The Sudanese Army: Military Doctrine and the Absence of a Unified State (1)

Ameer Saad

 The State and Comprehensive Doctrine

 Despite the bleakness of the ongoing war, which has lasted almost a year and a half, plunging the country into a dark tunnel and creating catastrophic consequences, it has shed light on critical political, social, and military issues that have long been sidelined or ignored during the journey of establishing a national state.

 One of the most significant and comprehensive issues that this war has highlighted is the profound flaw in the concepts and hierarchy of the states comprehensive doctrine and the military doctrine of the national army. A key cause of this flaw is the continuous war that has plagued the country since the eve of independence and the dominance of military rule for more than 60 years since independence. Even during the brief periods of what is known as the "First, Second, and Third Democracies," the impact of war and its repercussions continued to affect their progress.

The Eritrean Gulag 2

 Sudanese Sightings in Eritrean’s Prisons

April 1st, 2004...

 At exactly 10 a.m., I found myself inside the headquarters of the Border Guards in Asmara, in the office of a man named Girmay Mezgegna, who held the rank of major in the Eritrean army and was the director of the office of General Tekle Mengistu.

At the same time, he was responsible for issuing travel and residence permits to Sudanese opposition members in Eritrea. Ironically, this man—with all his arrogance, pride, and overblown self-importance—had become the go-to authority on everything related to the Sudanese opposition in Asmara, coordinating with a man named Ibrahim Idris, director of the office of Amin Mohammed Saeed, the secretary-general of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ).

This, in my opinion, represents the height of absurdity and mockery of the Sudanese opposition. It’s also the peak of self-disrespect for the opposition to allow people like these to manage their affairs and be considered advisors on complex issues such as the Sudanese cause.

The Eritrean Gulag - 1

Sudanese Sightings in Eritrean’s Prisons

"The truth is always reclaimed, while life may be buried forever."

                                            Razumikhin,

                                            Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky

 This is merely a narrative of what happened—of observations and accounts that my conscience compels me to convey. I don’t intend here to narrate the reasons behind my one-month-long imprisonment in an underground prison by Eritrean intelligence—nor the abuse and desperate attempts to break and subdue me—except to the extent that allows me to reflect on the suffering I witnessed among Eritrean citizens. Perhaps this account will also lead me to discuss the relationship between the Sudanese and Eritrean peoples and my personal evaluation of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) regime in Eritrea, especially in its relations with Sudan and its political organizations.