Freesteel

Hundreds of oil wells, pipelines, refineries and coal mines were bombed by NATO forces overnight in an operation to end the production of fossil fuels around the world.

Thousands of workers and bystanders are feared dead as gas platforms and oil depots were engulphed in flames as guided missiles rained down on them from bombers and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Canadian engineers are alleging a radio-active dirty bomb attack on various key access points to their Alberta tar sands.

A correspondent for the Kuwait news agency saw scenes that reminded him of the oil fires after the 1991 Gulf war. Reports from Nigeria, Brazil, Indonesia, Russia, Venezuela and Texas speak of similar levels of devastation.

The supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Saberi, announced that the Iranian air-force had beaten back the foreign attack. Saudi Arabia is silent. Satellite images show large plumes of smoke over the oil producing regions of both countries.

At 04:00 GMT, NATO issued a statement in the name of Allied Commander General Idso McInsley [reproduced in full on the opposite page] explaining the rationale of the attacks as an emergency measure in the face of years of deadly political inaction.

“I take full responsibility for the immediate illegality of Operation Oil Endgame,” General McInsley said, “but the world does not have time to wait for laws to be rewritten by our inadequate political elite, given the speed that this crisis is progressing.”

He added, “All casualties are regrettable, but they are nothing in comparison to the 200,000 lives that were lost in the last hurricane season, or the 14 million estimated to have already died from the droughts and famines in the southern hemisphere.”

Myron Ebell of the Grassroots Coalition of Petroleum Users said: “This is an insanity, only matched by General Jack D. Ripper in the movie Dr Strangelove. What does the General think he will achieve by bombing us back into the stone age? We need our fossil fuel energy to grow our economy, transport our food, and run the air conditioners that enable us to survive through these massive heatwaves we have been experiencing lately.”

Ebell predicts a second genocide as the economy goes off a cliff and society falls apart. “On their own scientific predictions, the climate continues to warm for another 60 years no matter what we do. This killing spree achieves nothing for anyone alive today.”

Jorgen Havel, the first speaker of the European Green Party, condemned the action as an extremely dangerous strategy that could precipitate a nuclear war and genocide. His party’s 2017 climate change policy document, commonly known as the Doomsday Plan, in which he suggested exactly this form of military action was, he said, “never meant to be to be implemented”. He added, “It was only intended to stimulate debate by consideration of all the unthinkable option.”

The plan required a rapid repurposing of the social fabric, of the kind not seen outside of total war.

In other pages: The New Brighton Times “future starts now” – Survival Pack.

* Ten tips to make your food last the winter — Bill Orange, Groundskeeper of Ness Gardens.
* How Romans lived through the end of their empire — Dr Vince Slater, Dee University of Chester.
* Civil panic and how to avoid it — Brigadier James Johnson, 4th Battalion (Retired).
* Tribalism and the myth of self-reliance — Dr Elaine Windward, Department of Archaeology, Aberystwyth University.
* A checklist for living without electricity — Professor Andrew Salter, Department of Civil Engineering, Edge Hill University.

Watch for the schedules of public lectures, town meetings, and skills courses in your area in the next edition of The New Brighton Times.

Owing to limited supplies of paper, the next edition of The New Brighton Times may only be available in libraries, schools and on public noticeboards.