The Reluctant Fundamentalist Page #4

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that David had struck Goliath.

I'm sorry if my reaction

to the attacks

has offended you, Bobby.

I hope you see that

I'm not celebrating

the death of 3,000 innocents,

just as you would not celebrate

the death of 100,000

in Baghdad or Kabul,

for that matter.

But before conscience kicks in,

have you never felt a split

second of pleasure

at arrogance brought low?

And you ask me why they're

harassing your family?

Let's just cut the bullshit, okay?

You believe in violence

as a tool for social change.

You teach a course

in violent revolution

at Lahore University.

Your lectures are full

of anti-American rhetoric.

We will wipe the blood of the

invaders from our swords!

If that weren't enough,

you were spotted at an

Asal Mujahideen meeting

with Mustafa Fazil,

a known cell leader.

I think I can help.

I knew you would.

What are you doing?

Last night, Anse Rainier

was kidnapped,

and this morning,

your class was canceled.

If you're just an innocent

bystander, Changez,

why were you hiding?

Only guilty people hide.

Your candor is appreciated, Bobby,

but your conclusions are wrong.

See, all this rhetoric such as,

"We will wipe the blood

of the invaders from our sword,"

this is like undercooked meat.

It's satisfying

when times are lean,

but if you gorge yourself on it,

you will get sick.

Now, I may be an opponent

of American interference in Pakistan

but so are many of your

own generals.

Classes on revolution

are taught at Duke.

Are all those professors

planning on blowing up

federal buildings?

I did attend a meeting

at the Jamia Madrasah.

A madrasah is a place

of learning, Bobby,

and I'm a teacher.

My work takes me

to all kinds of places,

just as your work

has brought you here.

My thinking

is that knowledge is power,

not just religious knowledge but...

You say guilty people hide.

So do people who feel hunted.

I missed my lectures for

a much more direct reason.

What the hell is this?

They entered my home

and attacked my family.

Who did this?

A calamity!

Bandy!

Who did this to you?

Three agency bastards

showed up.

We have to get you

to a hospital.

Changez, they attack your uncle.

They follow Ammi around

in the Sabzi Mandi.

Why this massive campaign

against you?

Ammi, this is all going to stop, okay?

I promise you.

Why do you have to keep giving

these firebrand lectures?

And where are you going now?

Stay out of it.

- Keep an eye on him.

- I'll be there.

A few days after my

house was raided...

my uncle's shoulder shattered

and his ribs broken...

my office was ransacked.

These are the people

who tore my office apart.

But that shouldn't surprise you,

should it, Bobby?

You were there.

I recognized you

from your column.

So you're a spook.

Sh*t.

F***.

Is there someplace private

we can talk?

Bobby!

Bobby!

What the hell?

Lincoln!

Bobby!

Get me another frequency.

Bobby, I want you

to exfil out of there now.

What the hell are you doing?

F***!

We got surveillance on the roof?

- Yes.

- Cover the f***ing roof!

Did you go to them,

or did they come to you?

Look, Changez...

Don't insult me.

You want to have a dialogue?

Let's have a dialogue.

Did you go to them,

or did they come to you?

They came to me.

How does that happen?

How do you go from

writing so passionately

against intervention

in this region to this?

You want to know

how it happened?

I'll tell you.

In 2001,

while you were busy

getting rich in New York City,

I was in Takhar Province,

Afghanistan.

A friend introduced me

to Ahmad Shah Massoud.

I spent a week interviewing him.

He was opening

schools for girls,

talking about democracy,

resisting the Taliban.

I know he had blood

on his hands,

but he stood for something,

meant something to people,

and that's why I thought

we didn't need to be there.

Massoud never got the chance

to read my book.

Six months after it came out,

he was killed by a bomb

hidden in a video camera.

Two days after that,

the same guys that killed him

took down the towers.

And that's when I realized

I'd been wrong.

We did need to be here.

So I picked a side.

Look.

You obviously knew who I was

coming into this, so...

So what?

Are we still having

a conversation?

Are you still a writer?

You may be a spook.

But if anyone can

help me, it's you.

You picked a side after 9/11.

I didn't have to.

It was picked for me.

All unattended bags

will be removed

by airport police

and immediately seized

and destroyed.

Please do not leave

bags unattended.

Note to self:

don't f*** with the

United States military.

U.S. citizen or foreign national?

Foreign national.

Could I see your passport, please?

- Step over here, sir.

- Sorry, is there a problem?

- He's an employee of mine...

- Follow me, please.

Don't worry about it, man.

I'll catch up with you guys.

Come on.

Let's go.

He's not what they're looking for.

Stand right there.

I'll take your belongings.

I need you to remove

all of your outerwear

and place it on that chair.

So you want me to strip?

Remove your outerwear.

Who did you stay with?

Were you by yourself?

And if not,

who did you travel with?

Arms out.

Face this way.

Arms out to your side.

Arms down.

Step over here.

Remove your underwear,

bend over,

place your hands right here,

and spread your legs.

Put your clothes on.

So what happened?

They actually made you strip?

Let's say they were very thorough.

This whole city's

in a state of panic.

60 bomb scares yesterday.

I just found that my college

roommate's father

was in the second tower

when it fell.

It's just a nightmare.

Guess people circle the wagons

after something like this.

Apparently they close

the borders too.

Could you blame them?

Lunatics hijacked planes

from two different states,

killing thousands of people,

not to mention themselves.

It's beyond human comprehension.

How does that happen?

How does it happen like that?

What makes you think

I'd know?

Nothing.

You...

Sorry, Changez.

All I'm saying is,

before I'd start

a full F-16, tank-ass war

against the entire Muslim world,

I'd give the CIA,

INTERPOL, whoever,

a chance to track these

motherfuckers down.

We got hit first.

It's Pearl Harbor

all over again.

It's common f***ing sense.

I'm not saying you're wrong,

but what nation-state

attacked us?

Nation-state, my ass!

You're splitting hairs.

- Am I?

- Yeah.

They believe God told them

to blow us up.

It's in their book.

It's in their book?

Yeah.

Whatever it's called.

I watched as American patriotism

took on different forms.

American flags.

God bless America.

Aha!

You want?

For some people,

it provided comfort;

for others, a profit.

Hey, give me flag too.

Go!

$10, $10.

And for the vulnerable,

it became a shield.

American-led military attacks

continue tonight

against targets throughout Afghanistan.

Even as the first emergency...

I'm famished.

We ordered two lassis.

It's bad times, man.

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