Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Wars are as old as conception and life. Devastating wars, from the First World War to the Second World War, just to mention a few, are buried in the history books with millions of casualties. Fat budgets were drawn as countries or personalities plotted against their perceived enemies. They launched attacks on each other and some, like the German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, emblazoned their names on history books and ended with a villain tag: not victors.
In the ancient Grecian Kingdom, there also lived an agile and successful king, Alexandre the Great, who conquered the world. Alexandre is remembered not as a warrior or an aggressor who suppressed his opponents, but as a world ruler who did so at a tender age before the dramatic fall of his regime.
However, experience has shown us that there is no true winner in a war.
Many people today are perplexed as to why there is a so-called “war within” or why a country is invading a sovereign nation, as is the case in Ukraine. Power, resources and influence normally take centre stage in the war. But the salient question is: what next after the war? Is there a referee who proclaims the winner?
In our context as South Sudanese, our people have fought one of Africa’s longest wars imposed on them by the former regimes of Sudan. The former Khartoum regime believed they commanded the instruments of power and, therefore, their victories were more than certain. But on the contrary, the South Sudanese had their way, but not necessarily victory.
No winner
In a war, any side may claim victory, but ideally, there are no winners, just losers in different circumstances. Both sides can lose lives, property, and, among other valuable items.
The current alleged reports of increasing clashes between the SPLA-IO forces and the defector forces of the SSPDF in Upper Nile State are saddening. The alleged confrontation between the two forces is giving citizens a lot of worry that it might morph into a real war if the forces fail to cease attacks on each other. There is a need to de-escalate the tension between the SPLA-IO and the defectors to maintain the prevailing peace in the country.
Many of you who have experienced the effects of the war can attest that there is no winner in the war. Human beings are bound to be embroiled in conflicts, but the dialogue is the best tool for conflict mitigation. In this case, there is no need for any forces to confront one another because we already have the peace agreement that is being implemented that aims to address all the grievances of the citizens.
The parties must restrain themselves from violence, either physical or verbal. The separate statements issued by the two armed forces, SPLA-IO and SSPDF, yesterday do not completely give hope to ordinary citizens. It sounds like the country is heading towards another serious time of turmoil that the citizens do not want to hear about.
The citizens have suffered a lot from the recent war, and they do not want to see another war coming along their way.
We should know that there has been no winner in this war. Many have seen how Russia quickly invaded Ukraine, thinking it would be just a run-away job, but the opposite is true. It has been one month now since the Russian forces entered Ukraine’s soil and they have been facing stiff challenges from the yellow arm-ribbon soldiers. As we speak, both Ukraine and Russia are on the losing end of the ongoing battle, and no party can take pride in it. Our commiserations go Ukraine because it is considered the aggrieved in the circumstance.
There is no winner in war, and we should give peace a chance. We will all come out on top in the end. In 2005, the then SPLA and Sudan Armed Forces, all became winners when they signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and this probe found that there was no winner of the war.
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