The tricky and dilemmatic situation South Sudan found itself with the USA
By Longar Mathiec Wol, Juba, South Sudan
February 5, 2018 (SSB) — Since the United States of America imposed the arms and defense’s service restriction on South Sudan, I read so many reaction on the topic being negative or positive from south Sudanese nationals and friends and I decided to also add my voice of concern toward this growing strange characters from a friend nation South Sudan has ever known. The friends’ nations across the globe stood with South Sudan when its wage the twenty-one years civil war for the freedom of its citizens till we got independence in July 2011.
One clear thing the people of South Sudan didn’t know is that some of the friends who stood with them for so long will at some point the friendship will be torn apart by the interest they have in South Sudan. These conflicting interests between them and South Sudan cost South Sudan a terrible civil war.
As the people of South Sudan, we acknowledge any contribution made by our friends toward our independence but nursing a baby sometimes does make you automatically a parent of a baby. You will continue to be appreciated for the good work you have done to that baby but doesn’t give you the upper hand to dictate the biological parents of the baby. This baby calls South Sudan belongs to South Sudanese as parents.
However, after our independence, it has become clear that among our friends who stood with us some were driven by an excessive interest that cost South Sudan stability immediately after its independence. It is right for the leaders of South Sudan to give hearing ears to their friends when the advice is required and necessary. But whenever you have a friend who doesn’t point out your mistake it means that person has agenda to spoil you and that is exactly what happened in South Sudan. South Sudan friends refused to point out where South Sudan went wrong and instead criticized.
When the crisis started in the ruling party Sudan people’s liberation movement some of the friends who are close to top leadership refused to confront them with truth due to their personal interest. This hidden interest continues to encourage some of the leaders who rebel against their own system, what they built together for the last twenty-one years; the SPLM party.
They were driven by their over ambitious of coming to power through shortcut without knowing that their schism was fanned by outsiders. After the internal struggle and rebellious the same people who were praised as heroes or heroine for fighting what the so called superpowers perceived to be the dictatorship. After they abandoned their cost they were vilified and left hanging by the same people who encourage them to destroy what they proudly call theirs; the SPLM.
If its to be done again today some will think otherwise and drop out of that mission because in the rough journey they undertook they have come to realize that fighting the system you were part of using the bad tools is not only bad but a shame.
In a real sense, these leaders are no longer proud of what they did, if it was to be reversed I assumed they would do anything and everything to reverse this unfortunate situation we found ourselves in but it’s too late and the damage has already been made. Their own miscalculation shows clearly that they have reversed all the good deeds they have sacrificed themselves for in last two decades with the bad ones and people start disrespecting them.
When some of us travel to different part of the world don’t be surprised to see people pondering with a negative thought about us questioning themselves what went wrong after our independence? When you see people looking at you abroad don’t think is because you are tall, black and beautiful or handsome, at some circumstances, it might be the case but in most cases the opposite is true; they have a negative perception about you.
Some have an unanswered question in their minds they might be thinking about you. One of the obvious question their minds is why did we destroyed a country and stay in their respective countries. The thing we run away from our own mess.
Whatever the case is everything has been told and I am not here to revisit that topic. My concentration today is how some of the South Sudan friends slowly turn their back to us in the period of four to five years’ conflict. They took advantage of our internal wrangle and weaknesses and try to push hard and cornered us for their interest instead of the interest of the people of South Sudan.
As I mentioned above those good friends should correct their friends when they messed, it good sometimes you are honest to your friend instead of hiding behind their own interest; to be specific the United States of America.
The current US administration attitude toward South Sudan is damaging and something has to be done. In the absence of something being done at the state level then some of us who are concern about this attitude has to stand up and speak out. A good friend should not be pushing you to fire when he or she is supposed to pull you back. That’s exactly what happened in the case of US, South Sudan bilateral relations.
The friendly people of South Sudan and South Sudan has ever known is pushing us to fire and that fire is the collapses of the state of South Sudan The US interest has overtaken the South Sudan interest. Friendship and relationship are based on mutual understanding; it’s two ways traffic. In absent of that, it would not be call relationship.
We appreciate whoever contributed toward our being but helping someone to succeed doesn’t make you a manager in person’s affairs. We acknowledge and appreciate what the USA has done in the 21 years of civil war in Sudan. They played a crucial role toward the independence of South Sudan but it should be reminded that every state has its own interest like that of the United States though that interest shouldn’t be killing and destitute to the millions of South Sudanese who are living in camps with hunger.
Pushing on a friend to do the certain thing for the wellfare of its own is never bad but the speed and way of doing that should be done with carefulness since all the states are equal in the eye of international. There is no big or small sovereign state. The sovereignty of South Sudan deserve respected and should be treated with respect. One of the obvious reason why the United States of America invaded Afghanistan and Iraq is nothing less than protecting their country from terrorist attack.
That’s exactly what’s happening in South Sudan. South Sudan is defending itself from any attack whether internal or external, it has never a crime for any government to defend itself. It’s a mandate for any government is to protect itself and itself from being overthrown forcefully. I am saying violence should be allowed to continues, but what if someone took arms against the state. Is the government going to sit down and fold its arms and watch someone taking over state illegally; that must be a big joke.
For your information before the rebellion took place South Sudan army has never gone after any specific people targeting them for no reason but telling me the army should just sit and watch the territory and institutions of the state being taken over by force and do nothing would be absconding of their duty to protect the state from aggression.
I have never seen any government anywhere in the world stepping down let the rebellion take over the state. The rebellion has been there before South Sudan got independence whether in the US or in European there have been rebellions but they the governments in charge didn’t vacate their office and hand over the state to the rebels.
The United States of America has the best army on the planet earth to serve the purpose of protecting the United States of America and that mandate has never change till to date. What if God forbid the US is attack whether within or external is American Army going to just watch without acting? If expect to do something then that’s what South Sudan army id doing.
In a situation where some people will make their own interpretation that I am against any of the sides in the conflict or encouraging the violence. The violation of the cessation of the hostilities and humanitarians access can be condemned into it strongest term possible as well as the countries pushing South Sudan to give up its mandate of protecting itself from rebellion. Any take over of the government should be a procedure, not events where someone wakes up in the morning with the title of being a president, it’s unacceptable and we are not ready to accept or bound to any pressure concerning the same matter.
When you restrict the flows of arms and defense service toward the sovereign state it has no other term then being interference to the internal affairs of the state. When you restricted the sovereign state government from acquiring the defense equipment to defend itself from the external and internal threat it means you don’t care about its existence and citizens we care.
However, what I know so far is that any government doesn’t need green light or go ahead from other government to defend itself from aggression. It is its mandate to protect the citizens and the national territorial integrity without permission from anyone. Therefore, it upon the South Sudan’s government to either bound to the external pressure and give up its mandate of protecting and depending on it people or stand firm.
In war situation like that of South Sudan you don’t expect ever operation to be 100% perfect sometimes there are casualties but that should not be squarely put on the government troops, even the most powerful militaries on earth of which the USA lead the way had at some point been accused of civilians casualties in war notably in Vietnam, Japan and Bush’s pre-emptive war in Iraq.
Thinking that the government shouldn’t be allowed to defend itself and other countries continue to treat it equal like rebel is unacceptable and should not be condoned. We the citizens who feel its unfair to treat our government in that way condemn this act of restriction in its totality.
South Sudan situation is not the only unique situation that has ever happened or the first and the last. Many similar situations happened before and continue to happen around the world but people look for a good way of resolving them not through vilifying the confused powerless people caught up and stuck in the situation. Give them the recommendation wherever necessary and show them where they went wrong and what needs to be done. Your advise is needed but you should not dictate what should be or have been done.
These problems once upon a time happened almost everywhere in the world including the US, it went through civil war and one of the worst racial discrimination that ever exists in the human history, but that hasn’t stop them from doing the thing right again. The problem is that some of our big brothers and friends don’t put themselves in shoes of South Sudan. What else someone should have done to normalize such a tricky situation where one side is not interested in problem resolution instead of the leadership of the state.
In the modern democracy, it is not bad for someone to seek the leadership position in the country but the problem is the means and the tools used to ascend into that power. South Sudan current leadership was elected and anyone who wishes to change that elected government has to be elected. If you don’t have confidence in yourself that people might not elect you then make allies to get to that power you want but not to kill your own people to ascend to it.
As I am writing and I assumed many South Sudanese don’t need war but the situation imposed it on them. We need peace but the problem how to bring that peace that is where the problem exists. It would be good if the energy is put into advising the government and the rebels on how to achieve peace and sustain. We don’t expect our friends to continue pushing us to the corner as the United State of America has done. There is no single South Sudanese who like or think the violation of the cessation of hostilities or the use of force is the solution to the problem that South Sudan faces today.
We need services, and that’s what the elected government should be doing to it citizens but here we found our selves in this precarious and irreversible situation that might take the little bit longer to be reversed. All we need in this situation is someone to advise us and recommend what to do but not someone to add salt into the wound.
In 21st century friendship with conditions don’t last and no longer exists and someone should not even think about it. Friendships are made and when your own friend turn his or back to you there are many avenues to make new friends who are willing to voluntarily respect you and listen to your problems when you need them. There are so many doors of friendship open for South Sudan all over the world.
Therefore, thinking that incapacitating the government of South Sudan as a solution to end the war is the big mistake that any government of sovereign state should not tolerate. For South Sudan’s government, it’s better to speak out then continuing to suffer in silence in this tricky and dilemmatic relationship with the United States of America. The citizens are confused about your position at this critical moment of our state bullying.
All the best.
The author, Longar Mathiec Wol, is a concern South Sudanese national living in Nairobi Kenya and can be reached through is Email address: longarmaxiech@gmaail.com
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