George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 60

George W. Bush’s Great America – Episode 59 (60/377)

Due to China’s urgent request, Hu Jintao was able to take office unusually quickly, the day after Jiang Zemin’s downfall, following a formal vote.

Although Hu Jintao came to power in China in this way, the existing policies established by Jiang Zemin did not change significantly. However, all ongoing projects faced cancellation, or funding for national defense research was severely cut.

Even so, the joint East Iraq training exercise was not canceled.

This was because it represented China’s last remaining point of pride. Above all, it was a promise to its closest ally, Russia, and if even Russia abandoned China, China’s position as a major power would be threatened. Therefore, China had to participate in the joint East Asia training exercise, even if it was forced. Far from changing the scale or schedule of the training, they actually increased it.

Of course, they were managing this by squeezing out a non-existent budget, but this was a necessary bluff for China. To be precise, it wasn’t strictly necessary, but rather close to an obsession. Even if that obsession led to the downfall of the current Communist Party regime, China would never relinquish its status as a major power.

How could they easily give up a position they had climbed to with such difficulty? Even the meekest person, once they taste power, struggles to avoid losing it, which is a similar dynamic.

Until just 500 years ago, China was arrogant enough to confine the world to East Asia and treat everything else as barbarians. And because that arrogance was rooted in tradition, not only the surrounding countries but even the Western powers, which are now ascendant, could not easily object.

After enduring an era of humiliation, they finally established a foothold to return to being the strongest country, but even that was being taken away. Only the now-vanished Jiang Zemin accurately understood the magnitude of the shock China would experience as a result and how it would react.

Naturally, the joint East Iraq training exercise inevitably forced the European forces stationed in West Iraq to conduct counter-training.

“Therefore, our EU resolves to conduct a joint West Iraq training exercise for one week, from December 1st to December 7th, in response to the Sino-Russian joint East Iraq training exercise on November 29th.”

Unsurprisingly, no EU member state opposed this. Everyone had clearly witnessed the capabilities of the integrated European forces during the Iraq War. The relationship between the European and Russian forces, already strained, was completely shattered by the localized war, and there was strong public and governmental demand for a robust response.

For these reasons, all EU member states were demanding high-intensity joint training, and the EU welcomed this, as it provided a strong justification at a time when they were considering where to conduct such exercises.

Supply systems and equipment standardization would likely take a century to resolve, given the geopolitical complexities of each country, or perhaps not even in 10 or 20 years. However, the level of training and operational goals had to be unified at all costs.

In fact, the EU had already attempted equipment integration in the past.

Its name was truly impressive: Eurofighter Typhoon!

Agile performance and stability far surpassed existing fighters. Lightweight materials and a canard-delta wing design made it ideal for dogfights. It boasted a wide range of weapon compatibility to integrate missiles, bombs, etc., from EU member states. Excellent stealth performance complemented a multi-function display suitable for the times.

The Eurofighter Typhoon should have been considered the next best fighter after the F-22 [American fifth-generation, single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft].

However, as the saying goes, too many cooks spoil the broth. Ironically, the involvement of so many countries led to its downfall.

When the details emerged, the maintenance costs were staggering, surprising even the United States, known for its high defense spending, and it suffered from seriously low durability and reliability issues.

Maintenance costs weren’t just bad; the Eurofighter Typhoon was ‘the fighter with the highest maintenance costs in the world.’ Surprisingly, this included even the ‘F-22,’ often called a money-eating monster.

But the problems didn’t end there. What about durability and reliability?

In terms of durability, the total flight time was only 3,000 to 4,000 hours. Considering that other models have 10,000 hours, this was an absurdly short lifespan. Exceeding that time meant risking a flight to heaven instead of through the sky.

Regarding reliability, the state-of-the-art display they were so proud of would suddenly say ‘Goodbye!’ and shut down during flight, and the avionics, the computer systems, would also fail. This, along with the durability problem, caused all EU member states to avoid the Eurofighter Typhoon.

In short, problems such as improvement disagreements due to the involvement of multiple nations, operational radius limitations due to small fuel tanks, and export issues of Eurofighter GmbH [the multinational company that produces the Eurofighter Typhoon] piled up, making the Eurofighter Typhoon a nuisance from the moment it entered production.

Anyway, back to the main point, the EU announced the joint West Iraq training exercise to unify the inconsistent levels of training and integrate military doctrines.

However, this was the idea of the European military’s top brass, and the thoughts of the European forces stationed in Iraq, the soldiers themselves, were somewhat different. The soldiers’ patriotism was largely tied to their paychecks. Of course, some were genuinely patriotic, but it was questionable whether they would remain so if their salaries were delayed for six months.

Thanks to the fact that they were receiving their salaries, including danger pay, without fail, there were no major complaints yet, but hardly any soldiers welcomed this unfamiliar, exotic land, and most of them wanted to return home immediately.

The Russian soldiers felt similarly, and their mere presence there was causing internal dissatisfaction.

“What the hell is this! A joint West Iraq training exercise that doesn’t include the Iraqi Democratic Republic?”

Naturally, the West Iraqi government hated all of this. Unless they were insane, they wouldn’t appreciate the European forces almost forcibly occupying them under the guise of spreading Western-style democracy.

That’s not to say there were no objections from the public. There were still no physical barriers like fences on the border, so people who favored a more Islamic lifestyle were crossing to the east, and those who wanted the opposite were crossing to the west.

The government, whose tax revenue was its lifeblood, begged both east and west to stop this, but they refused, citing the seemingly moral principle that freedom of will should be respected. They secretly believed that once people realized the superiority of Western-style democracy, refugees would flood in from the east.

In other words, after the story circulated that this decision was made with the future in mind, the West Iraqi government stopped sending dozens of requests a day to guard the border and block illegal crossings.

They wanted to tell them to go to hell, but the West Iraqi government, with its almost non-existent defense capabilities, couldn’t expel the European forces and had to tolerate their overbearing presence.

However, the West Iraqi regular army was not completely excluded from the joint West Iraq training exercise; nominally, they were supposed to defend major government facilities. In other words, they were completely separate from the actual training exercises.

The situation in the East Iraqi government was completely different from that in West Iraq, and Putin, no longer willing to intervene in the Middle East, simply ignored the East Iraqi government’s requests. However, to foster self-defense capabilities, he decided to provide additional military advisory groups and free support with surplus Russian-made weapons.

This is at least the situation as it has been revealed on the surface, the situation that the EU has successfully controlled information about.

“Damn it, how long do I have to live like this?”

Michael, a member of the German Army, grumbled. The complaints that had been building up had finally exploded. He had volunteered for deployment to Iraq, so he had no complaints about that. The military was doing its best to ensure that soldiers didn’t get homesick.

However, Michael’s complaints weren’t about convenience facilities or salary; it was a more fundamental concern: a desire for life. Not all soldiers are prepared to die.

“How would I know? You probably won’t be able to leave for at least one or two years.”

The senior officer chuckled, implying that he was also stuck. Until yesterday, Ingo had been in this position. However, he was now in a coffin, being returned to his home country due to the terrorist attack that occurred yesterday.

People were coming from the east, but because there was no proper control, terrorists could come and go as if they were at home. The European forces weren’t stupid, so they strengthened security around their bases, but the places where terrorism mainly occurred were crowded civilian areas or the regular patrol routes of the European peacekeeping forces in major cities.

For this reason, European forces had to go out on patrol expecting to die. The war ended quickly, but the number of soldiers diagnosed with PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder] was gradually increasing due to the constant terrorist attacks.

The saying goes, if you can’t hide it, be silent. The EU chose silence over public announcement regarding terrorism. But in the 21st century, that doesn’t work well. Reporters who thrive on sensationalism and war correspondents had long since sensed something and begun to investigate in earnest.

“I don’t think I’m destined to die in Iraq anyway.”

Michael flicked his cigarette. He wasn’t being self-deprecating; he genuinely believed it. Just yesterday, he was riding in a car when it overturned with a huge crash. Fortunately or unfortunately, there were no deaths except for Ingo, who was in the driver’s seat, but many were injured. Most had at least fractures, and Michael miraculously only had a slight bruise on his eye.

“Or maybe I’ve used up all my luck with this.”

More equipment was damaged after the occupation than during the war. Equipment worth tens of millions of euros was reduced to irreparable scrap metal by homemade bombs worth only 100 euros. This situation was happening throughout West Iraq.

Michael was spacing out when the cigarette burned down to the filter, startling him. He waved his hand enthusiastically and jumped up. It was clear that the senior officer was chuckling at the sight, and it was clear that he knew everything but hadn’t told him on purpose.

“It’s hot! Shit! Shit!”

“Haha, are you awake now?”

“Uh, no.”

“What do you mean no? It’s not just you. Well, even dogs get PTSD, so it’s weirder if someone who sees that is sane.”

“Dogs, you say?”

It wasn’t yet widely known, but the fact that dogs also suffer from PTSD was well-known to those who had experienced war. This had been recognized to some extent, especially after World War I and II. However, no formal research had been conducted.

“The idea of using military dogs to detect plastic explosives is good, but you should also think about our position.”

The senior officer was a dog handler. He was also one of the few people who had seen the military dog he was in charge of explode and die.

“How about a cigarette?”

The senior officer flinched at the offered cigarette, then became expressionless and scolded.

“Get rid of it. I’ve quit smoking now.”

He had been unable to properly care for the military dog at the time of its death because of his smoking habit. Thanks to the squad members’ quick action, he avoided punishment, but he had to undergo a period of self-restraint.

Anyway, he didn’t care what others smoked; he was trying to refrain from smoking himself. He tried to frame it as being for his health, riding the well-being trend, but he was actually traumatized by cigarettes themselves.

“Give me the damn newspaper.”

However, the senior officer, who asked for the newspaper to change the subject, was embarrassed by what he saw on the very first page.

“What is this again?”

「George W. Bush defends Michael Jackson! A president who defends child sex offenders! Is this okay!?」