Chapter 6

Jack said, “In my timeline, the United States destroyed its nuclear armament because our leaders felt that we weren’t responsible enough to own them.”

“They were right. In my timeline, we nuked Iran,” Jane said.

Attacking Iran with nuclear weapons almost brought the world to a global war. The only thing that actually prevented that from happening was the fact that President Taylor, in no uncertain terms, said that he would use them again if the United States was attacked. On the floor of the United Nations, he had announced a new international policy in very plain language: “Don’t fuck with the United States!”

While international fears about irrationality of the government of the United States rose, the American people reacted with horror at the actions of their president. The average American could not comprehend any reason why their government would use such a horrific weapon. For several decades the rules of war had stressed avoiding collateral damage. The soldiers may not have always been successful, but they tried despite the awful fog of war where it was difficult to tell friend from foe. Those who failed were prosecuted.

Nuking a city that was filled with innocent bystanders sickened the American people. It terrified the international community, turned away allies and hardened the hatred felt by enemies. It was use of a weapon of mass destruction.

Ed Taylor was brought before the House of Representatives on the charge of High Crimes and Misdemeanors. It was not clear that attacking another country with nuclear weapons belonged in that category. Many argued that the attack was a form of treason. Arguments over the appropriate charges took nearly four months to resolve. The House of Representatives then took another four months before it finally came out with a verdict. Ed Taylor was impeached on the charge of High Crimes and Misdemeanors.

The trial in the Senate dragged on for months. It was as if the Senate was unwilling to bring a verdict. Observers kept wondering why the trial was taking so long. It was a fact that evidence was presented that did not reach the eyes and ears of an anxiously watching public.

Many in the press hypothesized that Ed Taylor had been justified in using the weapons, but no one in the Senate would comment upon that speculation. The absence of leaks, derogatory remarks, and snide comments by Senators who would normally have swarmed over him like maggots on a corpse was suspicious to say the least.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending upon one’s perspective, Ed’s term ended before the Senate managed to arrive at a verdict. He left office in a cloud of controversy. The laws he had passed remained in effect for decades. The cost had been that the American psyche had undergone a major metamorphosis.

President Edward Andrew Taylor went down in history with the nickname, ‘The Bastard.’ Much to the chagrin of many Americans, he seemed to take a certain kind of pride in the nickname stating that he, at times, wished that he had done more to deserve it. There was absolutely no sense of shame about his acts or even hints of self-doubt.

The subsequent president was less confrontational and much more subtle when responding to threats to the country. It didn’t matter. The damage had been done in the international political arena and the American psyche was crippled to the extent that the populous was unwilling to rise to the challenge of regaining a leadership role in the world.

“In my timeline, Iran nuked six countries,” Jack said.

Jane stared at Jack without saying a word.

“China finally did in Iran,” Jack said. “They nuked that country back to pre-historic days — way back in pre-historic days — like before the dinosaurs even roamed the earth. All that was left was glass.”

“Oh,” Jane said.

“Yeah. Iran killed over forty million people with its nukes,” Jack said.

“What did the United States do?” Jane asked.

In a mocking voice, Jack said, “We shook a finger at Iran and told them that they were very, very naughty.”

“They had to do more than that,” Jane said.

“No. Doing something about that situation would have been an act of American Imperialism. We weren’t going to be guilty of that so we watched Israel take four nukes and didn’t do a damned thing about it,” Jack said.

“Nothing?”

“We did nothing.”

Jane said, “I can’t believe that.”

“There was some good news. The Palestinian issue was resolved when one of Iran’s nukes missed Israel and hit Palestine instead. I suppose they should have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize for it, but they didn’t.”

“Iran didn’t have nukes when we bombed it,” Jane said.

“Are you sure of that?” Jack asked convinced that the two timelines didn’t differ that significantly in terms of technological development.

“I’m pretty sure,” Jane answered without much confidence.

She was beginning to wonder if that was why Congress had dragged its feet in getting President Taylor out of office. It was quite possible that they knew his actions were justified. Maybe some of the wilder speculations about the trial had been correct.

Jack said, “The first we knew of Iran being a nuclear power was when the first mushroom cloud was spotted over Tel Aviv. They promised to get rid of Israel and they kept their promise. You know, sometimes when someone says that they are going to kill you, you should believe them.”

“When was that?”

“2017.”

“That was the same year that Ed Taylor bombed them,” Jane said, still not accepting that the delays in convicting Ed Taylor were a result of evidence that he had acted correctly.

“He’s clearly an irresponsible asshole,” Jack said with a smirk.

“Shut up,” Jane said angrily.

“American Imperialism. I hate that term. I used to hear it almost every day when I was in school. I was told to be ashamed of this country and all that it had done,” Jack said.

In coming back to this time and learning more about this country, Jack had found pride in this country. Like every human endeavor, this great experiment had tripped and fallen in its history. There were some pretty bad episodes in its past. There were massacres, a period of slavery, and intolerance. It had to be remembered that men and women of good character stood up and stopped those practices; though sometimes the actions of well-meaning people didn’t have the great ends that motivated the acts.

Despite many ugly things, where each individual gets to decide what is ugly or not, America had one saving characteristic: introspection. How many countries will examine their behavior and change it because they have concluded that their actions are unfair or wrong? That it occurs at all is something in which a person should take pride. The fact that such introspection occurs continuously, and is given voice, should be celebrated.

One day in school he had watched a film on how the United States was responsible for pulling Japan into World War II. The war didn’t start with the surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor but with the Flying Tigers in China and trade embargoes. It was asserted that favorable trade practices with Japan would have prevented a war with that country. Instead, by restricting the sale of war materials to Japan the United States forced Japan into attacking it.

Jack had believed that line of garbage for about three seconds. One of his classmates had argued Japan was clearly the aggressor. After all, the war in the East started with its invasion of China and would have eventually attacked the United States regardless of the trade policies.

The student was escorted from the room and Jack never saw him again. That was the day when Jack learned the most important lesson of his life – never tell anyone what you really think. From that day forth, Jack mastered the art of double-think – say one thing in a very convincing manner while thinking the complete opposite.

Jane said, “It accurately describes a lot of the American activities during the cold war. We were putting up puppet governments all over the globe.”

“So was the Soviet Union,” Jack said. “In fact, a lot of the governments we put in place replaced governments that had been put in place by the Soviet Union.”

“No. The Marxist movements in Africa and South America were genuine. Maybe the Soviets did provide some help, but the desire was a real desire. It was American interference that destroyed legitimate governments,” Jane said.

Jack said, “Having lived under a socialist regime, I feel that we did the best thing in the world for those other countries.”

“It wasn’t our place to make that decision,” Jane said.

Jack asked, “If not us, then who? Who spoke for the millions that Iran killed?”

“It didn’t happen that way in my timeline. We killed millions of people with that nuke,” Jane said.

“He saved millions more by using it,” Jack asserted.

“It isn’t a numbers game,” Jane said hotly.

“Yes it is,” Jack said flatly.

Jane thought about that statement for several minutes. Was it a numbers game? He asserted that it was better for a few to suffer, so that the majority wouldn’t. It was a harsh worldview that he supported. On the other hand, she felt that each individual of the majority should give up a little so that the few wouldn’t have to suffer. From the things Jack said about his timeline, it appeared that the majority had given up more than just a little. She wasn’t sure what to think any more.

Breaking the silence that had descended in the room, Jack asked, “Did the United States remain a sovereign nation?”

“In a way,” Jane answered.

“In what way?” Jack asked.

“A world government was formed in 2043. The United States became a member nation in 2045,” Jane answered.

“Pity,” Jack said.

“Actually it has worked quite a lot better than many Americans anticipated,” Jane said.

Joining the world government had been one of the most contentious issues in American politics since the arguments over slavery in the 1850s. Many opponents to the proposal blamed the national guilt left by the actions of Ed Taylor as the motivating force for joining. Proponents made the same argument – it was Ed Taylor’s fault that forced them to join the international community as a regular member.

One condition of joining was that there was a reorganization of debts owed by member nations. The United States actually came out ahead on the deal after struggling with debt for decades. Ed Taylor had reduced American debt in half, but the half that remained continued to cripple the economy of the country for more than two decades. Social Security and Medicare costs constituted the majority of the national budget.

“Things like that start out well and then degrade,” Jack said contemptuously.

He was beginning to wonder if he should advise Ed Taylor that it would be best to let Iran bomb Israel before taking action against the country. His plans weren’t set in concrete. The future had yet to be written, but it could still be affected.

Rather than argue the point, Jane asked, “How about in your timeline?”

“In my timeline the country became a puppet nation of China. Whatever China wanted it got. We even had Chinese military bases in Hawaii, Alaska, California, Florida, and North Carolina. They moved in during the 30s as partial payment of the debt we owed them. Actually, it was more like we were covering the interest on the debt that we owed them,” Jack said.