Part 22: East vs West Chapter I: Before the Storm: Iraq 1979-1980

...OK, the rest of Secret Denmark just isn't happening. For now, though, enjoy part one of an estimated three part bonus series: East vs West, a brief look. I don't want to do a full Let's Play of East vs West because Paradox doesn't want people to do those, but I don't think anyone would be hurt by a brief look at how the game progresses over the course of a few years. I intentionally picked the last start date, the 1979 campaign, to make sure that I have the least possible East vs West to cover.

East vs West Chapter I: Before the Storm: Iraq 1979-1980

Pleased to meet you, Ambassador. Oh, no, you don't need to call me Mr. President, Saddam will do fine. I'm new to this job myself, you know. I spent the last three years as second-in-command of this country under my uncle, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, but this past summer he...seemed more than ready for retirement, and I took the lead in encouraging him to step down for health reasons. Believe me, he's far healthier in retirement than he would have been if he had insisted on holding onto the reins of power. Ah, 1979 has been a year of transition for so many countries in this area of the world.



First Communists take over Afghanistan, then the Communists start shooting at each other. Have you heard the rumblings, my friend? The entire Islamic world lives in fascinated anticipation. The USSR prepares itself to put down Amin's regime as "the wrong sort of communist."




NATO's leaders don't care, of course.



They did send out the Americans to feebly warn Brezhnev not to act, but everyone knows that if you want a message to be taken seriously, Rome must say it, not Washington.



It would be a dangerous move for the Soviets to go charging blindly into Afghanistan, but having one of the world's preeminent superpowers tied down and distracted does have its advantages, which brings me to a related topic...oh, domestic policy? You wish to discuss that first, before the business of the day?



I had my problems with the government I inherited from uncle Bakr, I've made some changes since then:



We're on a war footing and we've extended some base degree of tolerance to the Shia, a concession you'll understand better if you understand with whom we're preparing to fight.



Can you believe the nerve of that old man? The "guardianship of the jurist," indeed! When has Islam allowed the ulema to rule? It's a radical break with tradition and it's an abomination not fit for the 20th century. Luckily, both the USA and the USSR agree that Khomeini is a bizarre Medieval throwback, and so they aren't going to react as harshly as they might to my plans.



Behold the Shatt-al-Arab, the lifeblood of my people. This tiny waterway, ending at the obscure port of Umm Qasr, is the only way my people's oil wealth can be brought to market. The oil-rich lands of Khuzestan in Iran are filled with Arabs who likely are sick of the idea of following a mad Persian cleric, and seizing that approach would greatly increase our force projection on the Persian Gulf, perhaps even permitting Iraq a modern navy.



Also, ever since Qasim rightly declared Kuwait Iraq's 19th province, Kuwait, the cork in the bottle that is Iraq, must go. Qasim was right about a fair amount of things, too bad he was a narcissistic pig and had to be taken out. Have you heard that I was injured in the assassination attempt on that old washed-up failure? The first of many sacrifices I made for this beautiful country.



You know, the entire African continent doesn't need to inform me when Ethiopia and Eritrea war on each other.




If we sign these meaningless treaties, will Rome and Moscow turn a blind eye to removing their mutual enemy in Tehran? Good.



War Games before the war, purges after the war.




Looks like the UN is too distracted to do much about this, either.



Syria? A disgrace to the Ba'athist name. Did you know that Hafez al-Assad actually expelled Michel Aflaq from Syria? How could someone claim to be a Ba'athist and then disrespect Aflaq like that? Today, Aflaq lives happily in Baghdad, the true homeland of Ba'athism. I don't think about Assad much, in fact, I've forgotten what he looks like.



Someday, Iraq will make this list, and you can tell your children that you were present at the birth of the greatest Arab empire since the days of Harun al-Rashid.

The World, 1980