George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 10

< Episode 9 >

July 17, 1973. Rome, a foreign land, approximately 6,000 km from Afghanistan. In a hospital there, a middle-aged man from Afghanistan received shocking news.

The news was that the king had been overthrown in a coup.

Because the king actively pursued reform, modernization, and good governance, Afghanistan remained neutral during World War II and entered a period of stability during the Great Depression, allowing it to enjoy an unprecedented golden age.

However, he felt it was truly regrettable that even with all his efforts, the medical sector couldn’t even reach the standards of developed countries. He could tolerate chronic back pain, but he also had an eye disease that could lead to blindness, a disease that couldn’t be treated in his country’s underdeveloped hospitals.

His name was Mohammad Zahir Shah, the father of Afghanistan and its monarch.

Zahir Shah, feeling lost and out of place in a foreign country, could do nothing but follow the news of his distant homeland in newspapers, a monarch in exile in Italy.

However, one day, an opportunity arose.

September 13, 2001. Twenty-eight years had passed.

The middle-aged man had become an old man, and the tolerable back pain now gnawed at him, causing him to groan with every turn. He hadn’t even glanced at the newspapers he had been reading steadily for years since the Taliban takeover. All he did was watch the news on TV as he passed by while drinking coffee at a cafe.

He was clearly growing old and nearing death.

“Go back?”

Someone contacted him, asking if he wanted to return to his homeland. Although he was Middle Eastern by birth, he had lived in Europe for 28 years and could roughly distinguish European races.

He was clearly an American.

At first, he gently refused. This was partly because there was nothing good about going back now, but also because the government itself was not in a state to accept Zahir Shah, especially with the Taliban in power.

However, when the American offered his cell phone to Zahir Shah, he had no choice but to reluctantly answer the phone.

“The U.S. military in Afghanistan?”

He had definitely heard it mentioned. He had been trying to cut off as much interest in the world as possible, but such a huge event was bound to reach his ears whether he liked it or not. He knew for sure because the news of the terrible plane terror attack in the United States had been shown on TV constantly.

Having made such a mess, the United States would certainly not leave Afghanistan alone. Countless people would be sacrificed in the war. If he couldn’t shake off his lingering feelings, he would spend every night in sorrow as he did in his younger days.

However, however, that is…

Why wouldn’t he want to go back? What good is it to have gold that he can’t hold in both hands? What good is it to have a house as big as a whale’s back? In the end, home is where he will return.

“Are you telling me to become a puppet government of the United States now?”

“No. If you wish, I will cease all interest in you and your country. I am speaking out of good will. Mohammad Zahir Shah, the last king of the Barakzai dynasty.”

Good will. Zahir Shah was not a man who had lived in such comfortable times that he could believe in good will without a reason.

“If someone loses, someone gains. And vice versa. What do you really want?”

“If I had to say, I would like you to be a beacon of the Middle East.”

“A beacon?”

“A beacon of democracy. I want you to become the democratic president through legitimate procedures. You are the only one who can make Afghanistan, which has already become purgatory, a place where people can live like human beings.”

“What?”

“I look forward to a good answer.”

The call ended.

“Who on earth is this person that he can be so confident in me?”

“He is the President of the United States of America, George Walker Bush.”

“Ah, well….”

He was bigger than he thought.

* * *

I am not a big shot. He thought so.

“Abdul Haq.”

Haq was just a man faithful to the Quran [the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be the word of God], the prophecy revealed by Muhammad. Although Allah [the Arabic word for God] had allowed him to take on an excessive mission, he could have been a person more faithful to the Quran than anyone else if the world was right.

Therefore, the fact that Abdul Haq is doing this now means that the world is twisted.

September 11, 2001. Abdul Haq witnessed it. He saw a glimmer of possibility in the spark born in his homeland. He thought he had lived enough. This was an opportunity given by God.

“I’m listening.”

The digital watch Haq was wearing rang an alarm. The digital watch was something he bought when the Millennium Bug [a computer glitch feared at the turn of the millennium] was a concern, so it showed the year. The watch showed 13:19 on September 13, 2001.

“Haq, you must be the strength of Mohamad Zahir Shah in the upcoming presidential election. You are the only person in Afghanistan with the experience and track record to take charge of the military, especially someone who is supported by the people.”

Abdul Haq. In his youth, he became a leader of the Mujahideen [guerrilla fighters in Islamic countries, especially those fighting against non-Muslim forces] and a war hero in the Soviet-Afghan War. When he became lame in the war, he continued to fight the Soviet army on horseback. Because of this, he was praised by the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and even his enemies as a brave warrior.

When the Taliban entered Afghanistan and took power, the Taliban regime itself offered Haq the position of Minister of Interior, boasting overwhelming leadership and influence.

For the United States, he was the best Afghan intelligence officer in the Middle East during the Cold War. After the Cold War ended, he built a company in Dubai and was able to achieve great success. After that, he was appointed as a peace mediator by the UN.

But the most important thing was that he was treated almost as a national father in Afghanistan. His popularity was so high that there was a saying that there was Abdul Haq in Kabul, and he was a person with excellent military insight and leadership.

Immediately after 9/11, he entered Afghanistan to drive out the Taliban with the hope that the Taliban’s power would weaken, but he was caught in a Taliban trap on October 26 and died.

‘Yes, that’s how it would have been originally.’

That’s right. Originally, he was a person with less than two months left in his life. If the President of the United States had not called him, he would have gone to Afghanistan and died a heroic death.

But history was changed by Bush’s hand.

No, it was changing!

“What is the purpose of making such an offer?”

“That’s because you are the only person who has experienced Western democracy, Eastern European communism, and Islamic democracy.”

“I asked for the purpose, not the reason.”

“I want the Middle East to become more peaceful.”

“Democracy does not mean peace.”

“It is true that the moment you adopt democracy, it becomes more difficult for other Western countries or Russia to interfere.”

“That’s not enough. You’ll make it that way even if I don’t. The Islamic culture cannot accept Western democracy. Because….”

“Religion and life are not separated.”

In fact, many intellectuals in the Western world were mistaken in thinking that if they could only explain and understand the advantages of democracy, the political tendencies and culture of the ‘barbaric’ Arab world would change significantly. The Western world was still immersed in the nostalgia of the old days, which they called ‘the good old days’. This illusion, which stemmed from the illusion that democracy was superior, was not entirely unfounded.

For example, South Korea was like that. Although it was divided into Soviet communism and Western democracy under Japanese colonial rule, South Korea was a staunch pro-American country. Based on democracy and capitalism, it achieved rapid economic growth that was among the best in the world.

“…I’ve never met an American politician who knew that until now.”

Anthropologists or a small number of pacifists, or those who are interested in the Quran realize this, but there are no politicians.

“To be honest, I have selfish intentions that I hope you will be friendly to us while doing this. The war was finished as quickly as possible, but anyway, we are invaders to them.”

“I can’t easily guarantee it. I will eventually lead in the direction my people want.”

“The subsidies I provide will be used effectively. I can trust you, if not anyone else.”

“Are you judging only by my career?”

“I originally only looked at the career when choosing players.”

While Bush and Haq were talking, the meal came out. Haq was about to refuse or talk about halal [permitted or lawful according to Islamic law] because the meals coming out of the United States were all the same, but he was soon embarrassed to see the menu.

At first, only vegetables came out in a row, so he thought it was a vegetarian meal, but soon lamb and chicken dishes, fish steak, etc. came out.

“These are halal ingredients brought from Saudi Arabia, and the food is made by Islamic chefs hired from Kuwait. Oh, of course, you can rest assured that the cooking utensils and tableware are also completely new.”

“I have one question. How do you know so much about Islam?”

It was fortunate if an American knew the Quran, and if he knew halal, he was an anthropologist, and if he knew Islamic law, he was a Muslim.

“Are you perhaps a Muslim?”

“I am a Methodist.”

“That’s a pity.”

They continued to eat in silence. Soon, when the beautifully plated food on the plate was empty, Haq opened his mouth first.

“I can’t promise that I will be able to maintain pro-Americanism when another regime comes in after you.”

That was also a promise that Abdul Haq made to Allah as a Muslim.

* * *

“USA! USA! USA!”

America was completely crazy about the victory. Except for a few pacifists and radical imperialists, everyone was floundering in the wave of victory.

Pacifists pointed out that the arrest operation and the war were no different, and imperialists complained about the withdrawal without occupation.

However, the voices of the minority are always buried in the voices of the majority, and the current Bush administration has turned all those who curse into traitors. Neocon [a political ideology advocating interventionist foreign policy] lobbyists manipulated public opinion, but only to the extent that they reported the facts as they were. Even that alone made public opinion explosively support the Bush administration.

“Bush! Bush! Bush!”

And I was half a war hero. Perhaps it was because Father Bush was a war hero, so they were trying to put a similar frame on his son. The thought that the world was moving in a good direction made me feel that my heavy shoulders had become much lighter.

When I arrived at the Lincoln Memorial Plaza, I could feel the heat of patriotism. It was not a metaphor, but the heat was actually felt all over the body because there were so many people.

I stood on the platform and smoothed out my speech. It was a long, four-page speech prepared by the Vice President, and the speech, which excluded excessively strong words or potentially unfavorable words as much as possible, was close to a sophisticated political thesis or a textbook of speeches.

“Mr. Speaker of the Senate, Mr. Speaker of the House, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and dear citizens, thank you. Tonight, we are witnesses to the tragic yet significant 9/11 terror….”

Screw it.

“Ah, let’s drop it. Our Vice President worked hard to write it. When I look at the contents, I don’t need this kind of thing after all.”

I threw the speech behind me. I wondered if it would be, but as expected, it was no different. As I was talking, I quickly glanced at the next page. Because the Vice President, that son of a bitch, filled it with truly shitty sentences and phrases such as Iraq, the Middle East, and the axis of evil near the end.

“Oh!”

“Th, that!”

The Vice President’s face behind me must be one step away from being furious, and the rest of the members of the House and Senate must be just as embarrassed.

But so what?

“There will be little intervention in the Middle East in the future unless they touch us. Americans love peace.”

Peace. What better word is there in the world than this? Even as I said this, I was disheartened inside by the fact that this would not be kept. Perhaps now, the world would roll in a completely different direction from the direction I knew.

The only thing left was whether the world’s hoop would roll in my hands, or whether it would escape from my hands and roll far away and fall over.

“Finally, I congratulate you on the fact that there were no casualties for the first time in American history in military operations conducted overseas. The purpose of the arrest operation has been fully achieved, and Afghanistan will accept democracy.”

I was fully prepared. Above all, if I, as the head of the most powerful country in all of history, East and West, and with sufficient future knowledge, screwed it up, I would be more of a son of a bitch than Rumsfeld.

No matter what happens, I will make the world roll in a good direction.

“Uh…. I’m out of words to say now. I shouldn’t have thrown it away if I knew this would happen.”

This was sincere. Is there a leader in history who gave a shorter victory speech than me? Ah, let’s drop it. Originally, the shorter the speech, the better.

“God Bless America! Fuck Yeah!”