George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 118

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“Oh, shut your mouth, son. I like it here. It took me two months just to get here, and I worked my butt off for nearly four months to make this field. You want me to leave? No way! Absolutely not! Nope!”

“No, Father! They have everything in Europe! Why are you being so stubborn! I hate to say this, but were you the only one who suffered? I know how you feel, but you have to think about our son too! Mohamed needs an Islamic school where he can learn Sharia [Islamic law]! Such schools aren’t open to refugees like us in Afghanistan!”

Islamic schools in Afghanistan have already become a minority. This was partly because there were hardly any schools to begin with, but Afghanistan, influenced by capitalism, was already reinterpreting traditional Islam and the current Islamic Sharia to suit its taste, rather than adhering to traditional Islamic values.

Of course, neighboring countries were furious, calling it heresy, but the United States, still aching from the wounds of 9/11, stood behind them with arms crossed, so they couldn’t make too much noise. Moreover, Western civilization itself was standing firm in Iraq, which made it even more difficult. The reality was that the Middle East was being oppressed by the Western world, and Islam, already ostracized for troubling Europe with the Sharia autonomous region issue, was being further rejected.

Therefore, it was impossible for Islam to make a big noise about heresy at the national level, even if individuals might. Otherwise, they would be frowned upon due to the strong influence of the Western world that was infiltrating the Middle East. Of course, as time passed, they would make a lot of noise again with jihad [holy war] and whatnot, but at least not now.

“I can teach him all that stuff! And what did you say, a Sharia autonomous region? We can unite and create one here!”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Afghanistan is a violent place, unlike Europe!”

No matter how much chaos they caused in Europe, the public authorities could only suppress or arrest them through the police, but in Afghanistan, they mobilized the military. The ones in charge of security in the refugee camp were the army, armed with the latest American assault rifles, American armored vehicles, and American military gear.

And it wasn’t like these guys were just for show and had lax discipline. On the contrary, they were the best special forces who had completed all the training from the U.S. military advisory group. This was a decision made by Afghan President Mohammad, who was reluctant to have problems arise in the refugee camp.

However, there was a problem: contrary to Mohammad’s intentions, they were not very suitable for this mission. Contrary to popular belief, special forces are just units that can demonstrate somewhat superior operational capabilities, not all-purpose units that can handle every situation.

Moreover, perhaps because they had been forged in the hellish crucible created by the U.S. military, their actions were extremely rough in every matter. The ones who trained them were veterans who had fought in Vietnam and the Gulf War, and they had seen their comrades become victims of suicide bombings more than once with just a moment’s carelessness. So, they were fundamentally somewhat rough and violent in dealing with people who weren’t their comrades.

However, as far as ‘control’ was concerned, it went perfectly as Mohammad intended. However, it was inevitable that the perception of Afghans among the refugees who could not escape the refugee camp was fixed as ‘violent people’ in every matter.

“I still can’t believe my friend was dragged away by those guys and disappeared forever!”

Of course, that friend went to Europe.

“I don’t want to be here! Besides, you know that the field you and I cultivated is illegal. You all know that if it’s discovered that the area has exceeded the level of a garden, it will be confiscated as illegal!”

In fact, the field was confiscated and became state property.

“No, why is he suddenly shouting for Europe when he was so quiet until yesterday?”

“Look at that!”

The son led his father out of the tent. It wasn’t like the tent was soundproof, but he had already realized that it was quite noisy outside. However, the father was so thoroughly consumed by selfishness that he didn’t care what was happening outside. But now that even his only son was being so extreme, he became a little interested.

“When did they do this?”

A blurry video was playing on a wide tent. They were using a fairly expensive projector, but it was still blurry because the sun was high in the sky. The principle and method itself were similar to a drive-in theater.

Perhaps because they were using a large woofer, the voice of a woman in an announcer’s tone was clearly heard by the father and son, cutting through the noise from the people’s murmuring, even though they had come a considerable distance.

「Do you want a new life? Do you want the existing Sharia that is neither extreme nor distorted?」

Familiar things passed by in the video. Baghdad before it was divided into East and West, mosques in various parts of the Middle East, and so on. The reason why Baghdad was highlighted was that most of the refugees who came to Afghanistan were Iraqis.

「Or do you want a home like your hometown?」

The next scene was a video that used a soft yellow color to create a warm family image. The faces of the family members were full of smiles. It showed meals strictly in accordance with Islamic law, proper housing instead of tents or shacks, and children enjoying themselves while receiving education from Muslim teachers.

Even if you looked at it favorably, the lacking video technology and the pretentious and exaggerated behavior that you could only see in advertisements were combined in one place, creating a strange bizarreness. If someone else had seen it, they would have scoffed, but there was nothing that touched the hearts of the refugees more than this right now. Apart from the poor video aesthetics, what the video showed was a video that compressed and collected only what the refugees needed most.

「Come to Europe – Sharia Autonomous Region.」

A European map made with crude 3D graphic technology unfolded. It was a bizarre map created by the sensibilities of the early 2000s, when anything was good as long as it was 3D. However, apart from the crudeness of the graphics, you could tell at a glance that it was Europe. And then, after marking red dots on each city on the map, it zoomed in to show the Sharia autonomous region protests in each part.

「Claim your rights, claim Sharia.」

As soon as these words were finished, it went back to the beginning. It was a 1 minute and 30 second video, but perhaps because they were so immersed in it, the perceived time seemed to be less than 30 seconds. The son was anxiously watching his father, who was staring at the video as if he were possessed.

“Did you see that? We have to go to Europe!”

The son shouted with hope, expecting that the father’s thoughts had changed after watching the video. However, contrary to the son’s thoughts, the son’s cry did not reach the father’s heart. He only hated those who were deceiving them with such videos for a while.

“That doesn’t make sense, son. Why do you think they’re showing this! They all have ulterior motives!”

“Still, Europe would be better than this shabby refugee camp! I haven’t even been able to shower for a week! I can’t even get proper medicine when I’m sick!”

“Damn it!”

At least this was hard to argue with. This was because the Afghan government only distributed food and necessities to the refugee camp just enough to keep them from dying.

“We have to claim it ourselves! We can’t expect anyone to feed us!”

“Claim it! We can do that here too…!”

The moment he uttered the word ‘claim,’ the image of the Afghan refugee camp security corps, armed with all kinds of high-tech equipment, brutally pressing down with the butts of their rifles, armed with violent words and deeds, flashed through the father’s mind.

“…but it wouldn’t be possible.”

Even if it was somewhere else, the imagination of rising up in Afghanistan had to end in his head. It seemed that they had received support from the United States and had invested all of that aid in military power. He thought that if they rose up recklessly, they might end up as bloody messes under the tracks of tanks.

“Father. We can cultivate the field again. But we can’t raise Mohamed in a place like this.”

“Damn it! Damn it! Okay! Okay! But how are we going to get to Europe?”

That was the key. How to get to Europe? He had already crossed the line between life and death several times just coming here, so how could he lead this old and tired body to Europe?

“The Afghan soldiers say they will safely send us through Russia if we want.”

There’s no father who can win against his son. In the end, the father raised his son’s hand. That day, the family packed their bags and left for Europe. It was a safe and fast trip using a cross-country train.

“To be honest. It’s very excellent. I never dreamed that we could solve the refugee problem in such a peaceful way.”

“The remaining refugees will be finished soon. It doesn’t matter if they insist on staying. It will be a very small number anyway.”

‘If Napoleon saw this, he would write ‘impossible’ in his own handwriting in advance.’

Mohammad was very satisfied as he looked at the refugee flow report with specific figures written on it. He sent all the refugees who wanted to go to Europe through Russia or direct flights. Thanks to this, Afghanistan’s airlines were experiencing an unexpected boom.

“But what if they send them back?”

“We have to give them a bullet delivery.”

Michael shrugged exaggeratedly.

“Bullet delivery?”

“Ah, I mean we’ll deliver bullets to them. We’re telling them to figure it out if they don’t want to die. As I said before, if they complain, we can just share a little more of the refugees in the United States. More than anything, I’m planning to clarify the responsibility for the Middle East refugees at the next UN meeting. Or it might be an emergency meeting. At least Europe won’t be able to refuse.”

“I feel relieved that you’re telling me in such detail.”

Only then did Mohammad feel the tension that had dominated his face disappear. The corners of his eyes went down, and the corners of his mouth went up. The refugee runaway train that was stubbornly driving Afghanistan to destruction had finally stopped.

“Now that the refugee problem has been solved, we can finally grow Afghanistan.”

“It seems that the promise to grow Afghanistan is not an empty one.”

“Haha! The United States never makes empty promises, no matter what. We plan to make your country the most successful country in the Middle East.”

The form may be somewhat interventionist, but if they can become the largest and greatest country in the Middle East in return, what can’t they do? Mohammad had adhered to neutrality in his youth, but he had seen his country destroyed by civil war. A country that is strong against external pressure but weak internally can be protected, but it cannot last long.

“First of all, we have to eradicate drugs.”

“The Taliban has been causing trouble here and there and leaving. One of them is the opium poppy problem. We are trying to crack down as much as possible, but the reality is that it is difficult to crack down with our government’s administrative capabilities.”

“Still, it’s hopeful that the public authorities are not so corrupt.”

“That’s right.”

The first thing Mohammad did was to liquidate all those related to the Taliban government. Thanks to this, the public authorities were able to exercise their power fairly transparently. This was a remarkable achievement that was hard to see in other countries. However, Mohammad knew best that this would eventually become corrupt over time.

“That’s why now is the right time. We can easily crack down on opium poppy fields using our U.S. satellites.”

“But opium poppies have a close relationship with our country’s traditions, so I don’t think it’s a good idea to just burn them all.”

Michael looked understanding when he heard that. It was common in the West to put poppy seeds in dishes. He thought for a moment and came up with a plan.

“If you are going to cultivate opium poppies, they must be cultivated under the complete control of the state. After cracking down on them all at once, the state should grow and distribute them directly from the land.”

“It’s not just that level, opium poppies are almost a necessity in our country.”

“I know. The seeds are used for food and can be used to make cooking oil and soap, but is Afghanistan in the Middle Ages? These can be replaced with other crops. And we can import them. The United States will support you with regard to necessities.”

‘The United States will support you.’ People who have never heard this sound don’t know how reassuring it is. Mohammad felt relieved inside.

“Those who confess during the cultivation period and during a specific period should not be held accountable and should be given special amnesty and even given money, and we must respond strongly with severe punishments such as life imprisonment. This will be quite effective.”

“It’s perfect in theory, but will it work properly?”

“Don’t worry. We’ll make it work.”