The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States: A Speculative Novel

This novel presents a fictional government commission report investigating a devastating nuclear attack on the United States. The narrative begins on March 21, 2020, and follows a bipartisan panel established by Congress and President Donald J. Trump to examine a three-day nuclear conflict. The commission, led by nuclear expert Jeffrey Lewis, investigates the sequence of events that led to war: North Korea's accidental shoot-down of Air Busan flight 411, South Korea's retaliatory strike, and a tweet that escalated the conflict. The report examines whether President Trump and his advisers understood North Korean nuclear policy, whether the tragic events of that month made war inevitable, and whether American leaders had opportunities to prevent the catastrophe. The commission's findings cannot restore lives lost or rebuild the cities destroyed, but the report aims to prevent similar tragedies in the future.