By "Papa" Maury Clark
April 28, 2012 (SSNA) — If Darfur is the current exemplar of "Mad Dog" Bashirs policy toward all who offend him, the Republic of South Sudan had best be prepared (again) for the long haul. Todays Associated Press headline- "Khartoum-backed rebels attack the south" merely extends Bashirs sanctioned use of the Janjaweed in Darfur and neighboring Chad to his current encroachment in the Republic of South Sudan.
He has history on his side. Whether by issuance of an actual "Letter of Marque and Reprisal" or simply by providing supplies and sanctuary, Bashir’s use of land-based murderers and gangsters is the equivalent of the privateers used by England to attack Spanish ports and shipping in the 16th and 17th centuries. Khartoum’s claim that both the Janjaweed in eastern Sudan and their equivalent in the RSS are not directly controlled by Khartoum is specious, but effective. Unless a direct tie to Khartoum can be proven, Bashir can arguably claim that he has no influence on their actions and their crimes against humanity. HORSEHOOEY!
Anyone with eyesight and an ounce of common sense can see Bashir’s plan for recapture of the natural resources south of the Nuba mountains in the sovereign Republic of South Sudan. Khartoum’s ownership of the world’s largest supply of sand is hardly an exportable resource that will generate foreign revenue.
Further, Bashir’s callous, ongoing pogrom against his own citizens, who are generally not Arab, both in Darfur and in the Nuba mountains, echoes Nazi actions against its own Jewish citizens. All that is lacking is the yellow Star of David, but then the Fur and black Nubians are much more racially identifiable. That the SPLM-N, led by Executive Secretary Yasir Arman, has risen against Khartoum’s oppression and wanton slaughter of its own citizens is proof enough that the United Nations and the world must intervene now. Inaction, hand-wringing and the free world’s failure to reign in Khartoum and this madman, contributes fuel to a Sub-Saharan continent already in flames. Dictators, by definition, dictate to everyone that they are in control, and that any opposition will be crushed. So far, the world has let him get away with it. What value has the World Court in The Hague if no nation brings the accused criminals to trial?
As I wrote last year in an article published by the South Sudan News Agency: Sudan and President Bashir are the exact equivalent of Nazi Germany and Adoph Hitlers plans for Europe in the 1930s. Hitler’s unimpeded assault against humanity culminated in World War II and the Holocaust. History tells us that ignoring dictatorial aggression ends in conflagration.
Doesn’t anyone else feel the heat?
The Author is a retired investment banker/broker, as well as a Called and Commissioned Deacon in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Northwest Washington Synod. He served under Bishops Appointment as pastor of Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Maple Valley, Washington in 1990 and 1991, and also served four years on the Synod Council. He has been deeply involved with the people of Southern Sudan since 1996, and is an advisor to the Government of Southern Sudan.