The International Tribune - [Superique goes to Brussels]

[Deus Naturae]

I don't agree with everything that JCL's said in this thread, but it's a fair point that it isn't really fair for the SoEA to be able to decide everything that happens while at the same time being tasked to come up with responses and solutions. It would probably be best if the SoEA's narration powers were transferred to the GM and there was a chance that the SoEA's attempts to accomplish various goals could fail.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

The reason I'm calling craziness here is I find it drastically implausible that Israel would be under a Labor government that would blindly give up defensible borders for a false peace. Even with the changes made to the American government that the game has ran under since 2004 or therebouts.

[Sec. of State Superique]

I had GM backing and there was not a single day which anyone complained to me about anything. So now that everything is done, it's surely pretty easy. Nonetheless, I highly believe that Atlasian policies would have changed Israeli Political Landscape quite strongly and that RL backing for the Middle East will not always be efficient.

[Sec. of State Superique]

Oh and the defensible borders argument is terrible...

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

I had GM backing and there was not a single day which anyone complained to me about anything. So now that everything is done, it's surely pretty easy. Nonetheless, I highly believe that Atlasian policies would have changed Israeli Political Landscape quite strongly and that RL backing for the Middle East will not always be efficient.

Then the GM was wrong and you are wrong for following him/her.

Oh and the defensible borders argument is terrible...

Your actions have put the nation of Israel in serious danger of being over ran by radicals who want to, by religious dictate, drive them into the sea. Every nation has a right to defensible borders and you have denied that to Israel. My argument is not to quote my geologist girlfriend "terribad" It's a just argument against this unjust treaty forced upon Israel. It is bad policy to favor those who are not a recognized nation and against a longtime ally. I strongly urge this government to recant its favor of the Arabs and Palestinians and return to loyal and steadfast friendship with Israel. This debate is not over.

[Sec. of State Superique]

I don't know why I keep wasting my time with you... One of the main reasons why this deal was made was for the sake of Atlasia's Foreign Policy. For non-interventionist, libertarian, communists and many other things here in Atlasia, the sole issue that you want to talk about is Israel and Palestine. I was glad that almost everyone was satisfied with the result, untill you arrived and started to criticize something that was carefully designed since Sjoyce and that I was developing since the end of last year. The issue was up to the Atlasians for a long time, it's not my job to criticize my own job.

Now regarding the borders, I'm sorry, have you read the Security Scheme? The borders issue would be a point of concern during the 20th Century, but now, with Iron Dome, the Peace Accords Security Arrangement, with the demilitarization of Palestine, NATO's presence and so many other actions to tackle terrorism and aggression against Israel I see no reason why you should oppose a deal made by the two parties in a fair and democratic way. Moreover, Israel got almost every single settlement that it created illegally by UN-standards and illegitimate by ours  and you still say that the Deal was not FAIR?

It's nice to keep repeating your campaing slogans, your right-wing foreign policy speech, but there are times to take it easy, read everything carefully and start thinking by yourself and not by the way the someone that you like in the Internet told you to do. The Peace Deal is fantastic, it has dealt with so many great things, why don't you take a time and start really thinking about the deal itself rather than just keep talking: "Meh Not defensible borders" "Meh united Jerusalem" "Meh I love Netanyahu and believe that he would still be elected despite an Atlasian and an International movement that almost isolated in-Game Israel"....

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

Those settlements are legal. Neither the UN or our state department has the right to say otherwise.  Why shouldn't Israel be able to build on their own land? Atlasia is wrong for leading the isolation of Israel movement. Go after countries that refuse women's rights like the Arab ones Go after those who are anti-lgbt rights like the Arabs. Go after countries diplomatically that suppress religious freedom like the Arabs.  Quit attacking the only representative democracy in the region just to placate some piece of political correctness. I don't get you on the left who support tyrannical Islamic regimes who suppress women's and gay rights yet you go after the country in the Middle East that allows for more freedom for women and gays than Israel. It's the worst oxymoron that could be conceived of in the game or in rl. Why are we not hard balling the Saudis over women's rights when it's possible that the Saudi elite engage in trafficking of the kind I crusade against on our soil?

[Sec. of State Superique]

As my confirmation is soon approaching. I shall reactivate this website as soon as possible.

[Sec. of State Superique]

TOPEKA ATTACK SPEECH - “They will pay for their crimes”

Today, Superique, the head of the State Department delivers a televised speech to all Atlasians in light of the recent attacks in Topeka. His intentions are to announce new security measures and provide advice to the Atlasian People.

A few hours ago, our nation was attacked domestically by a group of radical insurgents, leaving several injured and killing 18 people. Those were acts of terror, designed to create chaos and to threat the peace and prosperity of the Atlasian society. I’m severely shocked by this whole situation and I offer all my condolences to the relatives that have lost family members in the Topeka Bomb Attack. Let there be no doubt, those who call themselves the True Atlasian Patriots and the Patriotic Militia of Atlasia will pay for their crimes. Hence, as a responsible for the Defense Department, the CIA and the NSA, I decided to take the following executive orders to strengthen our fight against those terrorists and in order to promote the effective compliance with law and order.

State Department Directive #3
In light of the recent terrorist attacks in Topeka, Kansas, the Atlasian Department of State hereby orders that:

(1) Hunting down the PMA and the TAP
a) The National Security Agency shall assist the law enforcing federal and regional authorities in tracking the location of the terrorists from the Patriotic Militia of Atlasia and the True Atlasian Patriots. Furthermore, it shall create a special team to investigate both terrorist organizations and prevent them of further action.
(2) Protecting Law & Order across the nation
a) The National Guard shall be prepared for conflict in case of further attacks across the country. Its main mission is to help other security forces. In the absence of any of those, the National Guard may act on its own.
b)The National Guard shall be in full mobilization for the next 48 hours. It shall assist police patrolling along the Regions and focus on the protection of public buildings. This mobilization will continue in case of further Directives.

Patriotism is about caring about your People,
fighting for the advance of our nation
and defending our Constitution

Read my lips: those Terrorists are no Patriots. There is nothing of patriotic on the TAP and the PMA. Patriotism is about caring about your People, fighting for the advance of our nation and defending our Constitution. Those insurgents are promoting chaos, they are putting innocent citizenry lives at risk and they are creating a situation that makes us more fragile. However they will fail, because Atlasia is greater than this pathetic and senseless bigotry, because the significant majority of our People support our authorities and because our nation has fought against much wider threats and challenges.

Militias can get out of control
and pose a real threat to a country’s stability

I must say that I was surprised by the huge enthusiasm of some of our citizens to create militias and, while I applaud that People are willing to take up in arms to fight for the Atlasian principles, I must say that this is not the proper way to protect our nation. All across the world, militias, except in some cases, can get out of control and pose a real threat to a country’s sovereignty and stability. That is why I command that all of our current established militias disband and stop circulating with heavy weaponry across our nation.  I will be very clear: militias cannot be tolerated.

We will bring peace that Atlasia deserves.

So, you may ask yourselves, if I can’t take part in those militias, what I can do for our nation? There are many ways to fight against those radicals and one of the best ways is supporting our security forces over their mission. If they ask you to cooperate and to help them with information, be respectful and assist them the best way you can. If you have seen strange behavior over a specific area, report to any law enforcement authority as soon as possible. If you are a worker on strike, respect those hard times of our country and temporarily wait to keep fighting for your just cause. And, the most important to all citizens: remain calm. The White House and its Cabinet will do everything we can to protect our Nation and bring the peace we all deserve.

Dave Bless the Constitution, Dave Bless the Atlasian People, Dave Bless Atlasia.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I must say that I was surprised by the huge enthusiasm of some of our citizens to create militias and, while I applaud that People are willing to take up in arms to fight for the Atlasian principles, I must say that this is not the proper way to protect our nation. All across the world, militias, except in some cases, can get out of control and pose a real threat to a country’s sovereignty and stability. That is why I command that all of our current established militias disband and stop circulating with heavy weaponry across our nation.  I will be very clear: militias cannot be tolerated.

To clarify, what about regional militias (ie: militias commanded by the regional governors per their constitutions, similar to National Guard units)? In the Mideast, a number of citizens have volunteered to serve in temporary militia companies under the command of Governor TDAS04. As the governor has assumed responsibility for these units, certainly they would not be lumped in with the extralegal militias in question?

[Sec. of State Superique]

To clarify, what about regional militias (ie: militias commanded by the regional governors per their constitutions, similar to National Guard units)? In the Mideast, a number of citizens have volunteered to serve in temporary militia companies under the command of Governor TDAS04. As the governor has assumed responsibility for these units, certainly they would not be lumped in with the extralegal militias in question?

Yes, maybe we should make things clearer. Due to the recent developments with regards to militias, we will respect the Regionally-supervised militias; we will not interfere on its regional duties. Nonetheless, this Administration still desires compliance with the rule of law and we will not accept militias in territories where they don't have legal basis to exist. There are some Regional Constitutions across Atlasia that doesn't support this sort of militia, which is not the case of the Mideast. Moreover, we would still like to say that we are not absolutely sure if those sort of militias are the most effective way to fight against those terrorist groups and we hope that the Regional Governments offer this militias with appropriate training before any conflict is started.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

To clarify, what about regional militias (ie: militias commanded by the regional governors per their constitutions, similar to National Guard units)? In the Mideast, a number of citizens have volunteered to serve in temporary militia companies under the command of Governor TDAS04. As the governor has assumed responsibility for these units, certainly they would not be lumped in with the extralegal militias in question?

Yes, maybe we should make things clearer. Due to the recent developments with regards to militias, we will respect the Regionally-supervised militias; we will not interfere on its regional duties. Nonetheless, this Administration still desires compliance with the rule of law and we will not accept militias in territories where they don't have legal basis to exist. There are some Regional Constitutions across Atlasia that doesn't support this sort of militia, which is not the case of the Mideast. Moreover, we would still like to say that we are not absolutely sure if those sort of militias are the most effective way to fight against those terrorist groups and we hope that the Regional Governments offer this militias with appropriate training before any conflict is started.

Thank-you, Mr. Secretary.

[Sec. of State Superique]

The State Department addresses the Iraqi Crisis.

Secretary of State addresses the matter in a Press Conference in Nyman outlining part of the Atlasian strategy to the Iraqi Collapse.

The collapse of Iraq is one of the most difficult foreign policy challenges from the 21st Century

Nyman, D.C.
28h of February, 2015.

After the tough days of domestic fight against terrorism, Secretary of State Superique was finally able to put focus on the most appropriate answers to the current developments over Iraq.  The Head of Atlasian Diplomacy, in a press conference this afternoon, mentioned that Atlasia endorses “an unified and democratic Iraq that respect all ethnicities.” He told reporters that the legitimate government of Iraq is definitely the Republic of Iraq, as recognized by the United Nations and the international law. However, the statesman argued that the existence of this new and unofficial Islamic Republic of Iraq signals that the Iraqi Government in Baghdad must take a new and different approach with regards to the different groups. “Iraq must be a multiethnic nation that respects the Shias, the Sunnis and the Kurds. We recognize that this pledge can be extremely difficult but, even so, this is our best hope to fight ISIS, bring stability to the Middle East and peace to the Iraqi People.”

"An unified and democratic Iraq that respect all ethnicities.
Our best hope to fight ISIS."

High-level officials from the Atlasian Government are deeply concerned with a huge collapse from the original region of the Republic of Iraq and that ethnic fights explode and an unprecedented spike on Terror happens. Hence, Superique told that the priority of both the Republic of Iraq and the unofficial Islamic Republic of Iraq should be to combat ISIS and that should be space of dialogue between both sides. “The best path for victory against those terrorists from the alleged ‘Islamic State’ is that the government from Baghdad and militants from Basra find a path for peaceful negotiations towards a unified front” told one high level diplomat from the State Department to a Press Conference. Some Foreign Policy experts are looking on this diplomatic approach as trying to create something similar of what happened in China during WWII (When Mao and Kai-Shek found a compromise to find Japan) but the future results are still very uncertain.

Full priority to diplomatic multilateral action

The Atlasian Government is giving full priority to diplomatic action before further military missions begin to be considered. There are rumors that the United Nations could be that specific forum for negotiations and it seems that the Secretary of State has in fact sent a private message to the Secretary General Ban Ki Moon probing this possibility of talks. The Administration is also considering a joint action designed by the UN Security Council involving all the International Community on this extremely important mission to find stability in Iraq and promote peace. Members from the State Department are also willing to return to the multilateral talks between Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Turkey and even Iran; “we cannot rule out any partner” told once Superique in a quick interview before entering the Truman Building for work.

After failed attempts of negotiations between Assad and Syrian Rebels, will Ban Ki Moon and the United Nations finally have a strong mandate to bring regional stability?

The Head of the Department of State took also the opportunity of the press conference to congratulate the recent Saudi Arabia actions towards the fight against terrorist funding and the current strengthening of the diplomatic relations between Atlasia and the Arab country. “We are glad that we have partners in the Middle East and I was personally moved by all of the recent acts of friendship promoted by the Saudi King and his government”, told Superique. He mentioned that he hopes that this cooperation remains solid and that the Saudi Government can support Atlasia also in the oil issue. It is a very common belief between most top levels diplomats from Atlasia that an eruption of oil production and increasingly low prices can be a factor of instability in the region and in the environment. The Administration highlighted that it is opening diplomatic channels to deal with this matter, especially with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The first ideas for a greater future work

The situation in Iraqi is definitely dangerous but there seems to be a limited scope of action to the Atlasian government alone and that is why unusual multilateral support maybe necessary for further action in the region. Superique told that most details of any solution for Iraq remain unresolved and that there are a lot of tasks that the Lumine Government can help with a initial approach but that further developments will only be able to be properly addressed by the President-elect Bore and his aides.

[Sec. of State Superique]

Oil Production Question - Press Release

Atlasian citizens,

We are glad to announce that after a few talks with the Emir of Kuwait, it has been decided that no increase in oil production will be made over the next two weeks. This preliminary solution leaves time to Atlasian Diplomacy to discuss the matter properly, specially since we are passing through a governmental transition period. The Department of State considers that stable oil production levels and, consequently, stable prices are important tools to bring economic, environmental and diplomatic balance. We thank the Kuwaiti Government for its sensibility and enduring friendship.

Yours sincerely,

xSecretary of State Superique.

[Potus]

Ground troops are basically the only option in Iraq. "MUH air strikes" don't do anything. Get serious.

[Cranberry]

Ground troops are basically the only option in Iraq. "MUH air strikes" don't do anything. Get serious.

Last I checked, you had time for more than a month to do just so, yet you chose to do nothing at all. Get serious.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Ground troops are basically the only option in Iraq. "MUH air strikes" don't do anything. Get serious.

Last I checked, you had time for more than a month to do just so, yet you chose to do nothing at all. Get serious.

[Sec. of State Superique]

Opening Channels of Communication with Russia and Kuwait - Press Release

Atlasian citizens,

In light of the recent developments in oil global production, the State Department would like to communicate that Atlasia is willing to start several strategic talks with the Russian Federation. Those talks would have the supervision, mediation and support from the European Commission. We will be glad if the current President of the European Commission, Monsieur Junker, help us with his huge experience as a statesman and with the whole political framework that the institutions which he leads can offer us. When Putin agreed to negotiate over Ukraine and then signed a deal with Potus2036, he was sending a message to the world and has made basically a moral compromise that the Russian Federation would be open to diplomatic multilateral peaceful solutions. We hope that the Russian leader honors that moral pledge.

Furthemore, we are particularly concerned about Kuwait safety, bordering an unofficial and not-recognized "Islamic Republic of Iraq", and we  would like to communicate that we are working on strategies over how to stranghen the Kuwaiti People safety. Let there be no doubt, we will not tolerate any agression that resembles the Kuwait Invasion of 1991 and we shall help our partner the best way we can.

Yours sincerely,

Secretary of State Superique.

[Maxwell]

Ground troops are basically the only option in Iraq. "MUH air strikes" don't do anything. Get serious.

Last I checked, you had time for more than a month to do just so, yet you chose to do nothing at all. Get serious.

Isn't it the Senate's authority to send for ground troops? Potus couldn't have done that unilaterally, obviously. Not that I agree with Potus at all on this issue, in fact I think his position on it is dangerous, but blaming him for not sending troops to fight ISIS is pretty ridiculous.

[windjammer]

Ground troops are basically the only option in Iraq. "MUH air strikes" don't do anything. Get serious.

Last I checked, you had time for more than a month to do just so, yet you chose to do nothing at all. Get serious.

Isn't it the Senate's authority to send for ground troops? Potus couldn't have done that unilaterally, obviously. Not that I agree with Potus at all on this issue, in fact I think his position on it is dangerous, but blaming him for not sending troops to fight ISIS is pretty ridiculous.

I can go on a bombing raid for 30 days without congressional authority. Following this, I need Senate authorization, which I have already said I will seek. Don't worry, we haven't done anything yet!

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

While making such decision is (happily) above my paygrade, as GM moderator I must provide informations when such moves are being considered.

Given our history regarding Iraq, putting ground troops there could help us achieve a brief tactical victory, but it would be a strategic disaster. First, we would destroy a fragile Kurdish-Sunni alliance and, let's be realistic here: Kurds cannot possibly dream of holding Iraq together on their own. Second, our presence again would give a huge credibility boost to both fundamentalists and the Iran-backed elements.

The best course of action seems to help organize multinational force (preferably dominated by our Arab allies) and support it with our full might.

[Maxwell]

Ground troops are basically the only option in Iraq. "MUH air strikes" don't do anything. Get serious.

Last I checked, you had time for more than a month to do just so, yet you chose to do nothing at all. Get serious.

Isn't it the Senate's authority to send for ground troops? Potus couldn't have done that unilaterally, obviously. Not that I agree with Potus at all on this issue, in fact I think his position on it is dangerous, but blaming him for not sending troops to fight ISIS is pretty ridiculous.

I can go on a bombing raid for 30 days without congressional authority. Following this, I need Senate authorization, which I have already said I will seek. Don't worry, we haven't done anything yet!

Yeah... so that would be Lumine's authority. Not Potus's.

[windjammer]

Ground troops are basically the only option in Iraq. "MUH air strikes" don't do anything. Get serious.

Last I checked, you had time for more than a month to do just so, yet you chose to do nothing at all. Get serious.

Isn't it the Senate's authority to send for ground troops? Potus couldn't have done that unilaterally, obviously. Not that I agree with Potus at all on this issue, in fact I think his position on it is dangerous, but blaming him for not sending troops to fight ISIS is pretty ridiculous.

I can go on a bombing raid for 30 days without congressional authority. Following this, I need Senate authorization, which I have already said I will seek. Don't worry, we haven't done anything yet!

Yeah... so that would be Lumine's authority. Not Potus's.

Could you stop being disingenous?
Foreign policy actions are decided by the president and the Secretary of State.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

The only reason Israel went along was because the GM put a friendly government in instead of the rightly elected Netanyahu one. Even with the Atlasian changes Israel's government should've largely followed RL.

"Rightly elected" lol...

JCL, this isn't a copy of the real world.

[Lumine]

The decision not to send ground troops was mine, and so is the full responsibility of that.

The situation evolved to the point in which I believed I had to choose between having a good degree of consensus between the coalition that we created to fight ISIS and going on our own despite Europe's potential opposition and the fact that a majority of Atlasia would have certainly opposed such a move, and I made my choice.