The aim is not to challenge U.S. forces directly, but to persuade the Americans' hosts to send them home. The new Saudi government is the first to give way. It thanks the United States for its help and promptly rescinds all docking and basing rights. While the administration rushes to respond in the Persian Gulf, a new crisis develops in the Pacific. The international press uncovers and exposes the arrangement.
China is enraged.
It announces its intention to reunify the island within six months. Quid pro quo, the United States bolsters its forces in the region. The President insists that China step down from the proposed reunification and meet to discuss peaceful alternatives. Talks begin, but go nowhere. Immediately following the Presidential election, the United States launches an aggressive but unsuccessful diplomatic campaign in the Persian Gulf.