George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 13

< Part 12 >

“Ughhh!!! Ah, ah! Ah!!!”

It existed.

During his reign, there were many welfare facilities.

There were affordable clinics for the people who had nothing.

There were schools for the uneducated citizens.

There was a powerful army for the weak populace.

“I will be eternally punished by Allah even in death! I have made my beautiful homeland like this, how can I atone for this sin!!!”

The park for the people became an empty lot, and the palace for the king became ruins.

“Mohammad Zahir Shahishi.”

Abdul Hakk supported Zahir Shah, who was prostrate on the floor, wailing. His appearance was truly one of lament and despair.

“I am not Shah. How can a deposed man be Shah?”

Shah [a Persian-derived word meaning king in Arabic] was surely an inappropriate title for him now.

“Then become the president, Mohammad Zahir. Please lead us once again.”

“I…”

Does he have the qualifications? Does he truly possess the ability to rule Afghanistan once more? Not just in words, but does Zahir truly have what it takes?

“I….”

He could have returned. He could have reclaimed the throne that was taken from him. Looking back, there were often opportunities for a coup. No, since it was a process of taking back what was rightfully his, the word coup would be inappropriate. Yet, he did not do so because he cherished his life.

No! Even that is a lie. He resented the people who abandoned him! Zahir knew very well that they wanted him to act. That’s why he was so afraid.

But he knew something even more profound. They despaired at the reign of terror brought by the oppressors, they feared the lives that would be taken by the bloody suppression. They valued their lives more than loyalty to the nation.

That’s why he couldn’t blame them, and eventually, it led to self-deprecation. If he had done better, if the people had followed him more, if he, as Shah, had acted with more courage!

But it wasn’t the time to wallow in the malice he had created. The time for decision was approaching, and in the darkness created by decades of exile, a monster born of malice was lurking.

Could Zahir Shah kill that monster? Could he plunge a sharply honed dagger into the monster’s carotid artery?

With decisiveness in every matter, cutting it off cleanly. Could he walk the path of a tyrant without listening to anyone’s words?

No. That was not it.

Killing is tyranny. Tyranny that he feared even when he was king. But only he could be comfortable. He didn’t know how much longer he could live, but at least while he was alive, there would be no one in this country who could dare to approach his majesty.

That’s why he had to phrase it differently.

He would not kill.

Can Zahir Shah forgive everything? The people who abandoned him? The people he abandoned? Is he qualified to love them all?

Is he qualified to embrace the monster?

“I will become the president.”

“That is the right choice. Numerous false leaders have usurped his place, but finally, the true leader appointed by Allah will once again lead Afghanistan! Subjects and people will praise him for generations!!!”

How many years has it been? Hakk wept and sobbed, looking at the sky of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Finally, he could start again.

And now Zahir, who had quit being Shah.

“Ah.”

The monster disappeared.

* * *

Polling stations were set up in various parts of Afghanistan. There was only one candidate on the ballot, and even that was after receiving a bag of jasmine rice, but the voting proceeded smoothly according to customs and procedures based on Western bureaucratic ideology.

Since the voting method involved putting blue stamp ink on a finger and using a fingerprint, the left index fingers of people going in and out were blue. However, sometimes it was the right finger. It wasn’t because they were being contrary. The reason was simpler than expected: they had no arms or hands, or they had no fingers at all.

Some had scars from the war, but most were the work of the Taliban. They were very generous. Of course, within the standards they created. Anyway, fingers or hands were often cut off to fit the cruel laws they created.

Rashid was also one of those people who had his finger cut off. However, Rashid was able to bribe the executioner’s seemingly endless greedy pockets generously and only had his little finger cut off.

“How is it?”

Rashid spoke to Abdullah, holding a cool carbonated drink to his neck.

“It’s the best. Above all, the game is back, right?”

That’s why he couldn’t help but be disappointed when Abdullah received it calmly without being surprised. He didn’t live up to his friend’s expectations at all. He was a truly damned guy. That’s why he was planning to fetch water from the Kabul River and pour a bucket of it on him next time.

“You’re probably the only one who’s happier about the game coming back than the fact that the regime has changed in Afghanistan.”

“Do you think I’m the only one? That old man next door is playing chess by himself from morning. I wonder where he hid it.”

If you were thinking of a normal chessboard, you would be very wrong. The chessboard he had hidden was surprisingly almost the size of a dining table, and surprisingly, it was made of ivory and gold. He had smeared soot on it, but it had already been 10 years since he had been collecting waste materials from the junkyard. He wasn’t at the level where he couldn’t recognize such crude camouflage.

“What about you?”

He was referring to the game console that Abdullah was currently focusing on. Inside the game console, a character drawn with dots was moving dynamically.

“Ah, good question, Rashid. I disassembled it piece by piece and kept it carefully in many boxes. Find it! Dragon Ball!”

It was actually the name of his favorite work. Like any teenager in the world, he enjoyed comics, games, and card games. Especially since Abdullah and Rashid were far from Islam, it was even more so. Perhaps the fact that he was an orphan played the biggest role.

“I LOVE U.S.A!”

When Abdullah expressed his love for the United States with exaggerated gestures, Rashid’s expression twisted strangely.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah, I was reminded of a movie I saw last night. It was a B-grade movie praising the American Dream.”

“Did you hide the CD too?”

“No, this is that. The book and CD that were handed out at the polling station.”

“Ah, that.”

Next to the polling station, some Americans were distributing propaganda books and pamphlets about the history and advantages of democracy. And CDs containing American propaganda movies.

“They won’t understand.”

Some enlightened Muslims would grasp the pros and cons of democracy and realize that this book is complete nonsense, but those who don’t are likely to simply think of it as a textbook that can make them as powerful as the United States.

“And they won’t be able to accept it either.”

There was a crucial difference between Western democracy and Islamic democracy. The Western world was a secular society, but Islam was a theocratic society. To be exact, it was a religious state, but the people living in this state, from the top to the poor, were Muslims, so it wasn’t really wrong. In fact, the law that could be called the constitution was also made in a way that conformed to Islamic law.

“We have our own laws.”

“Maybe. Maybe these changes will make people like us more secular.”

“But how long are you going to do it?”

“That’s a good question too. I’ll have to do it again at least up to where I did it.”

“What?”

“The cartridge ran out of battery and my report was blown away.”

* * *

The first thing that came into the newly built presidential palace next to the Afghan royal palace was a direct telephone line to the White House. Even though it was something close to a military radio using a dedicated module through a military satellite, there was no way to ensure security more reliably than this right now.

In fact, Zahir wanted to rebuild the royal palace and use it as the president’s residence and office, but he restrained himself, thinking that if he had that money, it would be better to use it for people’s livelihood and administration.

He vowed to rebuild that royal palace when that day comes.

“The documents are too messy.”

Administrative officials who came from the United States with 10 million dollars in the concept of foreign aid were helping, but it was far from enough. They demanded efficient Western-style bureaucracy, and the existing Afghan officials demanded traditional Islamic-style bureaucracy.

The Americans were arrogant, but the unreasonable conditions visible in their eyes were, in vulgar terms, maddening. Let’s take a simple example. Suppose there is a person. He is an atheist, but his family is Christian, so he always recites prayers before meals and starts eating. In the eyes of an atheist, it was a very inefficient thing.

Then let’s look at it from a Christian perspective. Meal prayers were a must. Each sentence in the prayer of the meal prayer had a meaning, and if it was considered a troublesome task and stopped, they would become more and more lazy, eventually damaging their faith and distancing themselves from God.

Islam was the same. No matter how enthusiastically the Americans preached, “Spam is cheap, the nutritional balance is not bad for the price, and it is easy to store. In addition, there is a tradition in the United States of sending Spam as relief supplies to pro-American countries. Therefore, let’s spread Spam as relief supplies!” Muslims who forbid pork could only say, “Are you crazy?”

He wanted to send them all back, but when he saw the neatly written report in Excel, his heart quickly subsided. In addition, he wanted to introduce secularism into the country he would create in the future, and as an 을 [Eul – subordinate] who had to be mindful of the 갑 [Gap – superior] position of the United States, he had no choice but to leave the rampaging American dispatched officials alone.

“President Mohammad Zahir, how do you do?”

“How have you been, President George W. Bush?”

“Well, you don’t have to be so stiff.”

“No, how can I do that? Our country is now entirely dependent on your kindness.”

No matter how good intentions the US president has, it is ultimately 갑 [Gap – superior] and 을 [Eul – subordinate]. Under no circumstances should he betray the trust of the United States. Especially now that Operation Shock and Awe has been successfully carried out.

“It would be a great help to our United States diplomatically, but one of my beliefs is mutual respect. You are an independent country. You don’t have to act like a protectorate or a colony.”

“Then I will only refer to you as President. Because I also have my own beliefs. It is a great violation of my principles to receive grace and not repay it.”

“Then let me tell you. Do you remember what I said?”

“You wanted democracy to bloom in the Middle East as well. Afghanistan is scheduled to be the forward base.”

“That’s right. Official letters will be sent to those dispatched friends soon. Some of them will learn the Quran. Well, some of them are already learning it.”

“Yes?”

“Not all Americans are Christians. And they are learning for local administration, but there will be few who want to convert to Islam. They are so used to the American free life that it would be a big deal if they missed bacon in the morning.”

“That alone is something to be thankful for.”

“Of course, Afghanistan will use Western-made weapons in the future. Among them, they will use American-made weapons. Individual weapons will be the latest, but for tanks and air force, we will be able to purchase what we are retiring at a low price.”

This was already expected. At the same time, it was clearly a good thing. If American weapons had not come in, they would have had to arm themselves with Soviet-era weapons. They were cheap and sturdy, but other performance was better with Western weapons.

“Now I’m going to tell you my business.”

“Please tell me. I will do my best to help you.”

“Seeing President Zahir’s decision, I am also determined. Do you happen to watch TV?”

“TV?”

To be honest, he just couldn’t watch it. It was his daily routine to rummage through documents with bloodshot eyes, sleeping only 2 hours a day. Where would he have time to watch TV?

“Ah, that is. Osama bin Laden has been executed.”

“I heard the news from my American friends.”

“Then I think you know enough about what the situation will be like there in the future.”

“Jihad. A local jihad will occur. In the United States, they call it terrorism.”

“I would like to dispatch security forces if I could, but that would rather be a bad move. It would be better for Afghanistan to maintain security directly, even if there is a training period.”

The result of the deployment of US troops was, as you can see, a series of terror, terror, and terror. A money-eating hippopotamus where a million-dollar equipment turns into scrap metal with a one-dollar bomb.

“Now that Osama bin Laden has died on American soil, al-Qaeda members will not stand still.”

“Perhaps there is something I can do.”

There are still many Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners unofficially left here.

“Good. Then will you help me?”

A ship. A sturdy ship that can withstand any waves. In Zahir’s eyes, he, the people, and the country were seen on the ship. It was written on the ship like this.

MADE IN USA.

“Of course.”