some good humored barbs, including Carson telling Nixon how his daughter had told him, ”I hear you have Nixon on your show tonight. I do hope that man finds work.” The show is ended by Nixon playing “Moonlight Sonata” on the piano.

Event Date: 4-05-1980
Event Description: Governor Kennedy is defeated by Carter in the Louisiana Primary, but this was expected. What was not expected is former KKK Grand Dragon David Duke, only 30-years old, winning the Democratic Party nomination for the First Congressional District in Louisiana. With the Republican Party being nearly nonexistent in Louisiana, Duke will win the election.

Event Date: 4-09-1980
Event Description: Carl Bernstein and the National Star, the tabloid he has been working for, release a bombshell of a story. Entitled “Charlie Wilson’s War”, it outlines Congressman Wilson and Secretary of State Buckley had secretly funneled weapons to Shiite and Kurdish militias under the Ashbrook Administration. The story checks out with the State Department as officials who worked in the operation come forward. Despite the story being blown open, very little comes of it. Everyone involved in the story (with the exception of Congressman Wilson) are out of government. There is no backlash against the Democrats and Mr. Bernstein is left without any offers to work in a major paper again. He decides to go after the current administration, whom he feels didn’t come through for him in the end.     

Event Date: 4-19-1980
Event Description: The largest militia of PKK rebels in Northern Kurdistan surrenders to U.S.-Kurdish troops outside of Zakho, a PKK stronghold. After months of bombing raids and the troop surge, the rebels found it impossible to continue the fight. This victory will help President Bush’s approval ratings, which have been suffering fir months. The Gallup Poll will put Bush at an approval rating of 48%, not outstanding by any means, but not as bad as Bush has had before.

Event Date: 4-22-1980
Event Description: Governor Kennedy defeats Vice-President Carter in the Pennsylvania Primary, seemingly to assure him the Democratic nomination for president. Kennedy wins by a 63-37% margin, dooming the former Veep’s campaign.

Event Date: 4-23-1980
Event Description: Jimmy Carter drops out of the race for president today, declaring that, “While I’d have loved to been the leader of this great nation, I can admit that this peanut farmer from Plains has gone pretty far in life.” Governor Kennedy calls Carter after his speech and offers him the position of National Security Advisor or Secretary of the Navy in his administration. “Don’t ya’ think you’re counting your chickens a little early, Bobby?” an astounded Carter asks. “Jimmy,” Kennedy laughs back, “I have a way of knowing how the eggs are going to hatch.”