Ch.431Episode 17 – The Blood-Drinking Tree

Thomas Jefferson, the American president and founding father, once said: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

Democracy is a tree that drinks blood.

But there exists a tree in this world that demands even more blood.

That tree’s name is dictatorship.

Episode 17 – The Tree That Drinks Blood

By mid-July, the deployment was decided.

The target areas were countries located in northern Moritania. Four coastal nations stretching from east to west were selected as deployment sites.

The Moritanian continent had traditionally been a place of unstable security. Central governments that practiced dictatorship suffered under the threat of military coups, and unstable political situations led to the rise of regional warlords.

The inherent instability in various sectors of society shook the foundations of many local governments, which resulted in borders falling to monsters.

Because of this, the inhabitants of the Moritanian continent now faced survival threats from civil war, monsters, disasters, and epidemics.

Amidst this situation, a ray of light appeared.

[The World Union has approved military intervention to resolve the situation in the Moritanian continent.]

[Chairperson Ariana urged member states to actively participate in the Union’s activities to maintain international peace and security as responsible members of the international community.]

The international organization had decided to take military action.

I glanced at the television while putting passport bundles and files into my business trip bag. On the screen occupying the wall of the Military Intelligence Bureau office, a statement from Abbas, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, was being broadcast.

[Our government applauds this decision by the World Union. Our government, established under the banner of freedom, has worked for international peace and world security for the past 100 years.]

It was archival footage from a cable news channel.

Panelists exchanged opinions while watching the Foreign Ministry’s statement. A university professor, a senator’s aide, a defense correspondent. These so-called experts from various fields shared their insights, but everything amounted to armchair theories.

The screen switched to a statement from the Defense Ministry spokesperson. Dressed in an elegant suit, the spokesperson responded to a reporter’s question about whether a troop deployment had been decided, speaking in a businesslike tone.

[We understand that no deployment request has been received from the Union yet. Currently, we are not considering deployment, but if a request comes, the government will comprehensively review it…]

“……”

After packing my bag, I turned off the office lights and closed the door.

In the empty room filled with a lonely atmosphere, only the hollow noise of the television lingered.

*

The World Union, corresponding to Earth’s UN, decided on military intervention to resolve the situation in the Moritanian continent.

The Union urged members of the international community to join the cause of protecting world peace and security, and as many as 18 governments received proposals through official diplomatic channels.

The Kiyen Empire.

The Abbas Kingdom.

The Order.

The Fatalia Republic.

The Lushan Federal Kingdom.

And even small nations from the Moritanian and Eastern continents.

Governments that received the Union’s proposal began considering deployment. Reviews were conducted at the governmental level, and proposals for peacekeeping force deployment were submitted to the Imperial Parliament, the Abbas Upper and Lower Houses, and the Fatalia Parliament.

As signs of an 18-nation multinational coalition force emerged, the international community began to stir.

A large-scale military operation to save innocent lives suffering from civil war and monsters. Many cheered at the news that a multinational force was being formed to rescue citizens groaning under life-threatening conditions.

From intellectuals who had criticized governments for ignoring foreign tragedies to ordinary people who had nothing to do with war.

The hope that the cause of world peace gave them was truly remarkable.

But a problem arose.

[Peacekeeping forces? Absolutely not! This is clearly foreign interference in internal affairs!]

As large-scale deployments by various governments were announced, voices of opposition began to emerge. The owners of these voices were countries adjacent to the deployment areas on the Moritanian continent.

[The essence of military intervention is foreign interference in internal affairs. It means that continental imperialists are attempting a dangerous adventure to secure oil and magic stones buried in the Moritanian continent.]

[Who exactly are you sending troops for? The stationing of foreign troops is an infringement on our government’s sovereignty!]

Delegations sent to the World Union fiercely opposed the Union’s military intervention. They argued that whether called peacekeeping forces or not, the stationing of foreign troops was clearly an invasion and interference in internal affairs.

Considering that these claims were consistently made by dictatorial states that routinely violated human rights, it was truly laughable.

But the effect was certain.

As governments across the Moritanian continent unanimously opposed, parliaments began to move.

Claims that ‘innocent lives should be saved in place of governments that cannot protect their citizens and violate human rights’ emerged alongside arguments opposing war, stating that ‘under no circumstances can actions violating another country’s sovereignty be justified.’ As parliaments divided, public opinion also split.

Domestic opposition acted as enormous political pressure on governments. Opposition parties opposed the war and refused to cooperate, while civic groups demanded that governments find humanitarian solutions. Whether in democratic or dictatorial states, public opinion held an intangible power that governments could not ignore.

Eventually, governments raised the white flag.

Of the 18 governments that received deployment proposals from the Union, “some” decided to postpone their deployment decisions.

*

[Our military has consistently participated in activities maintaining international peace and security. Currently, many Abbas soldiers are serving as peacekeepers abroad, contributing to international peace. However, due to claims that deploying troops to resolve the situation in the Moritanian continent could worsen the situation and have counterproductive effects, our military authorities have tentatively decided to postpone additional deployments…]

In the cafeteria inside the Magic Tower Immigration Office, the Abbas Defense Ministry spokesperson’s announcement about “postponing peacekeeping force deployment” was being broadcast on TV.

Sipping my coffee, I leaned back in my chair and spoke.

“So it ended up like this.”

News that the international peacekeeping force deployment would be postponed had already become a foregone conclusion centered around the Abbas Parliament and Defense Ministry. To be precise, the higher-ups had known from the beginning that the deployment would not materialize.

I was one of the people who knew this fact.

“Well, deployment isn’t something that can be decided as quickly as frying beans with lightning. It’s not particularly attractive to decision-makers, soldiers don’t like it, and neither do their families.”

“Plus, many countries oppose peacekeeping force stationing on the pretext of interference in internal affairs. Kosovo was a prime example.”

“There are more than just a few such places.”

The vast majority of dictatorships do not tolerate the stationing of foreign troops. Whether in their own country or adjacent ones, they cannot rule as they please if foreign troops are present.

Thus, countries in Earth’s Africa and Middle East also often refused the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces.

As domestic public opinion began to boil, the Abbas government put the brakes on deployment as if they had been waiting for this moment. When Abbas applied the brakes, other countries also stated that additional deployments would be difficult.

Most major powers already had many troops stationed overseas. Abbas was like that, and so was the Kiyen Empire.

The logic put forward by the Abbas government in refusing deployment was simple. They claimed it would be difficult to deploy more troops when they had already sent many units overseas as peacekeeping forces.

It wasn’t an incorrect claim.

The Abbas government had many precedents of deploying peacekeeping forces to the Moritanian continent, and six units were still carrying out missions there. Some units were even stationed in some of the four countries being considered as deployment candidates.

So the Abbas Defense Ministry could refuse deployment without burden. It was difficult to deploy another unit when peacekeeping forces were already deployed.

And the Abbas government had never claimed they would send peacekeeping forces. They had merely “reviewed” the Union’s request to deploy new units.

As the Abbas government subtly withdrew, other governments began to pull out as well.

The Kiyen Empire evaded responsibility by claiming that the imperial forces were already fulfilling their obligations with the peacekeeping forces previously deployed to the Moritanian continent, and Fatalia and Lushan also refused to send troops from their mainland.

To be precise, they all announced that “we will decide the matter through a national referendum, so please wait for now,” but when asked when this vote would take place, they avoided answering.

Anyway,

The governments of major powers including Abbas and Kiyen shifted their position to redeploy their peacekeeping forces already stationed locally instead of additional deployments. Of course, no one knows when those troops will move.

Thus, the governments of major powers that were to form the backbone of the multinational force of 18 countries succeeded in withdrawing from the Moritanian situation.

Now that vacancy fell to a few countries maintaining relatively stable conditions in the Moritanian continent and small nations from the Eastern continent. They essentially took on the responsibility.

From their governments’ perspective, it was an infuriating situation worthy of cursing the major powers for their actions, but ironically, no protests followed.

Because the international community is a realm where the logic of power applies.

There’s a reason why the armies of developing countries make up a significant portion of UN peacekeeping forces.

I turned my head to look beside me while gathering my travel bag.

“Camilla. Are you ready?”

Camilla, wearing a backpack, jumped up and down as she answered.

“All done!”

Upon returning from the Magic Tower, she appeared with an enormous amount of luggage. A backpack about to burst and two large-capacity carriers. And if that wasn’t enough, she had a duffel bag and sports bag full as well.

“Why did you pack so much? Are you emigrating somewhere?”

“It’s a long-term deployment. I only packed what I needed, and it came to this much.”

“Good grief.”

I clicked my tongue as I picked up Camilla’s luggage with her free hand. She grinned broadly and thanked me.

Camilla, carrying an armful of luggage, walked energetically, swinging her arms. Then she asked me:

“Shall we go now?”

“Let’s do that.”

Mid-July, the height of summer.

The warp gate leading to the red desert began to glow.