Is Sudanese President ought to be taken seriously? Part (II)

By Luke Kuth Dak

November 29, 2008 — I am grateful to be alive at this time, to witness the downfall of the so-called Islamic National Front’s regime, one of the most brutal, uncivilized and racist in the world history.

For far too long, the extremists and the bigots, under the leadership of dictator Omar al-Basher, have turned this once considered one of the most tolerable nations into an axis of evil, hatred, extremism and more, that the Sudanese abroad would much rather identify themselves as anything but the Sudan we hold dear.

Like any other father, we all wish the very best for our children. Certainly, I wouldn’t want to see my 6-year- old daughter, Mirry Dak, lives in a country, where she would be judged by the color of her skin and not the contents of her character, as my mentor, the Reverent Martin Luther King said, in his “ I have a dream speech.”

It’s true there is an end to all things, even the most vicious dictatorship in the world. After two long decades of the extremists in control of our lives, signs are beginning to show the glimpse of the light at the end of tunnel. The unthinkable is about to happen right before our very eyes. Every indication suggests that the Islamic movement is clearly in its death bed, and there is no other way around it. There couldn’t be any better news than that

President al-Basher himself predicted the end of his rule. He was quoted as saying to former US envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios that “ I might be the last Arab to rule the Sudan, he said.” Well, don’t we all wish he was right? I like to think so. However, the question that must be asked of the embattled President is: Why are we selling ourselves to the Arabs, in the first place, anyway? This is happening despite the fact that, the majority of the Arab states like: Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, al-Yemen, Saudi Arabia, not to mention Egypt, vehemently opposed to Sudan becoming a member of the Arab League, that our country had to bribe it’s way through. If being an Arab is measured by ones ability to speak the language, President al-Basher, along with uncle, al-Tayeb Mustafa will not meet the requirement, because their Arabic skills are those of a fifth grader. More so the author of this article would legally claim to be one. At the very least, my Arabic allowed me to become a news anchorman and a correspondent to national newspapers. To this day, it baffles me why the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement or the Darfur rebels did not demand the Sudan’s withdrawal from the so-called Arab League!

Unfortunately, things are only going to get worse before they get better. The story of International Criminal Court is by no means going away. The president is keeping it alive, each and every day, anyway. Just a few weeks ago, he bombarded the prosecutor, Mr. Luis Moreno- Ocampo. “ He is like a fly on an elephant’s ear.” Although it didn’t take me by surprise, I couldn’t help but wondered, who is advising the President on diplomatic matters? Didn’t he just sound more like a monster or a professional reseller, than a president of a country? And what does that say about the forty million Sudanese who have been under the world famous shoes? My guess is that the President has no clue that: the rhetoric of scare tactics and intimidation he has mustered so well, only bring him laughs and ridicules. The Western countries or the prosecutor, Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo pays no attention to that. In addition, most experts I have contacted while researching this article, unanimously agreed that the longer it takes the ICC judges looking into the case, the more likely there will be a conviction.

From now on, the Sudanese people need to be vigilant, and they must prepare themselves for the aftermath of the President’s conviction. It is coming, and there is no question about it.

The author is a former anchorman with Juba radio and Sudan Tribune contributor. He can be reached at: [email protected]