Rigged

by James Rosone

  The President caught the Secretary of State staring off into space, deep in her own thoughts. “Haley, do you have any thoughts on how we should proceed? You’ve been rather quiet.”

  She blushed. “I’m sorry, Mr. President. I was stewing on what General Peterson said about all these coincidences happening, all conveniently around the time of our presidential election. Sir, these countries that we’ve linked to either the terrorist attacks or the election interference all have a couple of things in common.”

  “What’s that?” asked the AG.

  “They’ve all either been targeted with sanctions by you or have been forced to accept new or revised trade deals that have cost them dearly,” the Secretary of State explained. “Prior to you becoming President, China had an annualized economic growth of 9 percent for nearly fifteen years. In the last four years, that growth has been cut down to 4 percent. They’ve gone from having $635.4 billion a year in trade and a $375.6 billion trade surplus with the US to $440 billion in trade and a surplus of $180 billion. They’ve lost hundreds of billions of dollars in trade with us, and it’s hurt them economically. The technology sanction you imposed has also completely cut them out of the 5G market in the US. That alone cost them probably close to two or three trillion dollars in revenue over the next ten years.”

  “I can see that angle with the Chinese, but where do the Germans, French or Russians fit into this?” asked Patty.

  “China, Russia and France are all permanent members of the UN Security Council,” Secretary of State Kagel explained. “As to Germany, they essentially run the EU—well, them and France. Your trade policies have curtailed the EU significantly and your withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord really turned the Europeans off. They really feel like you’ve doomed the world to an unstoppable climate disaster. Let’s also not forget that Johann Behr was the German Foreign Minister before he became the UN Secretary-General.”

  Sachs leaned in. “You really think all of this turmoil being created in our country is over money and trade? Retribution for me putting America’s interest first instead of the world’s?”

  Secretary Kagel nodded. “I do. I know that may be hard to accept, Mr. President, but you’re not from the world of politics or intelligence. You’ve upset the global apple cart. These are powerful forces you’ve gone against.”

  “It’s just money—they can always make more,” Sachs shot back angrily.

  Kagel shook her head. “It’s not just about money, Mr. President. It’s about power; it’s about regime survival and shaping the future. Your energy policies are crushing the Russians. They’re a petrol state, a one-resource economy that now has to compete against American shale and natural gas resources that they can’t even imagine. In Germany and France, they are so heavily burdened by their nanny state policies that your new trade deal with Britain after they left the EU really undercut their trade balances.

  “The Germans have been supporting most of Europe for nearly two decades; that new trade deal you rammed down their throats is going to hurt them. Then there’s China—all the Chinese care about is regime survival. They have over 1.6 billion people—that’s 1.6 billion people that are consuming more resources than they can possibly grow or mine themselves. Then you factor in the trade deals that have laid off tens of millions of people and the regime is facing the reality of massive protests and food riots. They can’t survive another decade if you balance our trade deficit with them or cut them off from being able to steal our technology.”

  She let out a sigh. “I hate to say it, Mr. President, but, yes, it is all about money, trade, and most importantly, power.”

  Sachs stared at the ceiling for a moment.

  All I wanted to do was protect our people and give the little guy a fair shake, he thought.

  “OK. Let’s assume that’s what this is about,” the President said. “Who can we count on as allies right now?”

  Secretary Kagel leaned forward. “Right now, I’d say no one. I think the UK is going to sit on the sidelines and see how this plays out. That’s probably a good thing because if the Labour government was in power, they’d probably be jumping on board with this UN peacekeeping nonsense. I’d like to say most of Eastern Europe is probably on our side, but they won’t get involved militarily. They’ll offer tacit support, but they’ll look to stay out of it. The Middle East…that’s going to become a mess. Unless the Israelis work something out with the Saudis and the Egyptians, they’re going to be on their own. In Asia, Japan and South Korea will look to sit things out. Neither of those nations want to draw the ire of China, especially when they know they won’t be able to rely on us to help them because we’ll be bogged down dealing with our own problems here. For the moment, Mr. President, I’d say we’re on our own.”

  The SecDef nodded. “We need to focus on using the oceans to our advantage. While this UN force in Canada is a threat, we can isolate them with our Navy. Once we cut them off from their supply lines in Europe and Asia, we’ll be able to pick them apart. I can’t see this confrontation lasting more than a few weeks if we’re forced to actually fight.”

  “OK, then, let’s bring the others back in and formulate a plan to get things rolling. If these turncoat allies want to play hardball, then let’s show them what’s what.”

  He turned to the Secretary of State. “Haley, tomorrow I want you to announce our withdrawal from NATO, as well as our withdrawal from the Five Eyes. I want everyone cut off from our shared intelligence apparatus. I also want the NSA completely turned loose on the rest of the world. I want to know what every government is saying, thinking, and planning to do to us.”

  He shifted to face the Secretary of Defense. “Chuck, order our Navy, air and ground forces from around the world back home. Do it as quickly as possible, too. I don’t want our guys to get stuck should these countries decide to play hardball with our withdrawal.”

  McElroy nodded and mumbled, “This is going to create one heck of a power vacuum around the world.”

  “Forget them. The world’s been playing us long enough. We’re bringing our forces home. If these UN turncoats decide they want a fight, then we’ll give them a fight they won’t soon forget.” Sachs slammed his fist on the table.

  The President looked at McElroy, the man who’d have to execute his orders. A wicked grin began to spread across his face.

  “Yes, Mr. President,” he said.

  From the Authors

  Miranda and I hope you’ve enjoyed this first book in our Second American Civil War Series. The next book, Peacekeepers, is already available for preorder. Simply click on the link here to reserve your copy.

  While you are waiting for the next book to be released, we do have several audiobooks coming out. The first four books of the Red Storm Series have been released: Battlefield Ukraine, Battlefield Korea, Battlefield Taiwan, and Battlefield Pacific. The last two books are still in production as of the publishing of this book but will be released soon. We did hit a snag with the production of the last audiobook in the World War III series, but we are in the process of recasting for that book as well.

  If you would like to stay up to date on new releases and receive emails about any special pricing deals we may make available, please sign up for our email distribution list. Simply go to http://www.author-james-rosone.com and scroll to the bottom of the page.

  As independent authors, reviews are very important to us and make a huge difference to other prospective readers. If you enjoyed this book, we humbly ask you to write up a positive review on Amazon and Goodreads. We sincerely appreciate each person that takes the time to write one.

  We have really valued connecting with our readers via social media, especially on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/RosoneandWatson/. Sometimes we ask for help from our readers as we write future books—we love to draw upon all your different areas of expertise. We also have a group of beta readers who get to look at the books before they are officially published and help us fine-tune last-minute adjust
ments. If you would like to be a part of this team, please go to our author website: http://www.author-james-rosone.com, and send us a message through the “Contact” tab. You can also follow us on Twitter: @jamesrosone and @AuthorMirandaW. We look forward to hearing from you.

  You may also enjoy some of our other works. A full list can be found below:

  Nonfiction:

  Iraq Memoir 2006–2007 Troop Surge

  Interview with a Terrorist

  Fiction:

  World War III Series

  Prelude to World War III: The Rise of the Islamic Republic and the Rebirth of America

  Operation Red Dragon and the Unthinkable

  Operation Red Dawn and the Invasion of America

  Cyber Warfare and the New World Order

  Michael Stone Series

  Traitors Within

  The Red Storm Series

  Battlefield Ukraine

  Battlefield Korea

  Battlefield Taiwan

  Battlefield Pacific

  Battlefield Russia

  Battlefield China

  Children’s Books:

  My Daddy has PTSD

  For the Veterans

  I have been pretty open with our fans about the fact that PTSD has had a tremendous direct impact on our lives; it affected my relationship with my wife, job opportunities, finances, parenting—everything. It is also no secret that for me, the help from the VA was not the most ideal form of treatment. Although I am still on this journey, I did find one organization that did assist the healing process for me, and I would like to share that information.

  Welcome Home Initiative is a ministry of By His Wounds Ministry, and they run seminars for veterans and their spouses for free. The weekends are a combination of prayer and more traditional counseling and left us with resources to aid in moving forward. The entire cost of the retreat—hotel costs, food, and sessions, are completely free from the moment the veteran and their spouse arrive at the location.

  If you feel that you or someone you love might benefit from one of Welcome Home Initiative’s sessions, please visit their website to learn more: https://welcomehomeinitiative.org/

  We have decided to donate a portion of our profits to this organization, because it made such an impact in our lives and we believe in what they are doing. If you would also like to donate to Welcome Home Initiative and help to keep these weekend retreats going, you can do so by following this link: https://welcomehomeinitiative.org/donate/

  Abbreviation Key

  AGAttorney General

  BNDBundesnachtrichtendienst (German intelligence agency)

  BRACBase Realignment and Closure

  CGCommanding General

  COCOMCombatant Command

  CONUSContiguous States

  CPACertified Public Accountant

  CRContinuing Resolution

  DEVGRUUS Naval Special Warfare Development Group (SEAL Team Six)

  DoDDepartment of Defense

  DOJDepartment of Justice

  EOExecutive Order

  HQHeadquarters

  HRTHostage Rescue Team

  IDIdentification

  IEDImprovised Explosive Device

  ISBIslamic State of Bosnia

  ISKIslamic State of Kosovo

  ISSIslamic State in Serbia

  ITInformation Technology

  J2Intelligence Officer

  J3Operations Chief

  JSOCJoint Special Forces Operations Command

  JWICSJoint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System

  KFORKosovo Forces

  KHSKosova Hacker’s Security

  KIAKilled in Action

  MANPADMan-Portable Air-Defense Systems

  MMOMassive Multiplayer Online

  MUPSerbian Ministry of Internal Affairs

  NCONoncommissioned Officer

  NMCCNational Military Command Center

  NORADNorth American Air Defense Command

  NRONational Reconnaissance Office

  NSANational Security Advisor OR National Surveillance Agency

  ODAOperational Detachments-A (“A-Teams”)

  OGAOther Government Agency (CIA)

  ORAOther Reporting Agency (refers to CIA members who are not on official cover)

  ORCONOriginator Controls Dissemination and/or Release of the Document (US government classification control, which means that you must ask the person who provided the information to you for permission to disseminate it further)

  PMCPrivate Military Contractor

  QRFQuick Reaction Force

  RAFRoyal Air Force

  RNCRepublican National Convention

  RSORegional Security Officer

  SACSpecial Agent-in-Charge

  SADSpecial Activities Division

  SCIFSensitive Compartmented Information Facility

  SFSpecial Forces

  SGSecretary-General

  SIGINTSignals Intelligence

  SITREPSituation Report

  SOCOMSouthern Command

  SSESensitive Site Exploitation

  SVTCSecured Video Teleconference

  TDYTemporary Duty

  TEDACTerrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center

  WTOWorld Trade Organization

  UKUnited Kingdom

  * * *

  [1] https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/06/09/the-thucydides-trap/amp/