A VETERAN Soviet World War II general once said: “In wars there no winners, only losers.”Unfortunately, since the end of World War II, mankind has not learnt its lesson. Consequently, wars have continued and raged in many countries, and in many instances among those countries which can least afford it.

With the raging conflicts and wars in the Middle East still very much alive, yet another war has broken out, this time in South Sudan where thousands of people are fleeing the South Sudanese city of Bentiu amid fears of a government offensive to recapture the oil-rich area from rebels. Many people are taking refuge in a UN base in Bentiu.
Meanwhile, ceasefire talks between the two sides appear to be deadlocked over the government’s imprisonment of 11 alleged coup plotters. At least 1,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
Nearly 200,000 people have been forced from their homes in the fighting, which has seen ethnic violence between the Dinka and Nuer communities.
One would have thought that after gaining independence following many decades of war, South Sudan would have settled down and ventured into the task of rebuilding the country. Unfortunately, after about one year only of achieving independence, war has broken out which obviously will complicate its difficult economic situation and poor living standards of its people.
It seems as though the war originated from a power struggle as well as ethnic conflicts as President Salva Kiir and his deputy, Mr Machar, who had been on opposite sides of the 1991 split, grew more and more antagonistic.
In time, other influential figures, including ministers and SPLM Secretary General Pagan Amum also began to criticise the president.
He was accused of sacking state governors unconstitutionally, quashing dissent in the party and not allowing a democratic challenge to his rule.
Regardless of the origin of the war, peace and stability need to be restored as soon as possible, because it is another senseless war which will result only in greater suffering of the South Sudanese people who have endured so much suffering and agony over many decades.
In this regard, the international community needs to intensify its efforts to bring an end to this tragic situation as early as possible. What is ironic is that those powers which were most vociferous during the recent conflagration in the Middle East, and even threatened with military intervention, are mum on what is happening in South Sudan; perhaps because they do not have self-interest there.
The debate about whether wars are justified or not may go on infinitely, but what is certain is that they should cease being the means of resolving conflicts in a so-called civilised and modern world as in most if not all cases they end up causing more suffering and destruction rather than solving problems.
The great philosopher and advocate for peace, Lord Bertrand Russell, correctly said:
“The objects for which men have fought in the past, whether just or unjust, are no longer to be achieved by wars amongst civilised nations. A great weight of tradition, of financial interests, of political insincerity, is bound up with the anachronism of international hostility.
“It is, however, perhaps not chimerical to hope that the present war, which has shocked the conscience of mankind more than any war in previous history, may produce a revulsion against antiquated methods, and may lead the exhausted nations to insist upon the brotherhood and co-operation which their rulers have hitherto denied them. There is no reason whatever against the settlement of all disputes by a Council of Powers deliberating in public. Nothing stands in its way except the pride of rulers who wish to remain uncontrolled by anything higher than their own will. When this great tragedy has worked itself out to its disastrous conclusion, when the passions of hate and self-assertion have given place to compassion with the universal misery, the nations will perhaps realise that they have fought in blindness and delusion, and that the way of mercy is the way of happiness for all.”