the edited version
I Want To Tell You A Bedtime Story
[I have been reminded that there have been wars of longer duration and to call this war the longest in the history of the world is highly inaccurate. No 'war' however has cost so much in such a short period of time - and it's increasing by the minute - an estimated 7 trillion U.S. dollars - $7 000 000 000 000 to date. There has never been an Empire in the history of the world which has launched a world 'war on terror' - simply because it is impossible to ultimately win such a world- encompassing enterprise.
As in the Far East likewise in the West, it is too great a 'loss of face' ('Imperial Hubris') for an Empire to declare the 'war on terror' over - thus it will continue to drag on - albeit in different guises - ad infinitum - hence the term I use - the longest 'war' in the history of the world.]
There is this wonderful hospital in Pakistan – Lahore – to be precise.
It is called 'The Doctors Hospital'.
It has treated many very important people and their families with a high degree of success.
Their reputation is second to none.
Their reputation is second to none.
It's specialists are renowned not only in Pakistan but far beyond.
Many of it's fine medical Staff have spent periods of time abroad learning to perfect their wonderful skills which has enabled them to fulfill their chosen profession and their calling from Allah.
There was one particular client whom they treated as much out of love as respect for the principles of Hippocrates.
Yes indeed these doctors and surgeons were well educated and their calling was as much to save lives as it was to relieve pain and suffering.
I mention this because as a testament to this a number have since left this fine institution to serve the poor and needy throughout Pakistan.
Interestingly, I encountered similar 'kindred spirits' [of the Hindu faith] from the same profession (who have likewise served their country honorably) in India who have likewise moved from treating those of profound wealth to those who are most impoverished - and who would never be able to afford the cost of, say, a heart specialist, for their sick or dying child.
Well this one particular client had an interesting background.
Born to a family of wealthy immigrants he turned his back on it all to serve a higher calling. In his mind this calling was from Allah and his mission was …...well.....let's say more complicated....than many appreciated.......having read in some considerable detail about this man's life.
He was born in Saudi Arabia.
His childhood was typical of the rich and privileged – trips abroad, staying at the best hotels with his family – his parents – wining and dining at the best establishments. [Did I mention smoking? He was a prolific smoker at about the age of fourteen!]
But something happened. He was, in his own mind, chosen by Allah for a higher purpose.
I can't say that, like Jesus, he went up to the top of the mountain, surveyed everything, then Satan came to him in disguise with many temptations – all of which he rejected in favor of Allah.
What I can say is that he believed that he had a 'higher calling', which, in the fullness of time, he believed the Islamic world would come to better understand and respect – even if many did not at that time.
Khurasan (Afghanistan-Pakistan) has, since the time of Alexander of Macedon, been seen as a gateway to somewhere else, a land where wealth passes over on its way to somewhere else.
The British Empire suffered it's worst ever defeat in this region – in Kabul - with only one doctor being allowed to live to tell the tale – long torn out or removed (or deeply buried within for only the keen researcher to find) the proud annals of 'British Empire' history.
Then the Russians, with their superior technology, superior communications and destructive firepower, arrived.
Wells were poisoned, animals killed and what little vegetation as existed defoliated by chemicals (similar to Agent Orange) to compel the Afghan people to capitulate to Soviet rule.
But the Afghan people have seen it all before – the deaths, the looting, the pillage. Expectant mothers dead from bullets to the stomach, their foetuses all bloodied – occasionally some clinging still and crying for dear life. Yes the Afghan people have seen it all before. That is why they are so resilient a people. If the dust could talk every square inch of it would be filled with the graves of the foreign invaders – side by side with the babies, men, women, children all dead for others' dreams and financial ambitions.
It may have been an epiphany of some sort, after witnessing such carnage or just a combination of many events – from the presence of idolaters on the Sacred soil of Saudi Arabia, to the loss of Islamic identity - all conspired by Satan – to undermine Islam – or a realization that the very people whose duties it was to protect Islam and the Holy Shrines had sold their very souls to the Devil, for, as we might say in the Christian context, thirty pieces of silver.
Whatever Saudi Arabia, whatever Mecca and Medina were sold for was immaterial. That they were all sold in the Slave Market to the Crusader. He was in no doubt about this.
That the Ka'bah was also a prisoner of the Crusader was also in no doubt in his mind.
Islam was forsaken unless it got a wake up call.
He was invited to set up base in Afghanistan.
['al-Qaeda' is also known as 'the base'.]
But how?.........what to do?.........how to defeat the greatest superpower on the planet.......but wait........they have all been defeated......Rome was sacked, pillaged and all it's booty removed by vandals and barbarians – as they victoriously departed the dying embers of that once-proud-city of Romulus and Remus on the river Tiber.
All Empires have had, have and will always have Achilles Heels.
Academics and researchers continue to study the Roman Empire because it provides one of the finest examples of how a modern technologically advanced superpower can be brought to it's knees.
It is not the best example for the twenty first century – where the ability to understand and master control of the Internet and to bring every device – including mobile, management and implanted devices – under your control or to a standstill – or turn them against their own masters - may well be the next step in both control, all out warfare and total defeat or victory – but it is still one of relevance where a technologically advanced superpower has entered the arena to battle with one of the most backward and 'primitive' (lacking a high degree of technological sophistication) terrain.
He found that Achilles Heel – and exploited it to the utmost.
Intelligence analysts have been aware for a long time what the strategy was – but their masters - secular politicians – blinded by Mammon – and with ultimate faith in their superior technology – continued on their blind path to ultimate victory over 'the savages' and 'primitives' of Afghanistan.
'Savages' because they attempted through international bodies to impose 'social and political control' – introducing 'Christian' Western values and laws to isolate the populations from their tribal traditions and tribal rulers.
(Only when they were assassinated did such attempts end. I say 'assassinated' rather than 'murdered' because NGO's and their Officers were being used as political pawns to undermine or subvert Afghan institutions and replace them with Western values. Many of those Officers assassinated were selected or appointed for their NGO 'mission' or 'appointment' in Afghanistan precisely because they were genuinely committed to the principles of the United Nations and other agencies, were non-political and wanted to 'make a difference' by changing Afghanistan for the better.
How do you explain to someone genuinely committed to higher ideals that these international institutions serve their political masters and are used to subvert societies? They are in effect, alternative instruments in the counterterrorism or counterinsurgency 'toolkit' to be used as directed.
Someone (one individual) will have direct links to senior politicians or others more directly involved in the military campaign but most will be 'the good Samaritans' I described above. The pathos is that it is so difficult if not impossible to differentiate in a war zone – so all become targets.
So that is what happened in Afghanistan.
As soon as the NGOs parachuted in by the Christian West (through the United Nations, the Red Cross and other Agencies) were ejected (through terrorism, kidnappings, murder, ransom, rape) from the country, all that they 'created' was demolished almost overnight and the country has returned to what it was before 'the Invader'.
Kabul, a good example, is now beginning that return to what it was before
'embedded' and 'independent' foreign groups and individuals arrived to support (even if they were unaware of this) the coalition forces, which in their turn, desperately required these agencies of 'humanitarian relief' as 'cover' or part of a domestic (Western democratic) agenda to provide politicians in Christendom with political legitimacy amongst electorates to justify war and interventions.
I am now quoting myself from at least three years ago (but more than ten in private)
'Afghanistan is a tribal nation.........you cannot parachute in democracy, MacDonalds and Pizza Hut.......'
Sadly, nobody ever listens. If you are not singing their tune and agreeing with, what was a totally lost cause – chasing this enigmatic character - like dust in the wind – all over the Islamic world and not focusing on what the real military priorities in Afghanistan should have been – you end up with a situation now where it becomes impossible to withdraw – because you have created new problems which make it imperative to maintain the wrong military presence and configuration long into the future – out of sheer incompetence and arrogance – without capitulation to the enemy:'primitive savages' having 'defeated' the greatest military power on the planet.
But you will say:''this is preposterous! We have a strong military presence in Afghanistan and are defeating the terrorists!'' ''You on the other hand are a supporter of these terrorists! If indeed we are losing the war in Afghanistan, it is because of disloyal people like you!''
I would answer such criticisms and anger like this: everything I have said would have prevented Christian lives being needlessly wasted in Afghanistan. I never said their should not have been a military presence in Afghanistan. I said that it was wrongly configured and present for the wrong mission. It was however the mission which this enigmatic individual prayed to Allah it would come for.
The United States and coalition forces took the bait – hook line and sink – and have been fighting the longest most costly and most irrelevant war in the history of the world.
Indeed, you might say that the scope of these irrelevant wars have been expanded or 'inflated' to encompass Africa, Asia and in time the Americas.
The Achilles heels of Empires are pride and arrogance.
On these two points, there can be 'no surrender' to 'primitives'.
Anything, even death, is preferable to the humiliation of being dragged in chains naked behind a donkey through the streets of a desolate village with the locals stoning 'the Crusader' to death - as traditional punishment for the most heinous of crimes under Islam. The roll-sacked and firmly bagged heads from their lifeless bodies being used for sport – a game and tradition as old as the Empire of the Mongols, with the dogs in eager attendance waiting patiently for their spoils.
As the dark-tinted windows of Mitsubishi, Nissans and the ISI-provided security Mercedes and army jeeps speed through in this affluent part of Lahore leaving dust trails as they passed, the locals could not but wonder as to who was the VIP being treated.
The scenario for his medical check-ups were always the same:
Police and army – unfamiliar to the local people – would arrive early to block off streets. They were polite and mannerly to the local population and would occasionally joke and fraternize politely with the local children on their way to or from school at 6.50am or around - 2-3.30pm – and the local people - all curious to know who was this important visitor, with such a large motor cavalcade, to their Doctors Hospital.
(It did not only treat people of wealth but gave priority to all in need - with especial emphasis for those whose family were in service to the Nation.)
After a little over a year of these visits, rumors were at a frenzy about the man whom nobody could see. Let's call him here 'The Man In The Iron Mask'.
It is believed (but I have no proof of this so it is just hearsay) that one amorous individual confided to his/her secret lover who the mysterious patient at the Hospital really was.
It was only a matter of time before the two Doctors – both brothers and both working at The Doctors Hospital – one in Paediatrics the other a Kidney Specialist - who were treating this VIP - became known to a select few outside the hospital.
It happens that they were not treating one individual but also the children – one of whom has a serious illness – genetic I believe. (My speculation about it being genetic is on the basis of DNA analysis carried out on behalf of the CIA under the pretext of disease inoculations administered in both Pakistan and in Afghanistan to identify immediate near relatives of this individual.) These inoculations were carried out by reputable bodies most of whose individual team members were totally unaware of the intelligence-gathering nature of this operation – and indeed were genuinely shocked and disgusted when they later learned the true motives behind what they thought were humanitarian relief efforts to vulnerable populations.
So the ….... brothers (who had their own hospital) but were called in, as Specialists, to supervise these tests, carried out their duties most efficiently.
Around late 2003 – early 2004 the fairly regular visits to the Hospital abruptly stopped – just as they had abruptly begun.
Some speculated that this VIP was now deceased.
A comment by Benazir Bhutto, the then Prime Minister, fueled speculation.
A comment by Benazir Bhutto, the then Prime Minister, fueled speculation.
(She was a good ruler and respected by her peers.)
Her tasks were monumental. One was to bring to heel the ISI.
Finally at a meeting she demanded to know the truth.
(It is believed that a foreign intelligence agency linked the ISI to this mysterious individual. This echoed an earlier era when General Javid Nasir was identified by a foreign intelligence agency as the one singular military Officer who originally organized al-Qaeda in Khurasan and brought (or 'invited') this mysterious hospital visitor to the tribal border region to assist in the Holy Cause over a decade ago.)
General Nasir was undoubtedly a committed patriot and widely respected within the Pakistan Armed Forces. When a foreign intelligence agency became aware of his plan to annexe the Pashtun region of Afghanistan-Pakistan this was secretly relayed to Karachi and Islamabad and, on advice, Nasir was dismissed from his post.
[Interestingly, and not well-known, there is a link between the ------- brothers at The Doctors Hospital and General Nasir.]
''Oh He died some time ago.....'' Benazir Bhutto casually announces to the astonished media present (after having been briefed sometime earlier by the DGISI.)
This is now the backstory to the DGISI's briefing:
(I am summarizing)
''He died, we deep froze him for our country's security and national interests. If we say he is dead the Americans will leave – as they did when the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan.
You do know how much money we got from the Americans for our military and police anti-terrorist budgets last year? We cannot afford to loose the American money.''
I would like, at this juncture to digress for a minute.
When researching my book about Islamic insurgency in the Southern Philippines I came across a lot of material which did not appear to 'fit in' to the book at that time.
One was a saying by a tribe - The Bajao Tribe (Bajau/Baju.)
This tribe is the original 'Sea Gipsy' from which every other in the world has derived. 'The Taosug' are another (rival) tribal group in the area of the Sulu Seas.
The saying was this:
''If you come across a Tausug (Taosug/Tosug) drowning in the water, spear him (kill him) because he is bad.''
''If you come across a Chinese, drown him, because he is a cheater in trade and business.''
''If you come across an American, save him, because he gives you bread.''
I remembered this as the story was being relayed to me - as to how this meeting between the DGISI and Benazir Bhutto unfolded, over tea and biscuits.
''As soon as the War on Terror is ended – so are the Americans in this region...but our security threats will continue to remain as they always were.''
''Prime Minister, how will we fund our troops on the India-Pakistan borders? How will your Party explain to the nation why we cannot defend against India – because we will not have enough money to pay the armed forces in this and other tasks?''
''Will you take money from the nuclear program and give it to other vital branches? Who will make up this difference for our country's nuclear defence? Certainly not the Americans. ''
''They will give us money – yes - but only if they believe they are getting something in return.''
''We have to continue having them continue to believe that they are getting something in return.''
''That, Prime Minister, is why we deep froze Him.''
''In time, we will give the Americans everything they want. And they will be so grateful to us they will give us even more money to fight terrorism.''
Few knew about this meeting. It took place when the Prime Minister was en route to another destination. No official notes were kept but both the Prime Minister and the DGISI had a trusted party(ies) in attendance.
The above in quote marks is an entirely fictional account of a fictional meeting between Benazir Bhutto and the Director General of Pakistan's Intelligence Service – the ISI.
As I understand this was well-known in Washington years ago. But many politicians in the Capitol live in their own world – a bubbled reality show where everything is 'bright and beautiful'.
Anyone who said otherwise was most unwelcome and their view dismissed as products of 'unhinged minds' or not understanding how politics and 'the real world' works.
You could say that both groups – in Islamabad, Karachi and in Washington - are living in similar 'Reality Show' worlds – but sometimes also existing in parallel universes.
Prime Minister Bhutto however announced to the world that this individual had been dead for some time. Relations were already strained between the ISI and the Prime Minister because she was getting briefings from a foreign agency which were not just contradicting the ISI's version of events but suggesting more serious activities (perhaps tantamount to treason?) of the ISI and elements of the armed forces.
The Prime Minister was assassinated sometime afterwards.
So that's the story folks.
As I did say, it is a story and should not be read as 'Gospel'.
It is an interesting story because it contains most of the elements you might expect to be present.
I rarely do fiction but thought this story of particular note.
Now you can sleep easy?
©Patrick Emek, October 2017