The Search for the Descent Scale: Al-Burhan
Osman Fadlallah
Between the believer and the denier,
Between the believer who wants to deny reality,
And the denier of reality who wants to believe in his own whims.
The people of Sudan are divided as they witness the collapse of many military sites that they once stood near with awe and respect. They believed with unwavering certainty that the army would decisively end the war, if not today, then tomorrow. Therefore, those forced into battle only carried a piece or two of clothing when leaving their homes. Some even left their refrigerators running because they were confident they would return, if not within hours, then within three days at most. Days turned into thirty, then another thirty, and the rope was still on the pulley. Questions began to multiply, striking minds forcefully—what is happening? What is going on? The questions led to more questions.
The blatant progress of the Rapid Support Forces on the battlefield was alarming. They approached gaining control over the entire Darfur region and extensive parts of the Kordofan region. They retained the sites they captured in the ongoing Battle of Khartoum since April 15 last year, adding new locations like the Elifon area, and finally, the fortified Jebel Oulia military base alongside the Sudan Stars Airbase, and Sheikh Khazana in Sudans region.
As the advance continued, questions and uncertainties multiplied, and each person answered in their own way, depending on their political and ideological stance towards the battle. Everyone tried to escape the clear and close answer because they did not want to confront themselves. The ongoing battle on the ground generated internal battles within minds. No one can provide the answer that we all want because it is harsh and bitter. It is the realization of the limitations of our army and what it can realistically achieve in this battle.
The army is exhausted and severely depleted. Since 1956, it has not left one battle without entering another in a country fundamentally suffering from deterioration, scarcity in all resources, and enduring thirty years of suffocating siege that inevitably led to the deterioration of all its institutions, including the military, at the forefront.
In the midst of this scene, a few individuals persisted in pushing society with all their might to pour oil on the flames of war. They pushed the army, despite its exhaustion and evident weakness, towards its destruction, indifferent to the consequences of this behavior. They had climbed the army to a tall tree and now found it difficult to descend. They adorned themselves with the initiation of this war without a genuine understanding of the situation, without evaluation, or even a warning to these forces that they would enter into a new massacre.
They ignited the fire without a political discourse and without providing essential necessities. Instead, they found nothing but to recall the discourse of the Southern War, in a repetitive and confused reenactment of scenes that cannot, under any circumstances, be "fit" into the current situation. This produced a confused and perplexing "collage" that clearly contributed to weakening the fighting forces, which do not understand why this war exists and to what project it will lead once it ends. Military sites continued to fall, and the army, after eight months of fighting, was on the verge of losing or had already lost all its strategic weapon stocks inside and outside the Khartoum state. Most of its aviation and artillery capabilities were destroyed. According to leaked information, there is a shortage of light ammunition, accompanied by a clear lack of international material and moral support due to the dismal Islamist discourse that raised suspicions among many international circles that the armed forces are nothing more than a "Trojan horse" for the return of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is no longer desired by the majority of the Sudanese people or by those circles. Officers and soldiers found themselves fighting alone, unsupported by the consent of the people, facing regional and global opposition, some of which is hidden and some overt.
At the same time, Western reports speak of Arab and African capitals historically close to the army, accusing them of supporting the Rapid Support Forces with equipment and weapons, including anti-aircraft weapons that have contributed to reducing the effectiveness of the air force, which represents a prominent advantage for the army in the current destructive combat confrontations.
As a result of this situation, the leadership of the armed forces appeared confused, sending conflicting messages. While it claims that the goal of the war is to eliminate the militias to avoid having two armies in one country, it supports other militias to win its war. The door was opened to extremist Islamist militias, such as the Green Battalion and the Buraq Bin Malik Brigade, which boasts of manufacturing drones and modified artillery, suggesting that it is the only one capable of ending the war. The army found itself fighting without popular support, facing regional and international opposition, some of which is hidden and some overt.
The armys leadership, represented by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, which ascended with Islamists to the top of the tree, lost the descent ladder and is no longer capable of descending to the ground to sit and reach a peace that ends the suffering. Nor is it capable of continuing on the path of war, the end of which is limited to two scenarios. The first is that Darfur movements manage to defeat the Rapid Support Forces in Darfur to ease the pressure on the central and northern regions, thus enabling them to control the region. In parallel, it enables Islamist militias in the north to seize victory and exploit it in their favor. The second, and more dangerous, is that the Rapid Support Forces manage to deliver painful blows to the movements in Darfur, transferring their war to other northern cities, which necessarily means the collapse and disintegration of the army. It becomes isolated islands, with each base fighting in its state, completing the tale of the countrys division into warring and conflicting entities.
