Sudan’s ulterior motives in joining Arab military alliance

By Trayo A. Ali

As I am diving into and trying to fish out the hidden agenda the Sudan government that it wishes to pass them through the armpits of newly speculated Arab military grouping that emerging from the ashes of the Yemen war, I thought it helpful to start with this piece of political folklore that enables us to reveal the inner thinking of Machiavellian nature of the government and preempt the tricks it employs and reveal the motives it harbor when it comes to this kind of “political games”.

(1) Tradition goes, once teacher always teacher

A classical folk story of Sudanese politics has it that, a veteran member of the “oldest profession” went to pilgrimage in “Mecca” and successfully performed her religion duties. When an old client of her came to congratulate for the successful godly journey to the Holy Land, to his utter disbelieve, he found her comfortably engaged in the same usual activities. He then shockingly kept his head down and asked her, whether she had not repented as she is now “Haja”. She replied: how can a carpenter abandon his lifelong profession for the simple reason of visiting “Mecca”? The client replied and said to her: yah, you may be damn right, tradition always goes and “once teacher, always teacher”. She then held her head high and gave a yellow smile and said: “That is also done in politics, ask those in power corridors”.

(1) Machiavellian ways of evading deadly blows
Sudan, although tops the list, when it comes to the issue of international terrorism and states sponsoring, yet surprisingly and under “circumstances need to be further explained”, has miraculously avoided much expected hard punches and deadly blows. But most importantly, those costly “narrow escapes” were made possible on the expenses of many invaluable values including country’s “self-reputation”, “citizen welfare”, “unity of the country” among other rationalities.
Sudan’s records tell that, when, after the terrorist attacks on America in 2001, and as the issue of international terrorism topped Global security agenda, the regime managed to survive by, among other means, sacrificing with the better half of it (regime’s ideological clergy man, Sheikh Hassan Al-Turabi).
In 2005, when the so-termed Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed and the process of openness was due to be effected in the country (to the disadvantage of terrorist policies), the Islamist totalitarian authorities (for reasons better known to them) preferred to keep it “terrorist”. They did it successfully by offering one third of the country to go separate way. That sound like, for Islamic Fundamentalist, “terrorism” pays and is a lucrative business. No wonder they are today partly surviving on South Sudan’s problems. All that tricks constitutes part of terrorist survival tactics (TST).
Even on issues related to international crimes and justice whether involves genocide, rape and or crimes against humanity, they are telling that they are “holding-it-off” by mere way of refusal to cooperate! Their line of thinking always remains “no matter how we sound or smell devil we still can evade and yet shake hands with Angels”.
And now when the so-called “Arab Spring” had sprang with all the associated mushrooming of Islamist radicalism (with the noticeable punctuation and hiccups such as the “evaporation” of the Egyptian Brotherhood experience, the government is desperately attempting to turn the war in Yemen to an ideal opportunity to survive on it. Ge. Al-Basheer described it as “unexpected God given golden chance”.
This now is the regime’s dream for the would-be “gate way” to the would-be “Eldorado”, of the would-be “Arab Military Alliance”. We can only wait and see, how imaginable, can Al-Basher’s blood-sucking and genocider “military cum militia” be in one camp with Americans to brutalize the Sudanese citizen even if under Arab military body.

(2) “Domesticated Kings” now turned heroes!
What Gen-Albasheer has forgotten or tries to (as his habit) forget are those hard and unforgotten facts.
It were those insurmountable amount of verbal abuse and insult poured at by his Islamist regime against the Saudi kings, the Gulf Sheikhs and the Egyptians in those few past years. Till mid ninetieth Sudan government official media was dedicated to insult, humiliate and offend officials of these countries for no reason or occasion.
Everybody at least vividly recall how in those days a demagogic middle level military officer (of morale guide), nicknamed “Younis the Morning Cockerel” use to vomit all kind of intolerable and unforgettable filth against Saudi, Gulf and Egyptian authorities through his daily “one hour” program in national radio, Radio Omdurman.
The “Morning Cockerel” use to remind his listeners to repeatedly describe the late King Fahad of Saudi Arabia as a domesticated one, the Gulf Sheikhs as of having “debauched life style”, slaves, puppets and tutelages of the West and the former Egyptian president Husni Munark as a “tyrant and Despot Pharaoh”. The word “Pharaoh” in Islamic sense is considered a terrible derogative and intolerably offense.
Interestingly the regime today is literally running after the same people who they once described the “cannibals and monsters” and begging to salvage them. They all of a sudden turned their “saviors” and friends and the kings became the “true servants of the two Holly Mosques”, as they were “desecrators”. How contradictive to turn your enemy into a hero overnight. Surely that is their way to the fold.

(3) The real ulterior motives
The regime is devising many tactics to employ to make maximum political profit out of that. The grand strategy is to position itself within the fold of the embroiling Arab politico-military group (fighting terrorism), trap Americans, take them by surprise and force them to conveniently “shake hand with the devil” himself.
In reference to this Yemen war experience, where the US backing up “Operation Decisive Storm”, Sudan, being nominal partner, insisting that, by definition, it is in “military coalition” of a level with the USA. Sudan is now vehemently arguing and interpreting that the fight against at military operation level which puts her together with the US into one boat should soon be upgraded and brought to a degree of “military alliance”.
Further motives are to use “Arab’s abundance resources”, including their money, political leverage and military logistic to combat the marginalized African armed movements fighting the regime’s imposed racial based wars in the country.
For Sudan this schematic strategy, requires some necessary tactical adjustments including a kind of photoshop facelift political arrangements. This may warrants temporarily sacrifice with the old “bed fellows”: the Iranians, Syrians, Hamas, Egyptian Brotherhoods, Hezbollahs, Somali Al-Shabab, Nigerian Boko-Haram, Libyan Ansar-Al-sharia, and the Huteeth.
They should pay some price that preserves the ability of the “Centre” to stand, that would also prevents the falling apart of “things”.
Like Sheikh Hassan Al-Turabi was sacrificed temporarily before his coming back to the fold, they too will always remain strategic allies.

(4) Yet Sudan likes an “Open-marriage” of witches and wizards?
To prove his regime’s “credibility” and upgrade its “eligibility” credentials for the membership of his perceived upcoming “Arab military alliance” Gen. Albasheer, after obediently servicing for a good twenty five years in and for, he, in an abrupt manner, categorically denied his belongingness and membership to his political biological mother, “International Islamist Brotherhood”. He painted the “Movement” black, accused it as a threat to international peace and security and implicitly promised to join the “Crusade” against it.
Yet, while claiming to make a U-turn in its political allegiance, Sudan prefers the grouping as a club of “witches and wizards” where the contract is based on the rules of an “open marriage”. One way Sudan likes to understand and interpret rules of the contract is that “I can breed, groom, nurse, train and arm the Islamists” and “sell them out on demand but on retail bases whenever the need be or dispose them when they are expired and you can bomb them as much as that would not harm my position in power”.

(5) So far No dollars and no Yemen
Even before it’s formally baptized into the membership of the much heralded Arab Military Alliance (which yet to be born and fully identified whether will be “bird or bat”, Sudan already failed the test on major “examination subjects”. It failed to send any “ground troops” that singularly committed to. The word in town is that Gen. Al-Basheer himself summoned his militia leader “Himity” and passionately appealed to him that “since the government has no troops with any moral fighting spirit willing to go to Yemen, he decided to send some of the Rapid Support Militia (commanded by Himity) to Yemen. The president also promised a monthly salary of ten thousand US Dollars per each militia man”. The report was that the militia General Himity happily agreed and circulated the “words” among the “money-driven militia”. General Himity went and mobilized two thousand of his militia, and when the time came, they were lifted by military planes, but ended up in Al-Fashir (Darfur) and in Kadogoli (Nuba Mountauns). They all drained up there fighting Sudan’s rebels and not Yemeni Houthis. That part of the episode ended up with no Dollar and no Yemen. The militia are so upset and no trust anymore.

(6) Pro-President Mursi solidarity demonstrations
Another development that pissed off Egyptians is the last week government sponsored demonstrations organized in Khartoum. It was led by some proxy government officials like Mr. Zaubair Ahmed Al-Hassan, the NCP former finance minister and now chairman of the government ideological mother organization “Islamic Movement”. The demonstrations condemned in no uncertain the “death sentence” passed against Mr. Mursi, former Islamist Egypt’s president. Placards featured holding signs such as “death to Sisi and not to Mursi.
Yet after all, president-elect Gen. Al-Basheer is waiting kings, Sheikhs and Pharaohs (who mow turned his saviors and heroes) to grace his inaugural ceremony, Americans to remove him from “terror support list” and to become member of would be Arab Military Alliance (or pact) that be backed by the US and the entire international democratic system.
It is so superb kind of thinking but can also be wishful one.

(7) Food for thought
Since the advent of the National Islamic Front (NIF), now turned National Congress Party (NCP) to power in 1989, the Sudanese never stopped asking this question:
“Why on earth, only we, the Sudanese, are the targets of this Islamist “cloak and dagger” oppression?
A satirist Arab writer, who paid attention to this repeated complain of Sudanese, which he considered it a kind of “naiveté”, sarcastically wrote in response:
“As you need to keep it clean a house of yours, as big as Islamic World, there is a need to have a back-yard to dump your refuse, rubbish and trash. In politics it’s called a political toxic waste. No doubt, that kind of environment automatically affects the way people think in negative way, especially of the leaders. In that case political ideas can terribly be intoxicated and contagious. A pretty good caricature is the one prevailing in the Sudan, where a sensible thinking may not necessary be the order of political behavior and people kept wondering without them putting the reality in right historical context. Sudan’s membership in either the Arab League or the Organization of Islamic Conference is more of nominal than substantial issue, and a quantitative than that of qualitative presence. In either way it meant to serve the government of the day and not the people of Sudan like in most other cases.
It Until an advanced technological device for political recycling is designed (which might take a little while), there is very little can be done to sanitize such situations. That may sound a bit discourteous, but it also looks like a God inflicted curse.”
The underlining point related to the issue under discussion in this journalist revelation is the fact that “the membership serves the government of the day and not the people of Sudan”. This is where our cautious comes

Trayo A. Ali is Secretary for foreign relations of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) Mini Minawi and Secretary for Humanitarian affairs of SRF. He is reachable at Email: [email protected]