tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1956686434461841487.post1054932013994897980..comments2022-04-08T02:24:48.679+01:00Comments on .: Sudan: No way to back homeTalal Nayerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05173194732446594934noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1956686434461841487.post-63884572665653235962012-09-12T22:31:38.882+01:002012-09-12T22:31:38.882+01:00Dear Talal,I don't want to appear petty-minded...Dear Talal,<br>I don't want to appear petty-minded, but:<br>I only learnt recently that according to state-of-the-art historiography the war did not start in 1955 but in 1963. Check out Douglas Johnson's recent piece:<br>http://riftvalley.net/resources/file/Johnson%20%282012%29,%20New%20History%20for%20a%20New%20Nation.pdf<br>The mutiny of Torit was a bloody pretext, yet combat was escalated by Abboud's henchmen thanks to arms supplies from West Germany 8 years later.<br>In the first few months after Abboud's downfall through the popular uprising - surely the most glorious moment in Sudanese history, nearly half a century ahead of the Arab spring - things looked pretty promising. <br>Moreover, please do not forget the 11 years of - admittedly fragile - peace after the Addis Ababa Agreement. It was one of the greatest achievements not only in Sudanese, but African history, until Nimeri, Sadiq & Turabi on the one side and Alier & Lagu on the ohter messed it up. <br>I am just being picky about this in order to show that there is still some hope indeed! <br>Germany's greatest Sudan expert once concluded a study paper by highlighting: "Things in Sudan are so frustrating that there is a great risk of oneself giving up and even becoming cynical. And that this in turn contributes to a self-fulfilling prophecy."<br>History is not bound by any law to repeat itself.<br>Please contribute by posting more of your illustrations, which I like so much!<br>Best wishes,<br>Ambrose ChapelAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com