America is Born Again

Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM

Author says, we read an article in Wired Magazine entitled Secret Websites, Coded Messages: The New World of Immersive Games by Frank Rose - its pretty good! We took the liberty of throwing in some counter-insurgency specialists and creating a variation story to celebrate the author's genius.

In 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed by agents of the terrorist organization America is Born Again. The story continues from Part Eight

Oklahoma Bombing by Chris Oakley

Though nobody knew it at the time, First Lady Hillary Clinton had a heavy role in planning and carrying out the bombing as America is Born Again's secret chief of operations; within a year and a half she would be the leader of the organization itself, covertly directing its actions from inside her office at the White House. By the time we got to Oklahoma City, a suspect had been arrested who had ties to militant anti-government groups. It appeared that Timothy McVeigh had chosen April 19 to attack the country he had come to despise because it was the anniversary of the terrible Waco fire, which killed over eighty members of the Branch Davidian cult, including children. McVeigh and his ilk represented the most alienated and violent elements of the extreme right wing, whose actions sickened every sensible American. ~ Living History by Hillary Clinton
The story continues.

In 2003, on his retirement as Commander of the United States Central Command, Four Star General Tommy Franks gave an interview to Time Magazine in which he accurately predicted that in the event of another terrorist attack, American Constitutional liberties would be discarded by popular demand in favor of a military state.

The End of the Grand Experiment

Discussing the dangers posed to the U.S. in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Franks said that worst thing that could happen was if terrorists acquired and then used a biological, chemical or nuclear weapon that inflicted heavy casualties.
Franks foresaw that under such circumstances ... the Western world, the free world, loses what it cherishes most, and that is freedom and liberty we've seen for a couple of hundred years in this grand experiment that we call democracy.
Less than five years later, General David Howell Petraeus and Marine Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis would return from Iraq to an America beset by terrorism, ravaged by climate change, and ruled by a Christian military dictatorship.
The story continues.

In 2003, future US President Lieutenant General William G. Boykin addressed an Oregon Church Gathering. The story continues from Part Seven

President Boykin Steps Forward by Eric Lipps

Appearing in uniform, Boykin stated that enemies like Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein will only be defeated if we come against them in the name of Jesus. Why do they [radical Muslims] hate us? Why do they hate us so much? Ladies and gentlemen, the answer to that is because we're a Christian nation. Boykin recounted the time he chased down a Muslim Somali warlord who was bragging that the Americans would not capture him because Allah would protect him. My God is bigger than his God. I knew my God was a real God, and his was an idol will only be defeated if we come against them in the name of Jesus.
Boykin's remarks stirred much anger in the Muslim world and Islamic organisations within the US were highly critical of the comments and called for his resignation, such as James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Several newspapers, such as Newsweek, carried articles calling for his resignation, while Democrats John Kerry and Joe Lieberman were quick to denounce the remarks. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner and Democrat Carl Levin both urged Rumsfeld to launch an investigation. Rep. John Conyers and 26 supporters put forward H. RES. 419 Condemning religiously intolerant remarks and calling on the President to clearly censure and reassign Lieutenant General Boykin. . President George Bush defended the statements, saying that Boykin reflected my point of view and the point of view of this administration. Donald Rumsfeld defended Boykin, describing him as an officer that has an outstanding record in the United States armed forces , and that the War on Terrorism was a war against a religion. He also spoke about the right of freedom of speech.
Marine General Peter Pace, vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff revealed how sad [Boykin] was that his comments created the fury they had. He does not see this battle as a battle between religions, he sees this as a battle between good and evil, the evil being the acts of individuals.
Following this speech, Boykin was promoted to three-star rank and named deputy secretary of defense for intelligence. Pace was wrong about Boykin's comments, they reflected more than just his own views. Soon the Cabal of Officers led by Boykin would grip the US Government, opening the way for the Lieutenant General's election the following year.
The story continues.

In 2005, on this day, author John W. Dean published Watergate - The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush in which the former Counsel to President Richard M. Nixon accurately predicted the events that would lead to the establishment of a Christian military dictatorship in America.

Worse Case

For anyone who has considered the potential problems, one looms larger than all others.
Bush's health appears to be a non-issue, as long as he stays away from pretzels. Presidential protection, however is never easy, and it has become aggravated in an era of terrorism.
Given the condition of Cheney's heart, the true 'worse case' would be for a terrorist to kill the president, and the strain the event also prove fatal to Cheney (recall that that he had a heart attack during the strain of the Florida recount) without having yet selected and confirmed a new vice president.
The story continues.

In 2006, Michael Stickings reported It [Saddam's execution] was a gross act of injustice. And, like so much else in this horrible war, a bloody failure.

Death of a Double

The execution was videotaped on a mobile phone, showing Saddam being taunted before his hanging, and he and his captors insulting each other. The video was leaked to electronic media and posted on the Internet within hours, becoming the subject of global controversy.
Six years later, counter-insurgency specialist General David Howell Petraeus would critically re-examine the video. After all, it was highly relevant to the latest developments in the War on Terror, perhaps even the threat posed by the mysteriously named terrorist group America Is Born Again. Petraeus couldn't agree more with Stickings comments. Because by now Petraeus was convinced that the video tape demonstrated without a shadow of a doubt that one of Saddam's many doubles had been executed on 30th December 2006.

In 2007, the first night of Nine Inch Nails' European tour, T-shirts went on sale at a 19th-century Lisbon concert hall with what looked to be a printing error: Random letters in the tour schedule on the back seemed slightly boldfaced.

Parepin

Then a 27-year-old Lisbon photographer named Nuno Foros realized that, strung together, the boldface letters spelled i am trying to believe. Foros posted a photo of his T-shirt on the Spiral, the Nine Inch Nails fan forum. People started typing iamtryingtobelieve.com into their Web browsers. That led them to a site denouncing something called Parepin, a drug apparently introduced into the US water supply. Ostensibly, Parepin was an antidote to bioterror agents, but in reality, the page declared, it was part of a government plot to confuse and sedate citizens. Email sent to the site's contact link generated a cryptic auto-response: I'm drinking the water. So should you. Online, fans worldwide debated what this had to do with Nine Inch Nails. A setup for the next album? Some kind of interactive game? Or what? . ~ Secret Websites, Coded Messages: The New World of Immersive Games, by Frank Rose
The story continues in Part Four

In 2007, a woman named Sue was about to wash a different T-shirt, which she had bought at one of the Lisbon shows, when she noticed that the tour dates included several boldface digits.

Presidential Address

Fans quickly interpreted this as a Los Angeles telephone number. People who called it heard a recording of a newscaster announcing, Presidential address: America is born again, followed by a distorted snippet of what could only be a new Nine Inch Nails song. Then, a woman named Ana reported finding a USB flash drive in a bathroom stall at the hall where the band had been playing. On the drive was a previously unreleased song, which she promptly uploaded. The metadata tag on the song contained a clue that led to a site displaying a glowing wheat field, with the legend America Is Born Again.
Clicking and dragging the mouse across the screen, however, revealed a much grimmer-looking site labeled Another Version of the Truth. Clicking on that led to a forum about acts of underground resistance. . ~ Secret Websites, Coded Messages: The New World of Immersive Games, by Frank Rose
The story continues in Part Five

In 2008, General David Howell Petraeus and Marine Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis were recalled to the continental United States by President George W. Bush.

Petraeus' Knot to Untie

From late 2005 through to early 2007, Petraeus and Mattis had assembled an extraordinarily diverse group of military officers, academics, human rights advocates, and journalists at the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center (CAC) located at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Together, they had jointly overseen the publication of Field Manual 3-24, giving definition to a new doctrine for Counterinsurgency. Petraeus integrated the study of counterinsurgency into lesson plans and training exercises, recognising the fact that soldiers often performed duties far different than those they trained for. The General also stressed the importance of teaching soldiers how to think as well as how to fight and the need to foster flexibility and adaptability in leaders.
These skills were now required to meet a new challenge, the threat posed by a new and insidious enemy, the mysteriously named terrorist group America Is Born Again . The story continues in Part Two

In 2008, General David Howell Petraeus and Marine Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis returned from Iraq to an America beset by terrorism, ravaged by climate change, and ruled by a Christian military dictatorship.

Tell Me How This Ends

At the airport, Petraeus asked Washington Post reporter Rick Atkinson the rhetorical question Tell me how this ends , an anecdote he and other journalists have used to portray Petraeus as an early recognizer of the difficulties posed by the mysteriously named terrorist group America Is Born Again .
The story continues in Part Three

In 2009, on this day counter-insurgency specialist General David Howell Petraeus arrived at the south-eastern end of Cuba.

To the island, in chains

Former President George W. Bush had instructed Petraeus to eliminate the threat posed by the mysteriously named terrorist group America Is Born Again. Petraeus had many answers to find, perhaps some would be answered today. For those questions would be presented to Osama Bin Laden, recently arrived at the detainment camp at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. Petraeus packed away the work of fiction he had read on the flight, and began to mentally prepare for the interview.
In the beginning of days Sauron served Aule the Smith. From Aule he learnt much of forging and making, knowledge that he would make use of many thousands of years later when he built the Barad-dur and forged the One Ring. In the earliest days, Sauron was seduced into the service of the first Dark Lord, and Sauron became the greatest and most trusted of his followers. While Udun still stood in the dark north of the world, Sauron was given command of his lesser fortress of Angband. At length, the Valar assaulted Sauron's master and took him in chains back to Valinor, but Sauron escaped, and remained in Middle-earth. ~ JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings
The story will continue in Part Seven ..

In 2009, for counterinsurgency specialists General David Howell Petraeus and Marine Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis the unfolding of the Year Zero scenario was as puzzling as it was frightening.

Year Zero

We didn't know where it [Year Zero] was going, said Petraeus.
We had no idea of the scope. That was the most frightening element of the conspiracy - not knowing what would come next. Debates at U.S. Army Combined Arms Center (CAC) located at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas raged as to whether it had anything to do with Philip K. Dick or the Bible, how it compared with Children of Men or V for Vendetta, and why the Year Zero Web sites kept referring to something called the Presence, which appeared to be a giant hand reaching down from the sky. It was like, bang-bang-bang - there were so many things happening at once, Petraus said. It was one gigantic burst of insurgency. ~ Secret Websites, Coded Messages: The New World of Immersive Games, by Frank Rose
The story will continue in Part Six ..

Steve Payne

Editor of Today in Alternate History, a Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In History That Never Occurred Today.

Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items explore that possibility. Possibilities such as America becoming a Marxist superpower, aliens influencing human history in the 18th century and Teddy Roosevelt winning his 3rd term as president abound in this interesting fictional blog.

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