George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 168

George Bush’s Great America – Episode 167

< Episode 167 >

“So, all of our ‘classified documents’ are gone?”

Those words flew like a sharp dagger and pierced his heart. But he had nothing to be ashamed of. The classified documents were completely destroyed because of the terrorist attack, and the failure to prevent the attack was the responsibility of security. Therefore, he, as a member of the CIA, had done nothing wrong. He was in charge of information, not security.

“That’s correct.”

“Was there anything you could salvage?”

“The vault is underground, but the fire started on the first floor, making it impossible to access.”

“I see.”

It was a very short answer, but the President’s tone was full of disappointment. Kruger could sense the President’s disappointment not because he was good at reading people’s emotions or particularly experienced.

Anyone could tell when emotion suddenly appeared in a monotonous voice. In short, the President was directly rebuking the head of North Africa.

“How long will it take to recover?”

“It took about six months to collect this information, so one month should be sufficient.”

The junior agent next to him widened his eyes in surprise. The junior agent was excellent at his job, but his emotions were too obvious for an agent in the field. He seemed horrified by the sudden reduction in information gathering time by a factor of six, but this was a fairly rational judgment.

The reason it took so long to gather information in Sudan was that he spent a lot of time building an information network and connections. Of course, there were those who disappeared or died during those six months, but it wouldn’t take long to gather them all in one place again. Considering that he and his junior were the ones organizing it, one month was more than enough.

However, yes.

‘I’ll have to do some unwanted overtime.’

He would have to live and eat in the office for a month. Well, whether it was the office or home, it was all the same except for the guarantee of privacy. In fact, Kruger himself was fine as long as he had cigarettes and frozen pizza.

His junior? Who cares about his junior’s situation? It’s normal for CIA agents dispatched overseas to be worked to the bone. Rather, the time before had been unusual. He had been spending his days with plenty of leisure, using the excuse that there were too many things to worry about and not enough agents, but now the time had come to be worked hard again.

“Submit a report after the fire investigation is complete.”

“Understood.”

‘It’s over.’ That’s what he thought. The content was less significant than he had expected. He could even give himself a pat on the back for not letting his guard down until the very end. However, no matter how sharp a person’s intuition is, it is not always correct. To Kruger’s great dismay, the President’s words continued.

“I see. Four weeks, or 28 days, should be enough time, I believe.”

“Excuse me?”

Wasn’t one month usually meant to be 30 days? At least, didn’t it mean the day when the same date as now comes next month? What was this crazy calculation? Questions chased each other and took over Kruger’s brain.

“What is it? Are you going to tell me it’s impossible?”

The difference between what Kruger was thinking and the President’s words was only about two days, so it was quite difficult to nitpick or refute. He just had to sacrifice a little more of his own time. Besides, Kruger also had ambition. He didn’t want to spend his life in this remote area, always supporting others.

He wanted to climb higher, and he was well aware that the process would not be easy. That’s why he came here himself, seeking opportunities like lions in the savanna’s dry season.

When he first came to this African land, the CIA considered Africa to be an unexplored continent. It was no exaggeration to say that all the information from Africa flowing into the United States passed through Kruger’s hands at least once.

“No, sir.”

Of course. He could never stop here. He didn’t want to stop at just the CIA. There were plenty of high-ranking officials with the label of former CIA agent. Or he could even aim for the position of CIA Director.

Someday, he would sit in an office chair in the Pentagon, commanding thousands of subordinates with a wave of his hand, and monopolize all the secrets that existed in the United States, and even the world. If possible, he would use those secrets to accumulate more power and more wealth.

“I can do it.”

“Then three weeks would be enough, not four.”

That day, Kruger understood more deeply why the President was called ‘the Devil.’

With that, the call ended.

“Fucking hell.”

Kruger involuntarily cursed. He was planning to rebuild the embassy building and set up an office, but there was no time. He had to build a temporary office in any building in Sudan and start working right away. Even today.

At the same time, this was happening in the White House.

“Fucking hell.”

“Weren’t you just saying you were going to use polite language?”

“Would you not curse in this crazy situation? Half of the plan to identify the forces instigating the unrest in North Africa has become useless. If I had known this would happen, I would have ordered real-time reports.”

Polite language is not something you use. It comes out naturally. If a person is mentally stable, they will only utter curses awkwardly, even if forced to.

“If I could process all these reports, I would also agree to real-time reporting.”

The Chief of Staff leaned against a mountain of documents as he spoke. The documents were so plentiful that they didn’t even budge when he leaned against them. No matter how much he processed, they just kept piling up. How could he add more to this?

“I know. Isn’t that why I can’t do it right now?”

“Didn’t you share the information with CIA headquarters?”

“The internet line security isn’t reliable, so I was going to have them bring it in on USB or paper, but I didn’t expect this to happen.”

Bush scratched his head nervously. His hair was messed up, but he didn’t care at all. After all, the only person who would see his disheveled hair was the Chief of Staff right in front of him.

“But we can’t just lay our own lines from scratch.”

No country, especially not an ally, would openly allow another country, almost an enemy, to lay its own lines within its borders. ‘Oh, please, go ahead and lay them!’ There isn’t a single country that would say that. And you can’t borrow another country’s lines, can you?

Five Eyes or not, just because they are allies in a community of fate doesn’t mean they don’t snoop on each other’s information. The United States is doing it right now. If they get caught, they will face the consequences, but Bush has transformed this activity into a rather passive one.

Honestly, he wanted to stop, but he couldn’t because his country’s safety was the priority. The image may be well laundered now, but if you turn back the clock of history by just 100 years, England was a terrifying gang.

When the United States was a North American colony, which country promised to give them representative seats if they cooperated in the French war but didn’t keep its promise? Who is responsible for the mess that India and Pakistan are in? Which country promised to support Palestine when it became independent but didn’t keep its promise? Which country turned a blind eye when Poland was attacked by the Nazis?

If the United States is strong, England will not betray them, but if the United States weakens, which ally will be the first to betray them? If they betray them, how should the weakened United States act?

This is why they have to monitor their allies, even at the risk of facing criticism if they get caught. It may be somewhat paranoid, but if this paranoid behavior can ensure the safety of their country in an emergency, isn’t it a cheap price to pay?

“What I’m most curious about is the identity of the terrorist.”

“Terrorists don’t have identities. There are only two possibilities.”

In fact, terrorists are not easy to come by. It may be hard to imagine given the current state of the Middle East, but suicide terrorists are divided into those who are coerced and those who are voluntary. The former are boy suicide bombers who are purely bred by terrorist organizations. They are the boy soldiers wearing vests with homemade bombs that you often see in movies. They may not have been brainwashed, and they may not be boys, but in any case, someone has bribed them with money or offered other conditions to instigate the terrorist attack.

The latter is exemplified by 9/11. From Bush’s perspective, mentioning 9/11 was uncomfortable, but in any case, the perpetrators of 9/11 voluntarily gave up their lives to harm the United States.

“If it’s coercion, it’s the Sudanese government’s instigation. If it’s voluntary, there’s nothing we can do.”

“South Sudan became independent, and West Sudan became independent, so their territory has been cut in half. They have reason to instigate.”

“Hearing that makes me even more displeased. Should we have created East Sudan and made them a landlocked country?”

“We would have been criticized by the international community. Frankly speaking, our United States is also a country founded by driving out Native Americans.”

“That’s true.”

Some see this as the Native Americans being eliminated by foreign invasions in the survival of the fittest, just like other European kingdoms, and that the founding of the United States is justified. But Bush thought it was just bullshit to justify countries today simply invading and destroying everything.

Frankly, for true justice, if the Native Americans told the US government to get out of Europe, they would have to agree, and all races except Native Americans would have to immigrate to Europe.

“Since the perpetrator has been caught, we’ll have to wait for the report on the terrorist attack on the US Embassy in Sudan.”

If it’s voluntary, it’s better. A Sudanese patriot resisted external aggression. The incident ends with that.

If it’s someone instigated by the Sudanese government or some other organization, then it gets complicated. If they never open their mouths, then we’ll have to ask for some cooperation. Physical or mental torture is not the only answer.

He wouldn’t deny that it could be a quick answer, but there could be innocent people, and the side effects are significant. In a capitalist society, you can lighten a heavy mouth just by offering a few conditions.

“We need to increase the budget for North Africa.”

“I’ll prepare a speech to use in Congress. Please don’t improvise this time.”

“I know. Isn’t that why I’m thoroughly reviewing the speech for this filibuster ban bill?”

“That’s a relief. Except that you’re the one writing it.”

“You’ll be reviewing the final version anyway.”

Bush answered indifferently.

“You’re quite the power behind the throne.”

“I’d quit this kind of power right away.”