If You want peace prepare for war

If you want peace, prepare for war

 

Gen. Peter Gadet

 

 The stalemate in peaceful resolution of the conflict in South Sudan is making the generals in SPLA IO increasingly restless and advocating for combative approach.

One of the most top rebel commanders, Gen. Peter Gatdet Yak, deputy chief of general staff for operations in the rebel military command council, was quoted to have been explicit about his assessment o...f the operations, saying even the national capital, Juba, would be within reach if the weapons were brought.

“If you bring to me the weapons and ammunitions order me to lead an attack on Juba to remove Salva Kiir from power, nobody can afford to stop me on the way to Juba. If I die I can die inside Juba, not outside Juba,”

The same frustrations is shared by, Maj. Gen. Gathoth Gatkuoth Hothnyang the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistic for SPLM/SPLA in Opposition who catergorically made this statement in a recent visit to wounded soldiers. Maj. Gen. Gathoth Gatkuoth Hothnyang reminded the soldiers of how desperate the country needs peace, however, he vows that any peace that does not address the root causes of the conflict is a no peace.

The general tells the wounded heroes that any peace that keeps Salva Kiir in power yet fails to address the root causes of the civil war is a “bad peace”, and therefore they will continue to fight until a good peace is achieved.

From the beginning of the month of April Salva Kiir and his allies , in a show of desperation and total disregard of cessation of hostility agreement have been, with aggression trying for a last ditch attempt to penetrate to the stronghold of the SPLA IO with cavalry of mechanized brigades and hastily trained soldiers. But they have been met with brutal resistance from the freedom fighters and in some instances mother nature as come in rescue by unleashing untold amount of off session rains , this the freedom fighters have a superstition that the renown local prophet has the unique abilities of calling on the gods to intervene on the behalf of the freedom fighters.

Failure for the Juba factions to achieve the objectives turned into a direct retaliations to the helpless civilians when they were withdrawing from the futile confrontations. Reports of village burnings, rapes and other violence come after the launch of a government offensive near the Unity State capital Bentiu late last month.

The witness accounts and collaboration by the UN peacekeeping mission said it has received “continuing and consistent reports coming from Guit and Koch counties” of towns and villages being burned, killings, abductions of men and boys, rape and abduction of girls and women, and forced displacement.

But as usual the UN consistent employment of the diplomatic language has come short of outright condemnation of the gross violations and destructions of properties and lives by the Juba regime.

Despite all this agitations and war drums, history shows that all competent and astute military generals can express their views on what strategies to adopt that will ultimately shift the war balances in respectful and democratic manner that does not contradict the tactical and leadership decisions of the commander in chief.

President Abraham Lincoln, famously said "dealing with commanding generals could resemble a wrestling match".