Why war is not the option for the Khartoum Defense Minister

By Steve Paterno

February 10, 2008 — For the regime in Khartoum, their first option is always to wage war. For decades, they have been declaring and waging wars for wrong reasons. Most of those wars were concentrated against the people of South Sudan. Regrettably, they begin to feel the wrath of the war. Such regrets started awhile ago, however, hidden under emotional expressions and stresses. Among those who first express emotional stress as the war took its toll, is Sadiq al-Mahdi, the then Prime Minister of Khartoum. Accordingly, “soon after assuming power, al-Mahdi visited a Southern town of Bor. While in town, he was reported to have visited a burial site for Northern Sudanese soldiers killed in the battle by the Anyanya forces. Standing on top of one of the graves of a young Northern Sudanese Arab officer recently killed, the thirty-year-old, al-Mahdi shed tears profusely.”

Now, it is Khartoum Minister of Defense, Abdel-Rahim M. Hussein, who teared it up at the public event while lamenting on the horrific consequences of the war. It is reported that as Hussien was recounting those horrific moments of the war waged against the people of South Sudan since the time the current regime in Khartoum took power, he could not help it, but “broke down in tears.”

These expressions of emotional stresses by the top Khartoum officials underscore the fact that war is not only horrific, but can be regrettable even by those who orchestrate it. This fact is evidenced by emotional stresses expressed by the then Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi as well as by the current Khartoum Defense Minister, Abdel-Rahim M. Hussein.

War, in and of itself can be so disastrous. When it starts, souls are lost, limps are torn apart, properties are destroyed, and life will never be the same. In the case of Sudan, millions have lost their souls in the senseless war. Million more are injured as a result, either physically or emotionally, and yet the war continues to rage.

As if not affected by this prolong war, among the top officials in Khartoum who are surprisingly leading by beating the drums of the war in the recent years is none other than Khartoum’s Defense Minister, Abdel-Rahim M. Hussein. Hussein has falsely believed that they could resolve things by means of war. He talked of creating burial sites in Darfur for those who are interested in easing the suffering of the Darfurians as a result of the war waged from Khartoum against the Darfurians. He simply dismissed the Southern Sudanese as the people that can easily be eliminated through the Burrell of the guns. He even went on tormenting the Sudanese neighboring countries by viewing them as the people who can easily be bullied through the cross-border incursions or invasions.

For Hussein, reality has finally caught up with him. Looking back, he realized most of his colleagues are dead; some of them were killed in the juggles of South Sudan. Darfur, an area he dreamed of creating burial sites in, happen to contain individuals who will resist Khartoum oppression to the last man, by holding steadily their guns. To his astonishment, Sudan neighbors, such as Chad withstands one of the massive invasion ever orchestrated by Khartoum.

For Hussein, the time is no more than right to come to the realization that it is the moment to mourn, but not only mourn but also cry, and truly he cried in front of everybody. At least he is fortunate to live it so he can cry. In these wars, others were not so fortunate and many more will never be.

Steve Paterno is the author of The Rev. Fr. Saturnino Lohure, A Romain Catholic Priest Turned Rebel. He can be reached at [email protected]