A coup was underway in an infant democracy.
If successful, it would destroy decades of diplomacy, subject millions
to the rule of a despot, and completely destabilize the region to the
point that all out war was a real possibility.
It could not succeed.
Our only course of action was suppression by force, but
regional politics prohibited us from acting in the open, so conventional
troops were not an option. Covert forces were, but the necessary
resources were either too far away or lacked sufficient leadership to
handle the job with the sophistication it required.
It seemed we were stymied again.
Or were we? |