George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 108

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‘Things are really going downhill in the Middle East, aren’t they?’

I expected all sorts of crazy things to happen in the Middle East, but I never imagined it would descend into such utter chaos so openly. In truth, the entire planet has been chaotic since the dawn of civilization, but the Middle East was always the most volatile.

Europe was finally grappling with the refugee problem, the boomerang of their past actions returning. Asia was in turmoil, with China stirring things up after the U.S. poked around. And Africa? It hadn’t seen a peaceful day since the great powers drew lines on the map to suit their own convenience.

Actually, America wasn’t much different. South America was a given, and North America looked fine on the surface, but wasn’t that only because Bush had worked so hard to patch things up?

“What would you like to do?”

Isn’t it true that a letter’s significance changes depending on the status of the person writing it, even if the content is the same? Mohammad Zahir Shah, the former king and current president [of Afghanistan], sent a letter, and almost two pages were filled with his lament about being unable to handle the refugees.

He appealed logically, and I understood that Afghanistan was in a state beyond its capacity. No matter how many unskilled jobs a developing country has, it can’t suddenly create hundreds of thousands more.

Most of Afghanistan’s projects were new infrastructure reconstructions, and the budget was entirely U.S. money, making everything from start to finish a national project.

Besides, they couldn’t pay the refugees the same wages as their own people. Ethically, it would be right, but the money to pay hundreds of thousands of workers doesn’t just appear. And wouldn’t the refugees need housing? Then there would have to be separate camps for refugees or dormitories for foreign workers.

Do you think that’s all? Their land is mostly barren mountains, so they rely on imports for most of their food, making it hard enough to feed their own people. What could they give if tens of thousands of people came?

The good news was that if they caused trouble, there was enough public authority to stop them. The problem was that most of them were not police officers but security forces armed with assault rifles and grenades. The police were in the middle of reorganization, and the officers in the field were adapting to the changed constitution and judiciary, so they weren’t very reliable as a source of public authority.

“We promised to nurture Afghanistan, so we need to send an investigation team and invest an appropriate budget separately.”

“You’re using surprisingly normal methods.”

“You seem to be going crazy day by day.”

“Thanks to someone in front of me.”

“Did you think I would do something to them?”

“To be honest, I thought you would say, ‘The cause of the problem is the refugees! Get rid of the refugees!’”

‘No, why get rid of the refugees? They’re pitiful people.’

Aren’t they people who fled their homes to foreign countries because of war or because they couldn’t even earn one meal a day? Why would I get rid of them, even if I couldn’t help them? Of course, Bush admitted that they caused some problems, but there is such a thing as human decency.

Of course, that didn’t mean accepting them unconditionally. It was right to firmly reject absurd demands such as Sharia law [Islamic religious law] or constitutional amendments. But if you don’t help your neighbors even though you can afford to, you are abandoning humanity.

“No, I don’t like that.”

And if it’s really bad, you can get the expenses from the government that created the refugees later when things calm down. Of course, they’ll say they have no money, but who cares? Then I’ll just cut their bellies open.

“By the way, if refugees came to Afghanistan, they must have gone to Turkmenistan or Pakistan as well. Do you have any information?”

“I don’t have any detailed information, but I do have information on their responses. Pakistan and Turkmenistan are both responding harshly, such as forcibly repatriating refugees.”

It was a natural measure since refugees are not welcome anywhere. Turkmenistan and Pakistan weren’t openly refusing entry, but they were using methods such as serious discrimination, persecution, and biased judgments to make them criminals and send them back.

Afghanistan, which was steadily accepting refugees even though it was not an advanced country, was quite a unique case. In fact, Afghanistan didn’t anticipate that the number of refugees would suddenly increase dozens of times, and it was close to being ruined after accepting them.

“What about Iran and Turkey?”

“Turkey is already accommodating nearly 4 million refugees, and Iran is accommodating 3 million refugees. But this statistic is from last month, so it may have increased this month.”

It seemed worse in Turkey because it was right next door and it was on the way to Europe.

‘The last time I remembered the number of refugees in Turkey in 2019 was close to 5 million? The number seems to have increased strangely.’

Bush thought for a while and then groaned.

‘That’s strange. Was the early 2000s such a turbulent time?’

It was like the whole world was on fire.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s just that I think this year will be busier than I thought.”

It was the butterfly effect. The problem was that the butterfly was almost a monster like Mothra [a giant, benevolent moth-like monster from Japanese films].

However, calling it the butterfly effect was a bit of a misnomer. If the butterfly effect was a snowballing phenomenon in which a small event evolved into a large event, in this case, a huge event like a nuclear bomb was creating a series of small events.

By the time Bush came to his senses, he had already thrown everything into chaos so that no one could control reality and the future. In fact, the idea of controlling reality itself was foolish, but until now, he could at least adjust where the ship called Earth was going.

‘I just have to avoid doing stupid things.’

Still, he had done a few things right. He believed that if he maintained this state, at least the United States and its allies could safely navigate the currents of this era.

Speaking of allies, would that only be America’s allies? Not only the Five Eyes alliance [an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States], but also the three countries of East Asia. And India, which has become rapidly closer this time. It’s a bit much to call friendly countries ‘friends’; it should be seen as a slightly business-like relationship.

It’s funny to compare diplomatic relations that change like the back of your hand to friends, but not everything is funny. Even Joseon [the last dynastic kingdom of Korea], the predecessor of Korea, did not abandon its loyalty to the Ming Dynasty [the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644] until the very end, even though the Ming Dynasty was already a vanished country.

‘North Korea is not an ally, but a kind of friendly country.’

If they unify later, they will be allies, but at least now it’s closer to grabbing them by the collar and saying, ‘Will you be my friend! Or will you die alone!’

“Is North Korea doing well?”

“At least according to the report.”

The chief of staff took out a fresh report on North Korea. It was almost as thick as a book, but even this thickness was not new.

“Let’s see.”

There was a story about a very small safety accident at the light water reactor construction site, that the attitude of the North Korean people had changed a lot from the beginning, and that the anti-American slogans that never failed to appear on North Korean posters had disappeared altogether or were being replaced with weaker words.

In addition, there was a North Korean diplomatic document stating that the North Korean government was willing to lease Nampo Port because the aircraft carrier fleet had occupied Nampo Port and it seemed impossible to use it.

“I’m a little uneasy, to be honest.”

“What part are you talking about?”

“That it’s going too well?”

Originally, if things are going well, it’s a sign that something is going wrong somewhere. If things went this well, every dog and cow would earn 100 million won [approximately $75,000 USD], so why is it so hard to take other people’s money? Originally, Bush didn’t know, but Kim was born with suspicion, so he liked to be suspicious when things went well.

For example, in South Korea, there was a nuclear power plant scandal in 2013. In one of the nuclear power plants, Hanbit Unit 5, 30 anchor bolts were out of place. There were also voids between the walls in Units 2 and 4.

What’s the point of being the world’s number one in nuclear power plant technology if corruption ruins everything? Of course, since it was a collaboration between Korea and the United States, the chances of corruption were low because they were under mutual surveillance, but you never know. Even the United States is not without corruption.

“Then would you like to go back to the Korean Peninsula?”

“I went to South Korea last time, so I’ll go to North Korea this time. What.”

“What kind of fighter will we prepare this time?”

‘Why are you bringing up a fighter there.’

“No, I’m just going to take a normal one this time.”

“A normal one?”

“What do you think of me?”

The chief of staff, hearing Bush’s question, pondered for a moment and then uttered a word that Bush could never simply ignore.

“A man beyond common sense?”

“No, where on this earth is there anyone as sensible as I am?”

“When did the word common sense change? Wasn’t common sense the general knowledge or judgment that the average person should have?”

“Originally, in a kingdom with three eyes, a person with two eyes is abnormal! It’s not that I’m crazy, it’s just that the world is going crazy and I look abnormal. I’m normal. Do you understand?”

While the least persuasive person was saying the least persuasive thing, the chief of staff was diligently listening. Originally, he didn’t miss a single word, even if it was nonsense, that came out of Bush’s mouth, but aren’t people creatures that adapt and evolve according to their environment?

Therefore, he had only evolved into ‘Bush’s chief of staff’ to fit the position of ‘chief of staff’. It’s on a different level from a typical chief of staff.

“Yes, of course. You are more normal than anyone else.”

Of course, the words ‘Only in your imagination’ were missing after that. Have you ever seen a normal person among those who claim to be normal? From the moment you have to claim to be normal, you are not normal.

“I feel uneasy, but I’m busy, so let’s just move on.”

Anyway, neither the guy who claims to be normal nor the guy who flexibly accepts it was normal.

“Anyway, get Air Force One ready for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow is the only time I have. And it’s North Korea, not another country.”

The only time he could move abroad for a whole month was tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Furthermore, it would be diplomatic discourtesy to say that he would go abroad tomorrow, but it didn’t matter if it was North Korea. They were not in a position to say no even if they really didn’t like it.

“That’s right.”

‘Ah, tomorrow. The officials and soldiers on the ground will have a hard time.’