What does Uncle Sam want from Sudan?

The UN Security Council adopted a draft resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Sudan during the holy month of Ramadan (Anatolia)

If we slightly alter the question posed by the American thinker and researcher Noam Chomsky: What does Uncle Sam want?

And we added to it from Sudan, arriving at a final answer to this serious question brings us back to carefully considering the nature of the American strategy towards Sudan, which seems to be facing a deep dilemma, which is not understanding what is happening on the ground, or ignoring what its allies in the region are doing by supporting one of the parties. Specifically, it is rapid support, which means supporting the continuation of the war.

Futile American attempts

In December 2021, after a diplomatic rupture for nearly half a century, the United States appointed John Godfrey as its ambassador to Sudan. The man quickly engaged in futile attempts to interfere in political affairs and impose a secular group at the helm of power, but he found strong opposition from right-wing movements. He then threw all his weight behind Volker Peretz, head of the UN mission, but the latter himself failed in his mission and complicated the situation in a disastrous way.

Peretz left Khartoum unwanted, and the entire delegation quickly followed him. At a later stage, Godfrey was forced to submit his resignation, for mysterious reasons, and the farewell speech he delivered under the sounds of bullets resulted in the turbulent policy of the White House.

Perhaps that ambassador felt that he had been involved in igniting the conflict, or that he had not succeeded in his diplomatic mission, to the point that he did not find the time or the means to escape the fire of fighting that he was surprised to encounter near the embassy building in the Soba suburb, south of Khartoum.

Troubled evacuation

The American indifference, or rather the failure to understand the reality of the situation on the ground, made the Washington Post mock that diplomatic failure, including the flight of American nationals in Sudan.

In search of safety.

At the time, the newspaper described the turbulent evacuation efforts as nothing but the latest incident in the years of American policy in the region, which reinforces the fact of the inability to see the warning signs of the outbreak of conflict between the army and the Rapid Support inside Khartoum, until Washington’s last bet, the American-Saudi initiative, collided with a dead end and was evaded. Rapid support, from the implementation of the Jeddah Agreement in May 2023, which stipulates the withdrawal of their forces from civilian objects, and a ceasefire. Washington and Riyadh have failed to develop oversight mechanisms, or oblige any of the warring parties to protect civilians and sign a peace that ends the suffering of the Sudanese people.

Imperial Janjaweed

There is a controversial book published by the Sudanese doctor and researcher Ashari Mahmoud, under the title (The Janjaweed Empire), and by them he meant American figures active in the Sudanese file. He referred to them by name: Victoria Nuland, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, and Molly, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and the third. John Godfrey, the American ambassador to Sudan, where Dr. Ashari described them as “the three inflated hypostases.”

And he said;

Their danger to Sudan and the Sudanese is comparable to the danger of the well-known Janjaweed, that is, Hemedti's forces, and they work to save the leaders of the Rapid Support from defeat, by pressuring the army to go to negotiations, destroy the military institution, subject Sudan to them and their agents in the region, and then plunder its wealth.

However, the dramatic developments that accompanied American foreign policy towards Sudan recently were noticeable, including the sudden resignation of Godfrey, the appointment of the Jew Daniel Rubinstein as his replacement, and then the appointment of (Tom Perriello) as a special envoy on Sudan, which means - in practice - withdrawing the Sudan file from under my control ( Molly V) is in a final attempt to restore American influence in Africa, and to grasp the lost thread of it, under the claws of Russian support, which has almost dominated Sudan’s most important resource, which is gold, and it has become clear that whoever reaches this neglected mine of wealth is the winner in the race.

Losing bet

It is also clear that American legislators exerted violent pressure to create this position, and to employ Perriello to fill the diplomatic vacuum in the region with effective movements on the ground, ensuring that they control the fate of this country, especially since the United States invested very little diplomatic energy, and created voices hostile to it amidst The military and Islamic forces, which are the most effective, in addition to betting on Hemedti, who is accused of committing war crimes and seeking to exterminate some African tribes such as the Masalit and Fur, will cost the ruling party there influential lobby votes in the American elections.

But on the other hand, abandoning the idea of ​​supporting the Daglo family will also cost them the loss of a wealthy Arab country that invests billions of dollars in the West, clearly supports the Rapid Support Forces, and even succeeded in buying the votes of many African leaders.

With the aim of marketing Hemedti as if he were the actual president of Sudan.

Not only did the United States of America antagonize the Islamic movement in Sudan, but it also considers the army commander, the head of the Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his military staff to be Islamic generals!

It imposed sanctions on the Secretary-General of the Islamic Movement, Ali Karti, in harmonious agreement with the Rapid Support narrative that the war was behind it (the remnants).

That is, the Islamic forces, which voluntarily chose to fight alongside the regular forces.

But what is certain is that the current leaders of the military establishment are far from any commitment to the Islamic Movement’s approach, in appearance or substance, and they still refuse to release deposed President Omar al-Bashir, and refuse the participation of the National Congress in the transitional period, in addition to the fact that Al-Burhan himself led the normalization efforts with Israel. This cannot at all be the desire of the Islamic movement supporting the Palestinian cause.

It seems that the Biden government is following the same previous approach, which worked to prevent national regimes, or rather Islamic project owners, from coming to power, even if this was done through elections, at the expense of an outcast secular minority that is still betting on it, and wants to impose it by force and demolish any democratic experience that comes. Who they can't stand, and Uncle Sam may have missed that American hostility toward African people brings friends like Russia, China, and Iran as well.

There is no doubt that the disdain of the United States of America for democratic values ​​and human rights is difficult to find, as someone said, and this means that the American governments are not entrusted with the interests of the Sudanese people, nor are they keen on democracy and human rights, and can support the forces of freedom and change or any other party. A military man if he submits to it at all, as Hemedti currently supports and condones his crimes, by employing a reckless group of human monsters to carry out the task, and then getting rid of them later, after Sudan descends into the furnace of creative chaos, and arranging the situation, after exhausting all parties, according to their colonial perceptions.

But will this plan succeed, or is the will of the people stronger?

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.