GBW
10-27-2010, 11:26 AM
This is a general idea that's been running through my head, partly due to the 'Iraq keeps going' thread. Iraq invades Kuwait on schedule in August 1990. When the UN Security Council unanimously condemns the invasion, Saddam decides to try economic blackmail and invades Saudi Arabia, running his army straight for the oil fields in the east of the country. The disorganized Saudi forces melt in the face of the invasion and those units that manage to resist are quickly encircled and forced to surrender.
The world raises an even larger outcry, including countries in the Arab world, and Saddam decides to launch a rain of SCUD missiles on Israel to try and sway them back to his side. American forces begin assembling in Qatar and Bahrain while naval forces move into the Persian Gulf, while another defense force is formed to defend the Saudi capital Riyadh. Saddam immediately begins demanding a recognition of Iraq's annexation of Kuwait with his hand on the oil spigot, despite his forces being massively overextended and facing growing forces on two sides. The Iraqis immediately begin readying the Saudi oil fields for demolition and seeded with land mines should they be forced to withdraw, which they soon are. Massive aerial bombardment begins before the end of 1990 and, in January 1991, Coalition forces move in and move for the north of the oil fields to cut the Iraqi army off. The oil fields are immediately destroyed and set ablaze and Saddam's forces try to withdraw back north but are devastated by air strikes. The Iraqi position quickly unravels and oil is dumped into the Persian Gulf and the Kuwaiti oil fields are also set ablaze. In no mood for negotiations at this point, with public outrage high, Coalition forces move on into Iraq itself towards Baghdad. Saddam, his sons, and various government officials immediately go into hiding as the country is swiftly occupied.
The world economy is struck a massive blow from the devastation of the oil fields and the inability to get the fires out. Large military forces are required in Iraq to hunt down Saddam and his people, as well as locating all the loot taken from Kuwait and Saudi. Tensions within the US, which would later lead to OTL's LA Riots, rise as the recession grows unchecked. Due to these butterflies, the hard-liners in the Soviet Union manage to turn what was a relatively easily defeated coup attempt into a full blown civil war. Gorbachev is killed somewhere in the fighting and the fact gets transmitted to the world media. There's fighting across the Soviet Union as outraged Russians take to the streets and nationalists in the component republics begin running riot. NATO forces are put on their highest alert and naval forces are moved near the USSR for possible intervention.
The hard-liners freak and, somewhere, someone launches a missile. This causes a cascade of launches form hard-liner loyalist controlled bases while others remain dormant or continually fought over. All the primary Soviet military targets are hit with nukes, as well as a slew of secondary targets. NATO and Chinese nukes fly in response and the USSR is utterly devastated. Europe, China and Japan are all hit to a lesser degree than the Soviets, but not by much. The US and Canada have lost most, if not all, of their military and government facilities and several major cities have been vaporized. Public order within the US, already tense from the recession and the lack of oil, completely breaks down as people take to the streets and overwhelm state and local authorities. Wars and terrorist attacks break out around the world as everyone begins seeking to settle rivalries. Soviet holdout subs continue attacking NATO naval forces wherever they find them. Many nations cease functioning as coherent entities as society breaks down.
So the apocalypse has happened, and the post-apocalypse begins.
The world raises an even larger outcry, including countries in the Arab world, and Saddam decides to launch a rain of SCUD missiles on Israel to try and sway them back to his side. American forces begin assembling in Qatar and Bahrain while naval forces move into the Persian Gulf, while another defense force is formed to defend the Saudi capital Riyadh. Saddam immediately begins demanding a recognition of Iraq's annexation of Kuwait with his hand on the oil spigot, despite his forces being massively overextended and facing growing forces on two sides. The Iraqis immediately begin readying the Saudi oil fields for demolition and seeded with land mines should they be forced to withdraw, which they soon are. Massive aerial bombardment begins before the end of 1990 and, in January 1991, Coalition forces move in and move for the north of the oil fields to cut the Iraqi army off. The oil fields are immediately destroyed and set ablaze and Saddam's forces try to withdraw back north but are devastated by air strikes. The Iraqi position quickly unravels and oil is dumped into the Persian Gulf and the Kuwaiti oil fields are also set ablaze. In no mood for negotiations at this point, with public outrage high, Coalition forces move on into Iraq itself towards Baghdad. Saddam, his sons, and various government officials immediately go into hiding as the country is swiftly occupied.
The world economy is struck a massive blow from the devastation of the oil fields and the inability to get the fires out. Large military forces are required in Iraq to hunt down Saddam and his people, as well as locating all the loot taken from Kuwait and Saudi. Tensions within the US, which would later lead to OTL's LA Riots, rise as the recession grows unchecked. Due to these butterflies, the hard-liners in the Soviet Union manage to turn what was a relatively easily defeated coup attempt into a full blown civil war. Gorbachev is killed somewhere in the fighting and the fact gets transmitted to the world media. There's fighting across the Soviet Union as outraged Russians take to the streets and nationalists in the component republics begin running riot. NATO forces are put on their highest alert and naval forces are moved near the USSR for possible intervention.
The hard-liners freak and, somewhere, someone launches a missile. This causes a cascade of launches form hard-liner loyalist controlled bases while others remain dormant or continually fought over. All the primary Soviet military targets are hit with nukes, as well as a slew of secondary targets. NATO and Chinese nukes fly in response and the USSR is utterly devastated. Europe, China and Japan are all hit to a lesser degree than the Soviets, but not by much. The US and Canada have lost most, if not all, of their military and government facilities and several major cities have been vaporized. Public order within the US, already tense from the recession and the lack of oil, completely breaks down as people take to the streets and overwhelm state and local authorities. Wars and terrorist attacks break out around the world as everyone begins seeking to settle rivalries. Soviet holdout subs continue attacking NATO naval forces wherever they find them. Many nations cease functioning as coherent entities as society breaks down.
So the apocalypse has happened, and the post-apocalypse begins.