Kalistani Major History

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reprinted from 
The National Forum
Anne Walker Visits Battlefields, Blasts Government's Defense Policy
Dahriel,Anato
March 15. 4006


Today, National Conservative Party Leader Anne Walker made a highly-publicized visit to the battlefields of Anato to promote her new party's alternative defense policies and to call attention to what, in her eyes, were the crucial mistakes the ruling Socialist Party had made in their conduct of the bloody eight year war which devastated the region. Ms. Walker met with veterans and the families who had lost relatives in the struggle, paid her respects at the nearby military cemetery, toured a military hospital still full of casualties from the fighting (she was spotted with tears in her eyes at the bedside of an severely injured private), and visited troops still serving in the area.


Anne Walker, Leader of the National Conservative Party, greeting  members of the armed forces

Ms. Walker, a prominent businesswoman who had been previously active in local politics, founded the National Conservative Party just three months ago to address what she saw as a critical turning point in Kalistani history. She has been unapologetic and unbending in her call for free market capitalism and a strong national defense, seeking to prevent the nation's further decline after decades of socialist stagnation and the effects of the Indralan War.

Delivering an afternoon speech to a large assembly of local residents and garrisoned military personnel, Ms. Walker had this to say about her party's political competition's handling of the war:

We succeeded - just barely - in spite of the government's radically anti-military policy, not because of it. Thousands of lives could have been saved by both the deterrent effect of a standing, well-funded, professional army and by the increased military capability of such a force, which could have likely brought a quicker end to the fighting through a decisive victory. In their determination to protect the people's liberty (a concept with which, judging from their economic policy, the government is very fuzzy on), the government neglected to protect the people's safety from the most fundamental danger of all - foreign invasion. Eight long years of bloody war followed, extended, of course, by our abject and criminal unpreparedness. This is a conflict that could have been avoided or, if necessary, won far more quickly. And that, I believe, is unforgivable.

Ms. Walker addressing a town hall of Dahriel residents on defense policy

Following her initial remarks, Ms. Walker introduced several men who had made the trip with her. All were former military officers - veterans of the Indralan War, some who had been wounded in action - and now prominent members of the still-new National Conservative Party. They spoke, slamming the government in even harsher language for their recent vote against the NCP bill creating a standing armed forces.

Between their remarks and rest of Ms. Walker's, a picture emerged of the National Conservatives' defense policies, which Ms. Walker later explicitly confirmed to this paper: "We've just received the results of a study that we commissioned some months ago. Some of this nation's top military experts worked on it and we're confident that it's the correct path forward for Kalistan - peace through strength."

The NCP strategy would involve the creation of a standing, highly-trained core army of a moderate size, coupled with a dramatic expansion of the Navy to protect the Kalistani coast, deter potential future invasions, and project our power further abroad. Ms. Walker also advocated adjusting our policy on prisoners of war, which she contemptuously referred to as "catch-and-release," and allowing the military to use landmines under certain circumstances. Most notably, she backed the creation of a nuclear deterrent should the global security climate deteriorate further.[/quote]