Friday, May 9, 2008 was a hectic day at the O.U.T.R.A.G.E. headquarters as Colin Powell and John McCain prepared for a major speech to be televised nationally at 4:55 p.m. EST. Researchers were busy gathering data from across the country and around the world. Clean-up efforts in the battered U.S.A. were moving forward propitiously, but there were other matters which Powell and McCain needed to address. The world was in turmoil: Iraq was in the middle of vicious civil war that was a direct result of the Bush administration's intervention in that nation's government. The U.S.A. was now fighting the Iranians, and deaths of Iran's civilians and American soldiers were mounting rapidly. China and North Korea were at odds, and there were possible threats of war breaking out at virtually any minute. The United Nations, of course, had been destroyed on January 17, 2008, leaving no globally-sanctioned peacekeeping organization to try and deter these political fistfights. There was still the ongoing civil war in the Sudan, and skirmishes in Afghanistan and Pakistan continued. A small military action between Russia and Georgia was quickly escalating into a major war. Even some European countries were beginning to show signs of discourse as the relatively new Euro economy kept crashing. In the United States, venerable entities such as the New York Stock Exchange were all but destroyed. Any governmental bureaucracies that remained were operating at minimal capacity, unable to really function to any degree of competency (assuming they functioned at a degree of competency prior to being bombed by O.U.T.R.A.G.E. explosions or flooded out by the hurricane).
At precisely 4;55 p.m. EST, following announcements all day on the O.U.T.R.A.G.E. 'network', Powell and McCain sat stoically in front of the O.U.T.R.A.G.E. television cameras. "World War is at hand," Powell announced somberly, and in an eerily direct fashion. "The United States is in turmoil within its own borders, and we are no longer capable of coming to the rescue of the world should such a brutal war break out. We have sent diplomatic pouches to the leaders of every significant nation on Earth, formally pleading with them to stop the fighting and begin the process of world peace. If this doesn't happen, we - as a species - will perish from this Earth. There is too much to do that is more important to our survival. We must reign in the effects of global warming. We have to repair the damage to the ozone layer as best we possibly can; and we as a global population need to pay more attention to the fragile ecological balance of our environment. If we don't do so, we - as a species - will perish from this Earth." It was a far more direct lambasting than Powell's previous address on March 16, 2008, where he apologized to the world for the actions of the Bush administration, and proposed a new agenda for world cooperation.
While many nations had come to the assistance of the devastated United States of America, much of the fighting among various warring countries continued unabated. It had to stop, Powell claimed, and it had to stop now. McCain reiterated the claim, pointing to distrubing data which showed death tolls from war in the tens of millions and predicted upcoming natural disasters similar to what had recently torn the United States asunder. Both men confessed to having learned from their own country's recent experiences: war could not be sustained, particularly when looming hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and floods threatened so many regions of the globe. "We must invest all of our energies and resources into helping each other survive," echoed McCain. "If we don't, we - as a species - will perish from this Earth - and soon. If we don't begin to change our ways. The joint address of the two top leaders from the U.S.A. was meant to be tough and unforgiving. O.U.T.R.A.G.E. members experienced in diplomatic relations had been dispatched to all corners of the planet, charged with doing anything they could to persaude warring nations to come to cease-fire agreements immediately. All the money and technology being poured into war could much more wisely be invested in trying to save the Earth. It was a compelling argument; and most leaders received the diplomats warily, but graciously. Many listened. Most agreed that they would put an end to hostilities.
While similar reactions were recorded on March 16, 2008, this time the message was crystal clear: stop your fighting, or O.U.T.R.A.G.E. could do to you what it had done to the U.S.A. on January 17, 2008. Without being directly threatened, the leaders of bickering nations understood what was being said.