“Mr. President, we have just been notified that Iran has threatened to bomb America in the next twenty-four hours,” the man said, with a stern face. I looked back at him with an expressionless face. There was truly no look that could illustrate what was running through my mind. The decision that I would have to make would either save American lives, or not.

Unfortunately, for me, I was in this position. The President before me had made the decision to enter this war. I had to finish the decision whether I wanted to or not. Even though this sounds like a complaint, it’s not, because I knew this was the risk that might occur when I was running for office.

Our allies: Britain, France, Canada, and Israel, were good to have on our side, but we were fighting against a threat that could destroy the world. Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Syria were the new axis. America did not want to enter the war, but we had no choice.
When a copy of The New York Times was thrown on my desk, I saw the headline: “The Start of World War III.” There were phones ringing off the hook from outside my office the entire morning and in a few minutes I would have to face the press.

“We will only retaliate with weapons of mass destruction if they are first used upon us,” I said. All the reporters raised their hands.

“Has any other country been threatened, besides America?” the reporter asked.

“Yes, Great Britain. They have approached the situation in the same way. Israel has also been threatened.”

The questioning went on, until I was pulled away for another meeting. I went into my office where I was going to have a conference call with Britain, France, Israel, Canada, and the United States Central Command. Not only would this determine the fate of the war, but it would also determine the fate of the world.

“Hello, now that everyone is on-line, the Central Commander will give a brief report about what is occurring.”

“First off, the United States and Great Britain military have uncovered that Iran and North Korea do have nuclear weapons. The Israel Defense Force has reason to believe that nuclear weapons have also been transferred to Syria by Iran, through Iraq. We have no evidence that Cuba has nuclear weapons, but they do have biological weapons. Second, Israel has been under attack for the past week or so and has only retaliated with the same amount of force. Iran has threatened to bomb the United States and Great Britain, in what is now a little less than twenty-two hours. Lastly, we have restated that we will retaliate with the same amount of force. With that, I open the floor.”

“Even though I have been striking back with the same amount of force,” the Prime Minister of Israel said, “you cannot win a war like that.”

“I agree,” said the President, “but as the leaders of the world, we cannot act uncontrollably, because that’s when a nuclear war could erupt.”

“But then the threat will never die,” said Prime Minister of Great Britain said.

I thought for a second about what would be the better ending: we wait to be hit, which would kill thousands of people, or make the initial strike, ending the threat and saving our civilian lives. This decision was not meant for anyone, but I had to do it.

“If we only retaliate with the same amount of force,” the Prime Minister of France began to say, “this rampage will kill more people than needed.”

“The only thing we can do now is wait,” I said.

As I expected, the day grew more and more difficult. We only had two hours left, and the military was giving me all the scenarios I needed to make a decision. The only thing I told them was to have surveillance on all of Iran’s nuclear facilities, eject systems, and surveillance of the sky. Also, to keep me intact with Great Britain situation.

“Mr. President, Iran’s eject system on screen one is rotating towards America.”

I impassively watched the screen and thought about what would be the result of a nuclear war. Would it be like Einstein described. I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.

The missile continued to turn, until it came to a halt. It was not pointed directly towards the United States, yet.

“How many casualties would there be if Iran fired the nuclear missile?” I asked.

“Approximately 9 million people would die and another 1.5 million people would be injured, if the nuke was to hit New York City.”

I was not going to let this happen.

As time progressed, the missile head started to move again. The twenty-four hour threat had just ended. Missile heads also began to point toward London.

“Are our nukes in position?” I asked for reassurance.

“Yes.” The eject system continued to rotate. The fire started to rumble underneath.
“Fire the three nukes,” I ordered.

In a matter of seconds, the screen went blank. “Mr. President, the target was hit.” The problem was no longer alive.