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Nothing Political. Officially, no parallels are drawn between Operation Alkali Canyon and the Middle East. Although most troops were lectured on Middle Eastern desert politics and survival—and the "aggressors" were clothed in khaki shirts and red collar insignia similar to those worn by the Libyan army, no one is supposed to talk about Arabs. "They told us not to say anything political," whispered Buffalo's Corporal Fisher. "We can't even use Israel as a hypothetical example." But, said Colonel Jerry O'Leary, "the Pentagon has a computer plan for the invasion of every civilized country in the world. The Middle East is the obvious powder keg, and we'd be fools if we didn't prepare."
By the end of the five-day war, the Marines had rid Argos of its 800 invaders through a series of helicopter combat assaults, tank sweeps and infantry patrols. Some 700,000 gallons of gasoline had been consumed, but Yermo had been contained and peace returned once more to the placid peninsula jutting between the Sea of Bristol and the Straits of Sardi.