George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 45

< Episode 44 >

In the end, my last trip to Japan concluded on a somewhat bitter note. While my body enjoyed a taste of luxury, my mind remained uneasy. If things were to explode again after all this, it would be a truly justified explosion. With that thought, Bush walked into the Oval Office with a lighter step.

“What is this?”

After a prolonged absence, a mountain of documents was piled high in the Oval Office. If placed on the floor, it would likely reach a person’s chest. Because this mountain resided on the desk, Bush, despite his considerable height of 182cm (approximately 6 feet), couldn’t even see the first page. Again, it wasn’t just a stack; it was a veritable mountain.

“Chief of Staff, what is all this?”

“These are the pending approvals you’ve been deferring. Didn’t you request that they all be placed here?”

‘That bastard…! How dare he act superior to the President of the United States! I should fight him!’ he thought, but his body had already taken a seat and was reaching for the top document. This was the part of him that was Bush, not Kim Kap-hwan.

Even seated, he couldn’t simply pull out the bottom document. As he pondered where to begin, the Chief of Staff picked up the top document and handed it to Bush.

“Huh? What’s this now?”

“It’s a CIA Afghanistan branch report led by Karl Rove.”

The report detailed significant developments, such as the stabilization of the Afghan situation, the overall increase in political awareness within Afghanistan, and the slow rise of small-scale anti-American protests from beneath the surface. Among these, what caught his eye, unsurprisingly, was the ‘Abolition of Freedom Fries and dishes using pork, which do not align with local sentiments.’

‘Freedom Fries. I’d almost forgotten about that. Rove really does a good job. Should I bring him back?’

Those who are incompetent but proactive are often dismissed as useless, while those who are both competent and proactive are highly valued. Karl Rove belonged to the top 0.01% of the latter category in the entire United States. If he were here, managing domestic affairs would be much easier.

‘But it might be too much to ask him to return after only a month, isn’t it?’

“Let’s proceed as is for the next six months. Then we’ll re-evaluate.”

After this message of misfortune was delivered, the Afghan military advisory group reportedly screamed inhumanly in unison. This led to rumors among the residents that American soldiers transformed into monsters at night, a minor anecdote that persisted for years.

In any case, that scream wouldn’t reach the White House across the Atlantic, at least not during Bush’s term.

“Next.”

He continued to sign the documents without hesitation. With a single word, the signed documents vanished, and new ones appeared, almost like an automated system. The Chief of Staff’s efficiency was akin to a computer.

‘Yes, this is power.’

“Umm…?”

A groan involuntarily escaped Bush’s lips.

“The Vice President is in convalescence?”

“Yes, he underwent heart surgery during his trip to East Asia. The surgery was successful, but a convalescence period is necessary. This document is for the approval of that process.”

“Heart surgery? Why wasn’t I informed? It’s the Vice President’s surgery, after all.”

“Since it occurred during a diplomatic mission, I contained the news at my level.”

Andrew Card was not the type to betray Bush. His loyalty ran deep, like that of a knight in a medieval fantasy. (Though, in reality, many medieval knights were more like gangsters.) Chief of Staff Card withheld this information out of concern that it would unsettle Bush. While it would be problematic if all information bypassed the President, it was equally problematic if crucial information like this was kept from him.

However, this didn’t imply that Chief of Staff Card was incompetent. He was someone who clearly distinguished between public and private matters. This distinction isn’t always easy. In an interview setting, for example, one’s eyes often gravitate towards familiar faces, even among strangers.

‘But Chief of Staff Card is one of the few people who can perfectly control that unconscious bias.’

In other words, it was more accurate to say that the Chief of Staff’s judgment was based on Bush’s typical behavior and attitude towards Dick Cheney, rather than his own personal feelings. Regardless of what others might say, Andrew Card was a loyal subject who remained by Bush’s side until the end of the infamous Bush administration. He was so upright that he even maintained the demeanor of a Chief of Staff towards his successor until the very end.

‘Is he truly selfless?’

As a side note, Bush, having finished his train of thought, fell into contemplation once more upon seeing the mountain of documents, a testament to the malice before him.

“Hmm, from now on, keep me informed of everything related to the Vice President.”

“Understood.”

“Next.”

This time, it was a report indicating growing public and congressional support for arms reduction.

“Tell them to look at the neighborhood next door. That should be sufficient.”

Zarqawi [Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian jihadist who led al-Qaeda in Iraq] still hadn’t been captured. Despite the commotion in Europe and Russia, there was no significant trace of him, leading some conspiracy theorists to claim that Zarqawi was already dead, had undergone gender reassignment surgery in Thailand, or was hiding in the United States. If that were the case, finding him would indeed be impossible.

Originally, Europe, which was on the verge of arms reduction, couldn’t even consider it due to the creation of the European Integrated Forces, and Russia was steadily accumulating funds by capitalizing on rising oil prices. There was even a brief local war between Russia and the European forces.

‘Hmm, Russia. The reason for Russia’s sudden rise like a phoenix is…’

Let’s briefly examine the original history that Kim Kap-hwan knew. Russia had been exporting oil and natural gas to the world since the Soviet era. However, the primary reason for Russia’s rapid growth under the Putin regime was the Bush administration’s incompetence.

That incompetence encompassed everything the Bush administration had done. If I had to highlight the most influential factors, it would be the invasion of Iraq and Hurricane Katrina.

The invasion of Iraq completely destabilized the Middle East, and even Saudi Arabia, the largest oil producer at the time, suffered from terrorism. Consequently, ‘oil prices rose.’

Subsequently, oil pipelines in Iraq were targeted by terrorists. Again, ‘oil prices rose.’

As oil pipelines in Middle Eastern oil-producing countries, including Saudi Arabia, were targeted, the only remaining method of transportation was oil tankers. However, most of the oil tankers departing from the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman were already in use, and even these began to face terrorist threats. Oil tankers were set ablaze, and marine insurance premiums skyrocketed. Furthermore, ships refused to transport crude oil. Demand was high, but supply was limited, so ‘oil prices rose.’

Hurricane Katrina devastated facilities in the Gulf of Mexico in the United States. Demand remained high, but supply was disrupted, inevitably leading to ‘oil prices rising.’

Iran, witnessing Iraq, which had fully cooperated with inspection teams, being destroyed in real-time, began to pursue nuclear weapons, believing they were the only reliable defense. This mirrored North Korea’s thinking, as Iraq, which had disarmed, was utterly destroyed. In any case, the economic sanctions imposed by the Western world since Iran’s establishment as an Islamic country were further intensified due to its nuclear ambitions, and ‘oil prices rose.’

External factors, such as the rapid increase in oil demand from developing countries led by China, also played a role, but at least half of the price increase was attributable to the Bush administration. In the 2000s, the Putin regime began to promote oil companies like Gazprom at the government level. Excessively high oil prices translated into substantial revenue, and Russia’s ‘economy, heavily reliant on natural resources, trended upward.’

Currently, the situation in the Middle East was similar. The only difference was that Iraq was nearing stabilization. Russia had provided the existing, partially collapsed government with various forms of support and had almost completely withdrawn its troops, except for the Zarqawi search team. Europe was directly investing capital and military power, installing pro-Western figures in the government.

In this context, the United States was considering arms reduction? Was it willing to jeopardize the Pax Americana [a period of relative peace in the Western world since the end of World War II] that it had worked so hard to establish?

“No way! Nope! Next!”

“This is a report on consumption changes for the past month.”

Gradually, the number of documents decreased. Before he realized it, the mountain had been reduced by half. In reality, while they were called documents, they were more accurately described as a mountain of reports. He spent more time skimming through reports than approving them. The most notable reports were those that clearly reflected the pressure from lobbyists, trends in North and South American countries, and changes in oil production.

“Police overreach and violence?”

Distributing a significant portion of the counter-terrorism budget to the police was beneficial, but the police were now running rampant. To be precise, they were always prone to overreach. There were reports of blacks and Hispanics being assaulted for trivial reasons.

“It feels like only yesterday that President Lincoln and Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. championed the eradication of racial discrimination and the spread of liberal ideas, yet racial discrimination persists?”

Reflecting on it, the problem wasn’t limited to discrimination against blacks, Hispanics, and Asians. Reverse discrimination could also occur, depending on the dominant race within the police force, particularly in places like Detroit.

‘Middle Easterners are facing significant persecution.’

There was little that could be done for the Middle Easterners.

‘Racial discrimination against Middle Easterners is inevitable for at least 20 years. Given the numerous large-scale terrorist attacks originating from the Middle East, no matter how much I advocate for equal treatment, there will be victims.’

“Let’s at least launch a public service campaign to emphasize that terrorists are not synonymous with Middle Easterners.”

That didn’t mean he would remain passive. That would be utterly shameless.

“And if the police budget increases, training should also be enhanced. Let’s also incorporate kindness training. And while we’re at it, let’s increase their salaries a bit. You know, with great power comes great responsibility.”

The United States has a vast land area, but the police budget is so inadequate that the level of training is excessively low, and in some cases, basic common sense is lacking. For example, police cars are required to use sirens when in pursuit. However, some officers didn’t know how to operate the siren, rendering it useless during chases. Does that make sense?

“And let’s slightly raise the passing standards, especially in the theoretical component.”

Corruption was also a concern. There were too many instances to dismiss them as isolated incidents.

“How effective do you think this will be?”

The Chief of Staff was subtly modifying Bush’s words, as if accustomed to it. This revised statement would be used in Congress. However, whether that speech would be delivered verbatim remained uncertain.

“Well, they’ll perform to the extent of the investment.”

“Chief of Staff, do you know what the biggest problem in an organization is?”

The Chief of Staff was on the verge of saying ‘a boss like you’ but stopped himself.

“It’s corruption. Corruption. Can’t we simply eliminate all the problematic individuals?”

“To do that, we’d have to replace them on a large scale.”

“Then do it.”

‘How can you utter such outrageous things so casually?’

The Chief of Staff once again felt a sense of absurdity at Bush’s bombshell remarks, something he never grew accustomed to, no matter how many times he experienced it.