George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 170

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Since the secession of Sudan, both West and South Sudan began attracting large-scale foreign investments. West Sudan was especially desperate. South Sudan had oil as a fallback, and fertile soil rich enough to have reservoirs and national parks, but West Sudan had nothing except gas fields and some mineral resources.

To be precise, there was an underground lake with an area of about 30,750 square kilometers near northern Darfur, which could be developed for agricultural water, but this fact had only just been discovered by surveyors dispatched from the United States.

Instead of separating peacefully, West Sudan, having become a country with literally nothing, had no choice but to attract large-scale foreign investment.

What this means is that the number of entrepreneurs using Egypt, West Sudan, and South Sudan as forward bases for business in North Africa has increased dramatically.

These people usually didn’t know how scary the Third World was. They simply misjudged that it was an unexplored land with sufficient adventurous investment value and flowed into conflict zones, only to realize painfully why Africa is the largest conflict zone in human history.

The continent with the most guns distributed to civilians was undoubtedly the United States, but the country with the most ‘military firearms’ distributed to civilians was Africa. From antique muskets using black powder from the 17th and 18th centuries to World War I and II firearms acquired through unknown routes, as well as state-of-the-art AR-15 series firearms with Picatinny rails, they had it all.

The African continent was practically a gun museum, and when conflicts broke out between tribes, they even agreed not to use firearms to avoid excessive casualties, instead using traditional tribal bows or machetes.

Endless poverty and corruption at the level of corrupt officials from the Middle Ages were encouraging robbery on a ‘village level.’

The methods were also varied. They would tie a rope to the wheels of a passing car to prevent it from moving, or build barricades or obstacles to block the entire road, and some ‘villages’ even built fortifications with machine guns.

Moreover, they were made up of tribes, so morale did not easily drop. The word tribe also meant family, and there was no army as tenacious as an army trying to protect its family. So, once a war broke out, they fought tenaciously, like the Winter War in Finland.

It was truly difficult because if a rebel group emerged from a tribe, the government forces couldn’t just wipe out the entire tribe. Even if that were possible, who would guarantee the reduced population and the lowered international status? It was easier to listen to them unless the demands were unreasonable, not independence.

In addition, it was virtually difficult for African countries to ‘suppress rebels.’ They were already struggling to revive the economy and deal with border disputes with other countries, and some lands were not even effectively controlled, with autonomy entrusted to powerful tribes. How could they suppress rebels?

This aspect was strangely similar to the Middle East. The Third World was originally a term that묶어놓는 non-aligned countries during the Cold War, but in modern times, it was nothing more than a club of poor countries.

Back to the story of Sudan. West Sudan wanted to go beyond simply increasing national power and aimed to attract foreign investment for survival, and in the future, to build a financial center comparable to Singapore. If not that, they wanted at least a city that ran properly without struggling to maintain itself, and an army riding tanks instead of Toyotas. An army that could protect itself from foreign invasion.

So they decided to do so. Based on the support received from the Western world, they began to sell off natural resources to a somewhat dangerous extent, and boldly established and steadily implemented a plan to shift from unstable natural resources, where the rise and fall of the country was determined by market prices, to at least secondary industries, and if possible, tertiary industries.

What happened today was a side effect and aftermath of this explosive growth of West Sudan. As mentioned above, West Sudan became nothing more than a port or stopover for Western investment in Central and North Africa, and through West Sudan, adventurous entrepreneurs flocked like bees to sweet honey, seeking the wealth sleeping in the African continent, such as Libya’s nut business and greening project, Niger’s uranium mining business, and the Central African Republic’s diamond and electronics industries.

They weren’t fools either, so they moved with PMCs [Private Military Companies], but were PMCs such reliable armed groups? Regardless of how desperate the PMCs were, there was no answer if the tribes in the African outback decided to overwhelm them with numbers.

At this point, you might wonder, ‘Why are entrepreneurs being attacked for sure?’ It was because the business they were trying to do was also related to the interests of the tribes.

In particular, Niger’s uranium mining project was deeply related to the Tuareg people, because the uranium mine was located in the Tuareg’s residential area. The Tuareg demanded that the wealth generated from the uranium mine be shared, and the Niger government refused.

Knowing only this might make it seem like the Niger government was unilaterally at fault, but you need to know ‘the situation in Niger’ and ‘what kind of people are the Tuareg?’ In the mid-20th century, as the old colonial era came to an end, African countries gained independence en masse.

The problem was that the borders were drawn for the convenience of Europe and remained the same after independence. The Tuareg people were distributed in present-day ‘Libya, Niger, Mali, and Algeria.’ Each tribe of the Tuareg demanded independence or unreasonable levels of autonomy from each government, and this was the beginning of the conflict.

It was no exaggeration to say that all countries except the Gaddafi government of Libya, which fully supported the Tuareg based on political views, had Tuareg rebels, and sharing uranium mining profits here was not simply about sharing money, but about further strengthening the power of the Tuareg rebels.

“I understand, so stop explaining about the Tuareg. I know the circumstances to some extent.”

Bush stopped the chief of staff from explaining further, as if he was fed up.

“I always feel that you are quite knowledgeable about Africa and the Middle East, Mr. President.”

“So the Tuareg took our American citizen?”

Until now, simple robberies were handled by Interpol [International Criminal Police Organization], but if they were caught by rebels, there was no answer. This was far beyond the level that Interpol could handle.

“To be exact, it’s the CEO.”

‘Damn it. I thought I was going to give the next speech in the Federal Assembly.’

Bush carefully put the filibuster speech [a lengthy speech designed to delay or obstruct a vote] in the drawer. It was a precious thing that took three days to write and review.

“The CEO is a first-class surveillance target on the list you gave me, Mr. President.”

“Watch. Watch. Not surveillance.”

If he hadn’t been a person of interest, he wouldn’t have come this far,

“I stand corrected.”

Word choice is important in politics.

“The person who was taken hostage this time is the CEO of a company that makes MP3s in Silicon Valley…”

“Is that guy’s name Steve and the company logo an apple?”

“That’s right. You seem to remember all the first-class people of interest.”

“Damn it. Why did that guy go to Niger? More importantly, why was he caught?”

“To be exact, he was traveling from West Sudan International Airport to Central Africa with a uranium mining businessman when it happened.”

This was a very difficult situation. This person was absolutely necessary for the future plans Bush wanted. Above all, he was the creator of the modern smartphone. There were a few similar ones before, but the modern smartphone came from this person’s hands. That smartphone was essential for the Land Warrior project, which would be integrated later.

‘Are the reporters gathered?’

He turned his head and looked outside the White House. As expected, when he announced that he would give a speech, reporters swarmed like ants.

“Then let’s go.”

“Are you going to give a speech on the spot again?”

“Do I have the time to make a separate speech in this situation?”

With that said, Bush stood on the prepared podium. The reporters who came to film this doubted whether this kidnapping case was something that required calling reporters and giving a speech, or even whether it was the president’s concern, but they ran with their feet cramping because they couldn’t leave out the president’s speech in the next news.

“Ah, right. How long does it take to get from here to there?”

He stood up and asked the chief of staff as if he had thought of something.

“12 hours, Mr. President.”

“Ah, indeed.”

Finally, Bush’s mouth opened.

“I’m going to stand here for 12 hours from now. It’s exactly 12 o’clock.”

Reporters held their breath at the sudden statement that he would stand for 12 hours, and viewers who were watching the emergency news on TV all had puzzled expressions.

“I wonder if the Tuareg know the saying that time is money. Well, there must be at least one or two similar proverbs.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the flash went off. In the past, he would have blinked once or twice because of the glare, but now he was used to this dazzling flash.

“Time is a valuable asset. Once it’s gone, it never comes back. I’m going to send a high-speed jet to West Sudan right now.”

The safest and fastest one I have. Its name is Air Force One. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t Air Force One because the president wasn’t on board, but the performance didn’t change.

“If, 12 hours from now, the kidnapped friend flies in on that jet and stands shoulder to shoulder with me here, I will congratulate him on his safe return. Furthermore, I will be able to contemplate the fact that the Tuareg of Niger are very good at managing their assets. They are a historically significant trading people, so they know where to invest.”

Anyway, that Air Force One was already waiting at West Sudan International Airport. To summarize the president’s words, he still recognizes this incident as an accident that happened by chance in the chaos caused by the conflict between Niger and the Tuareg, and he will not treat it as a ‘kidnapping.’

It was like casting a kind of magic.

“If they go bankrupt after 12 hours.”

However, magic is supposed to lose its effect after 12 o’clock. So after 12 hours,

“It will be considered that an American citizen is in danger, and the Pentagon will enter DEFCON 1 [Defense Condition 1 – maximum readiness].”

The magic that President Bush cast is broken.