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"In short, we are playing on his doubts and his fears to create his rage. The false memories of his wife cheating, of fake charges laid against him, of comrades turning against him -- all building anger. It's that that is helping us to form the false memories. And what will give us our greatest victory."
"But if you can't give him a target, what use is he? Better I take him now and give him to the foreign fighter who will execute him."
"He does have a target!"
"You said..."
"I said we haven't given him a target. We didn't need to. He has created one by himself. If you have too many wild goats eating everything in an area, you might bring in a wolf. But you don't try and teach the wolf how to hunt or which goat to eat. You simply release him. He already knows precisely what to do.
"We have a wolf, and he knows where the goats are," finished Jánoš. "We simply need to release him when he's ready -- in about three weeks when the new memories are firmly in place. "
"The goats are in Washington," breathed Sheikh Mohammed.
"In the Pentagon," agreed Jánoš Illic. "In three weeks, we will smuggle the wolf into America and release him. And he is a wolf and knows how and where and what to hunt."
**********
Elsewhere
And seven thousand miles away, a woman wept alongside a Marine chaplain, as she accepted that her husband, the only man she had ever loved, the only one with whom she had shared her life, her dreams and her bed, was in all likelihood dead -- lost on a foreign field.
A field where wolves went to die.
Inspired by Pibroch (Cap In Hand), by Jethro Tull.
There's a light in the house, in the wood, in the valley.
There's a thought in the head of the man.
Who carries his dreams like the coat slung on his shoulder,
Bringing you love in the cap in his hand.
And each step he takes is one half of a lifetime:
no word he would say could you understand.
So he bundles his regrets into a gesture of sorrow,
Bringing you love, cap in hand.
Catching breath as he looks through the dining-room window:
candlelit table for two has been laid.
Strange slippers by the fire.
Strange boots in the hallway.
Put my cap on my head.
I turn and walk away.
- COMMENTS
Anonymousabout 1 hour agoArtful tale on the sidelines of a military conflict that was brewing for twenty years. In the end the US and allies managed to replace the Taliban with the Taliban while leaving behind billions of $$ worth of weapons and equipment for the Taliban to use.
A_Bierce3 months agoIf you have leaped ahead to the comments to see whether you should read it, the answer is simple: you should, unless you're satisfied with a trope-riddled, cookie cutter story of infidelity discovered and vengeance taken. This is a brilliant piece of writing, definitely in the proper category: LW, home of intelligent, discerning commentators, along with bitter, betrayed misogynists yearning for violent reprisal; lazy readers who won't make the effort to unthread a complex story arc; and/or functionally illiterate "readers" who can't deal with a story that doesn't spoon-feed them all possible details and outcomes. In short, a helluva read.
Anonymous4 months agoAnon from 2 years ago wrote “ I'm kinda curious where you got the idea that one could successfully implant false memories...”
Psychiatrists have been doing it for decades. There’s been numerous examples of children coached to “remember” sexual abuse, but then it turns out that it never happened.
There’s adults who are unhappy, who go to therapy, and suddenly “remember” being abused by their stepfather, or some other close person. Again, it never happened.
Unfortunately, because the “therapist” guides the person’s mind into creating the false memories, they are absolutely real to them. You can prove that the abuse was impossible by showing them that the supposed abuser was not there. This just leaves the person with 2 conflicting data sets, both of which are equally “real” in their minds.
It’s one of the reasons why “therapy” is so evil, and does more harm than good. It’s incredibly easy for the therapist to project their own trauma onto others.
ZK
Anonymous4 months agoA twisted but polished tale. So many details handled so well. Too sophisticated and unlike the usual drivel on this site for the usual knuckle draggers to appreciate. A follow-up would be nice but not necessary.
