Alternative History
Advertisement

The New Mission refers to the declaration by President Neill Wallace in August of 1979, upon the second repulsion of Brazilian troops from Colombian territory, that the United States had a "new mission" in the war to topple the Savala regime in Brazil and to explicitly back the return to power of the prewar Brazilian government through the re-instatement of the leadership of the ERB. Authorized by the Clark-Menino Resolution to conduct the war as he saw fit, Wallace made this declaration at a time of deep economic anxiety in the United States as the economy had slipped into a recession following a devastating financial crisis. The New Mission was extremely unpopular amongst the American public, which had previously supported the defense of Colombia with lukewarm opinion, and marked the beginning of an enormous escalation in American attention and troops towards South America. The New Mission became even more unpopular with the collapse of the Ceylonese government in early 1980, as it raised questions if the costly New Mission would be able to be executed successfully amongst the American public.

Advertisement