Othmani Ministry of Defense, New Ankara, New Othman,
0834 hours, 8 July, 2017
Hamit Aykut cleared his throat as he signed off on the latest purchase order for additional IFVs, a sign of the times these days. The pendulum had shifted again, with years of defense cuts since the Lazodirian War replaced by recent increases in the defense budget to respond to the growing “existential threat to our national survival from an increasingly hostile and militant Christian bloc.” Loose gossip and rumors about “crusades,” false accusations of the Republic by the Ecclesiastical State, and growing ties between the Ghantar and the SBC…..and the Papacy, all of them colluding to pressure Rietumimark over Deweden, all of it smacked of a Christian push to smack Muslims and other non-Christians around a bit.
Hamit wasn’t a nobody, of course. He was Undersecretary to the Minister of Defense, responsible for equipment procurement, both weapons and noncombatant equipment. His job was extremely important of late. For Hamit, it was a simple matter of this: New Othman was being blamed falsely for things that were not its fault, by a theocratic Christian power that was notorious for lies and propaganda about its enemies. This was no joke to them, and it was no minor insult. It was, to his way of thinking and that of those in higher office, especially Defense Minister Lieutenant General Recep Borek and Premier Akonder Tufan, an early shot being fired in a likely series of volleys aimed at one end: a crusade to “Christianize” New Othman and other non-Christian states. Rietumimark might be first, followed probably by Akai, and soon enough, New Othman. This was more than a little disturbing and Hamit was more than a little spooked.
True, New Othman was constrained by the Treaty of Beaulieu, but this was all about national defense, not offense, and so the weapons that he procured of late were of the sort perfectly compatible with the aforementioned Treaty. This was stuff like new IFVs, new anti-tank artillery, new interceptor fighter jets, and yes, new hunter-killer submarines, more missile boats, and more corvettes. Yes, this would come at the expense of other spending or perhaps higher taxes or maybe even deficit spending, but this was necessary. The more the Pope and others like him kept mouthing off at and rattling the saber at everyone from Rome to Rietumimark to New Othman, the more that the Othmani Government and those inside it had to be nervous and the more that it had to act to protect its populace.
Internal memos, if leaked to the outside world, might well shock some of New Othman’s neighbors, but they made perfect sense to the Othmanis. In these memos, the Papal denunciations and other such vitriol all fit into the historical context of theocratic, hegemonic ambitions, to put it mildly, in the eyes of Premier Tufan, a known atheist who found any kind of clerical power unnerving, as well as General Borek, a lukewarm Muslim, and General Nabopolassar Esarhaddon, a Chaldean Christian from the very same sect now that was excommunicated by the Pope, who currently served as Chief of the General Staff of the armed forces, and who was married to a Shia Muslim in fact (not that Bicimli Dolunay was all that devout). These internal memos made it loud and clear that the Othmanis were now in a state of heightened alarm, their hackles raised by this growing Christian belligerence.
This state of alarm had led to the growing defense budget, which wasn’t a huge increase, but as it was the first such increase since the founding of the Republic, it was likely to draw some attention once it became known. It was certainly important in spite of its modest nature, as after so long of cutting defense spending, it was a reversal of an existing policy of emphasis on domestic, non-military spending and especially social services. As far as the Othmanis were concerned, though, it was hard cheese. They did nothing forbidden by the Treaty of Beaulieu and they were responding to the loose and irresponsible talk by the Pope and others in his camp. If New Othman’s neighbors didn’t like New Othman beefing up its military, they could always put more pressure on certain countries not to alarm the Othmanis.
Those days were done, the days of New Othman trusting entirely to the “guarantees” from Adiron and the others, given that Ceti was far away and Adiron had bigger fish to fry these days. New Othman would always comply with the Treaty of Beaulieu, and would thus avoid offensive weaponry until given permission to purchase, but it would get as many defensive, compliant arms as it could afford and still have decent social services and not raise taxes too much. With each purchase and procurement order, Hamit confirmed this with every signature. The munitions makers would be happy, at least. The diplomats, especially foreign ones, perhaps not so much, but screw them. They needed to soothe New Othman’s fears if they wanted to discourage such an increase.
Hamit was in no mood to coddle hypocrites, such as those who wrung their hands over the idea of New Othmani purchasing more arms while shrugging off Papal proposals for crusades and Christian bullying of Rietumimark and false accusations against New Othman’s secular government. New Othman didn’t just bristle at this accusation…..it was responding how any nation that had been suddenly singled out that way might…..treating the comments as a possible pretext for an attack on itself. If people didn’t like it, they should try walking in New Othman’s shoes. No wonder that the Rietumish and Akai were taking umbrage of late. Perhaps it was time to improve relations with both, to increase New Othman’s options, but that wasn’t Hamit’s purview…...procurement was.
