[Zamastan]

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[/hr]Zamastan | World - IDU | Politics | Economy | Opinion

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The Tofino Times
Click Here to Visit The Tofino Times Website
Wednesday, November 20th, 2019

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[/hr]VOL. XXXII .. Num. 6320 | In the News: Naval Standoff

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[color=#FF0000]BREAKING NEWS
DESPITE INTERNATIONAL CRITICISM, SAKZI REMAINS UNWAVERING IN RESOLVE
FIVE NATIONS HAVE CONDEMNED ZAMASTAN, BUT SAKZI REFUSES TO APOLOGIZE.
ZAMASTANIANS OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORT MILITARY, ABOUT 60% SUPPORT MILITARY ACTION

President Sakzi refuses to apologize or back down from his assertion that Zamastan did nothing wrong in the South Xiomera incident on Monday, even as pressure from the rest of the IDU mounts for Zamastan to take responsibility.

Five nations - Xiomera, Kerlile, Shen, Rhand, and even Lauchenoiria in a surprise Wednesday announcement, have condemned Zamastan's actions in what the international community widely believes to be Zamastanian aggression in the South Xiomeran territorial waters. President Sakzi told Admiral Tavoka, who reportedly neglected to share Xiomeran expulsion warnings to the rest of the 2nd Fleet, to resign. The Admiral has also reportedly agreed to the President's request and is expected to announce the decision publicly.

In a speech on Wednesday afternoon, Sakzi spoke at length on why he believes Zamastan is not solely to blame.

"While, yes, our navigation systems led to this error, we believe that our naval commanders, with the exclusion of Admiral Tavoka, did everything right. They maintained course in the midst of an aggressive and very quick interception by Xiomeran forces, which included ships and planes with capabilities to damage or destroy our ships had we been caught completely off guard.

To assert that our forces were on some sort of "secret mission" is ridiculous. We do not want any resource Xiomera has, we do not need any intelligence from them that we don't already have, we have every advantage over them. We need nothing. So, pundits who say we were trying to provoke them into anything are also wrong."

According to a Tofino Times poll of 200,000 participants, Zamastanians overwhelmingly believe that the navy was not at fault. 79% say that Zamastanian vessels did the right thing by continuing on their course, and that their hesitations to engage is indication that they maintained the peace in an otherwise dangerous situation. 73% say Xiomera was the aggressor, while 25% say that Zamastan was the aggressor and should not have been on patrol in the South Xiomeran waters. In another surprising poll, nearly 60% of Zamastanians support carrying out military action on Xiomera. 34% support sanctions and nothing more, while 28% support a complete shutdown of diplomatic relations with Xiomera. Only 20%, or one-fifth of Zamastanians polled think Zamastan should normalize relations with Xiomera.

The Xiomeran government has stuck to their determination that the Zamastanian navy bears a far greater share of responsibility for the incident off the coast of Manauia Island. Xiomera shared an intelligence dump with Lauchenoirian authorities that "clearly demonstrates a prolonged and extensive incursion into Xiomeran waters" by the Zamastanian 2nd Fleet, Defense Secretary Xochiqui said.

See full article here: https://zkcastor.wixsite.com/thetofinotimes