Allegedly South Africa National Defense Force (SANDF) will soon futilely deploy in sectarian and separatists “wars” of Africa. Sun Tzu explains: “The superior militarists foils enemies’ plots; next best is to ruin their alliances; next after that is to attack their armed forces; worst is to besiege their cities.” The similarity of Sun Tzu’s advice to medical wisdom: “to foil the enemies’ plots is like keeping healthy so as to be resistant to disease; to ruin their alliances is like avoiding contagion; to attack their armed forces is like taking medicine; to besiege their cities is like performing surgery.” Sun Tzu’s advice – “To foil the enemies’ plots is like keeping healthy so as to be resistant to disease.” For instance, it would be contagious for South Africa if its National Defense Force (SANDF) were to get entangled in Somalia, Nigeria, Central African Republic (CAR), Mali and Niger. Who will SANDF form an alliance with in Nigeria since the insurgency in that country is historical and sectarian? It is historical in the sense, the predominantly North Nigeria is Muslim who arguably feel politically outdone and dominated by the predominantly Christian South. What does not help the Nigerian situation is the sectarian gentlemen’s agreement which states that, the Presidency shall be shared by Christians and Muslims in a 5 year cycle. That agreement has opened a window of opportunity for religious fundamentalism that saw the rise of religious ideology into a political practice in Nigeria. Why not replace the sectarian tag on the Nigeria Federal State with secular tag? The insurgency in Mali and Niger is a colonial legacy that deprived the Touregs self-determination in their own State. It was alleged the Touregs were entangled in the 2011 “civil war” of Libya. But after the fall of Gaddafi, Touregs returning from Libya had “legitimate” Statehood ambitions but their resolve was hijacked by the Al Qaeda aligned Islamists. The Central African Republic (CAR) since its independence from France has had Christians presiding over the country mostly after successive coup de tats. And that in itself has led to today’s sectarian war. Somalia is a predominantly Muslim country just like its neighbours namely; Sudan, Eritrea. Why would anyone thwart the political ambitions of the “majority” of Muslims of Somalia, who might envisage an Islamic State with Sharia as the political law of their country, and living peacefully with its neighbours and entire international community? What Sun Tzu is alluding to in the “The Art of War”, prevention is better than cure and in this instance meaning, “War” may be unnecessary in this instance but a political solution may be ideal and thus avoid South Africa’s contagion. If we envisage African solution to our problems, then continental Commanders in Chief, Regional Organizations, insurgents and AU, must seek a political solutions alliance. A political solutions alliance is a superior military strategy which must be pursued with the intention of ruining the alliances of continental rogues. The African Union (AU) member States must unpretentiously identify sectarianism and separatism as the threat to continental Peace and must unpretentiously advocate for States to pursue secularism as a political solution. Religion is an individual’s private matter which may also be that of the immediate community, but must never overlap into State institutions. The historical and colonial realities must be recognized, unpretentiously acknowledged and resolved, because ignoring realities of the likes of the Tuareg and Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is tantamount to betrayal and enforcing colonial vile. But if South Africa as the perceived continental power wants to antagonize Africa, then it would adopt the failed United States of America (USA) “World Policeman” status and become a failed “Africa Policeman”. For instance, it would be contagious for South Africa if its National Defense Force (SANDF) were to militarily get entangled in Somalia, Nigeria, Central African Republic (CAR), Mali and Niger. The USA style solutions for Africa’s political problems shall surely bring “War” to the shores of South Africa public spaces with dire consequences. South Africans civil society must oppose any move by the Commander in Chief to deploy at great financial and human expense South African soldiers in sectarian and separatists wars of Africa, without United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and African Union (AU) resolutions.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 19:33:44 +0000
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