It is time that we face the truth, northern and southern Sudan have never been and will never be one country

Quote of the Day

"What is needed now is leadership to ensure that there is a roadmap towards a peaceable partition. This is not a decision that can be taken by default, by allowing the momentum of events to take their course. The statements by Deng Alor and Salva Kiir may have made secession inevitable, but they have not made it easy. A huge amount of work needs to be done. For the political leaders of south and north, secession entails a huge amount of hard work, organization and leadership." - Dr Alex de Waal OBE, November 3, 2009.

Note to self, for future reference. I have selected the above quote, plus the following extracts from a comments thread at Alex de Waal's blog post of November 3, 2009 “Let Us Make It A Peaceful Divorce” because it puts into words what I am thinking but unable to express right now.

“Let Us Make It A Peaceful Divorce”

Muhammad Osman:
November 6th, 2009

It is time that we face the truth, northern and southern Sudan have never been and will never be one country. We have always been two countries, if not politically then morally. We lie to ourselves when we say that unity is possible. To me, the CPA has failed because neither the SPLM nor the NCP wanted to implement it in good faith.

I agree with Deng Alor, let’s make it a peaceful divorce, and then it’s up to us, northerners, to find a way to get rid of the NCP.
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Vagn Sparre-Ulrich:
November 3rd, 2009

Is anybody believing that there will be a peaceful separation between the North and the South? And after the South (maybe) leaving, what will happen to the Northern Government? If this scenario (of separation) is a realistic one, there might be political turbulence in both the North and the South. Maybe a military coup in the North could give unity a chance? It seems as if we are heading for a meltdown situation, where the outcome is very unpredictable.
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Abd al-Wahab Abdalla:
November 3rd, 2009

The old has died and the new is struggling to be born. The subjective conditions for statehood exist in South Sudan but under present circumstances we can only be fearful about the nature of any new state that emerges, as well as the nature of the remnant state in North Sudan that survives. My fear is that both mother and child may not survive the rigours of childbirth.
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David Barsoum:
November 4th, 2009

Late, late yestreen, I saw the new moon
With the old moon in her arm,
And I fear, I fear my Master Dear,
That we shall come to harm

The Ballad of Sir Patrick Spence

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+ + + Remembrance Sunday &
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month + + +



Photo: Remembrance Day Poppy

Two minutes of silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month because that was the time (in Britain) when the armistice became effective. The two minutes recall World War I and World War II. Before 1945 the silence was for one minute, and today some ceremonies still only have one minute of silence despite this.

In the United Kingdom, although two minutes' silence is observed on November 11 itself, the main observance is on the second Sunday of November, Remembrance Sunday.

Source: Remembrance Day - Wikipedia