On Russia and the Big Red Button

Day 934, 22:45 • Published in USA Canada • by Jacobi
An Introduction...of sorts.

Hello, and thank you for picking up this brand new edition of the Merchantman newspaper. This is the first issue of the Merchantman since I was accepted for American citizenship, so I hope that current (and future!) subscribers will be patient in this transition.

As some may not know, my name is Jacobi and I was at six points the Prime Minister of Canada, and am proud to be one of the authors of the Brolliance Treaty. So when I decided to flee my home and native land for a warmer climate, the US was a natural option. I have to say that while I'm still carving out a role for myself (and this article is certainly a part of that) the welcome I've received has been greatly appreciated. : ). Currently, I am a member of Army Group West, getting myself sorted out and all that fun stuff, as well as member of the Bureau of Ambassadorial Affairs. So yeah, eager to experience American-ness ; )

A Button to Push


In actual fact, finding the attack button is not as easy as Staples would have you believe

I think most people who have been a President at some point in their erepublik lives would have to feel some small trace of envy for the position in which our current President finds himself in. It's the eve of a major shift in game play and you've been handed a gift straight out of Soviet Russia. The thought of 16 MPPs on Russia is a strategic dream come true, and its truly a blessing that the Big Red Button is hidden off far from an alluring view.

Now, should the President push the button? Or should he look at this as more of an ace in our strategic sleeve, something to deploy in the fairly complicated blocking manoevers that could occur when we make another play for Lion King?

The answer, for me at least, would appear to lie in how prepared one thinks the US military is to fight in the V2 battlefield versus our level of preparedness today. An operation today, to have any chance of success, would involve extensive preparation with EDEN as well as a significant expenditure of gold for what would be a plan to deny benefits to Russia in the coming months rather than successfully exploit them ourselves. I'm not sure there are many people who believe that in the current environment, WSR could be held longer than a couple of months, a period of time that would cripple the Russian economy but would be too brief for American companies to legitimately exploit.

An operation today would also run the risk of happening during the V2 migration, and who knows what fresh hells await us during that time. Do we really want to be running a major war during what may charitably be described as a “buggy” time in erepublik history? I can see the fun factor, but if I had my way I'd rather leaders couple fun thinking with good strategic sense.

Fun and strategic sense, depending on how prepared we come out of the gate (and kudos on the Bonds, very good idea) for V2. We have a major card that we can play pretty anytime we wish, and playing it just after the initial wave of V2 new-ness might be the best time to capitalize on new growth from a new game, and giving Americans the fun of being directly involved in the first major war of the new system.... a war that will decidedly be fought on our terms.

As tempting as pushing the button now may be, the rewards that holding the sword of damocles over the Russian bear would bring far outweight what would now be a war without meaning.

For the pacifists in the crowd, I do not recommend at any point attempting diplomacy to close the war. The US and Russia, due to proximity, due to population, due to finances, due to resources, are never fated to be the best of friends and the most that could be received from talking is letting them off the hook for poking a tiger with a stick. The worst case scenario would be invasion, and with the odds of their success being woefully low, that worst case scenario would basically be a free training war for us. Not something to be frightened of surely.

I'm not sure if the President is a subscriber, but my advice is to tease, to taunt, to have some fun with holding Russia's national security hostage, but to ultimately wait on any offensive operation until we get more of the lay of the V2 land.

Obligatory CANCON


Indeed.

Damnatio memoriae

Damnatio memoriae was a form of dishonor that was passed upon leaders of the Rome who brought the Empire into disrepute due to their actions or behavior. Now, I don't know if its because as a country Canada simply lacks people willing to say unpopular things or if its because there's a prevailing sense that the boat should not be rocked, but seriously? 2600 gold frozen, the entirety of the V2 fund, what has been saved up for months to put Canada into contention, and the best that the Canadian media could do is a new player bemoaning the loss, cryptic messages from JBDivinus that failed to incite more than whispers and a few off handed references to what amounts to the greatest loss Canada has ever faced.

So I'll say it for everyone: Fram “losing” the password and the email of the National Bank of Canada organization shows him to either be the most incompetent President Canada has ever had or the greatest criminal that Canada has ever had.

When I was President, security for emails was simple and did not need to be changed. Why Fram did, I do not know. When I was President, I had a hard copy on my desk and an electronic copy elsewhere...there would have been no excuse for me to lose a password. Not one. There is no excuse for basic security measures failing to be followed by the leader of the country....except complacency.

Canada, I know you can't impeach a guy who says he's quit, but you can at least let people remember never to trust him if he comes back. And if he doesn't like it? He can find the damned password.


John "Jacobi" Carpenter