South Sudan

South Sudan is the world's newest nation, but the bright optimism of a new nation no longer exists here. South Sudan hasn't had it easy in its brief 9 year existence, it has been wreaked with civil wars since even before its birth. This episode will dive into the History of South Sudan and why it has faced these problems.

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South Sudan Podcast #2

Tribalism

noun

o   DEROGATORY

the behaviour and attitudes that stem from strong loyalty to one's own tribe or social group.

"a society motivated by cultural tribalism"

I remember reading a news article about a White contractor who was hired  to repair the brakes on a golf cart for a black couple. The man showed up to their house with a Confederate flag flying on the back of his truck. I remember the father of the family later commenting how the man was polite and respectful (he seemed like a good guy) but the wife rejected him for his service because of the flag. The contractor offered to take the flag down but they told him no, he later contacted the family again and apologiesed saying he didn’t mean to offend them. The family replied by saying that the Confederate flag is disrespectful and encouraging him to research what the flag means to people of color.

"The times when that flag was brought up, multiple times during history, it was always to our (African Americans’) detriment ... negative to our plight," he said.

The reason that article sticks out to me is that the clear and obvious miscommunication between the two parties, its almost comical if you look at it from an outsiders perspective. The contractor wasn’t a racist, he was just showing off a flag that to him represented history or who knows maybe he just liked the flag, but even though he was polite and cordial. the family saw an evil man who was there to harm them, or if you want to be generous A bigot.

… the first step to a failed state is when ethnic tensions arise and clearly this ethnic group in the usa (which given its histroy has validity) feels opressed and we need to make a change so we dont actually become a failed state.

Chapter 1 Colonial Africa

The region of Sudan has been ruled over by many different kingdoms, from the Kush, Meroë (meroe-ay), sennar-Funj (muslim) Darfur, and to the ottomans 

In the Late 19th century Britian dominated. with Britians colony Egypt having special Colonial status over the north of Sudan (called a condominium think of it like a colony within a colony)

In 1881 – Machdi (maahdi) (The messianic redeemer of the Islamic faith) a Sudanese fanatical islamist led a national religious war against foreign influence, he was successful in defeating the Turco-british forces thus creating one of the only states in Africa free of colonial rule.

By 1899 – the Anglo-Egyptian army defeated Machdi and the british gain military control of the region of Sudan

Due to the power of the Nile River the British focused most of their strength in Khartoum the capital city (located in the northern region of the colony) This city was Important as it was where the Blue and White Nile Converged

The Nile River flows into Egypt (giving Sudan control of the water)

By 1956 Sudan got independence from Britain, the independence was given in an attempt to prevent the country from coming under Egyptian control

Egypt at this time was led by Nasser, an anti-colonial, anti-British Pan-arabist
 
 

Chapter 2 Sudanese Civil War 

Since before the colonial times there has been a deep divide between the Muslim north and the Christian south

The north had been predominantly Muslim since the Funj Sultanate (sennar) invasion in the 16th century

In the 18th century English missionaries came up from the south and converted a large amount of the populace to Christianity, 

In 1955 – an Anti-Muslim secessionist movement took place in south known as… the Anyanya Rebellion (snake venom rebellion ((madi language))it started First Sudanese Civil war (1955-1972) which would last for approximately 17 years

Half a million people would die over the course of the 17 year war, five hundred thousand people, of whom only one in five was considered an armed combatant, were killed while hundreds of thousands more were forced to leave their homes.

the war was divided into four major stages: initial guerrilla warfare, the creation of the Anyanya insurgency, political strife within the government and establishment of the South Sudan Liberation Movement.

Meanwhile the government in Sudan (which from here on out I will refer to as north sudan to prevent some confusion just remember it is the modern state of Sudan) was dealing with factionalism leading to a prolonged war with the south

In 1956 a military coup occurs in Khartoum, the civilian government is toppled

In 1964 a Junta led by Abboud collapses leading to a civilian government to take control of the country again

The economy deteriorated during the times of the civilian government so in 1969 Colonel Jafar El Numeri seized power with the support of the communist and socialist parties in a bloodless coup

In 1971 another failed communist coup occurs, El Numeri survives and stays in power until the mid 1980’s

In 1972 the Addis Abba peace agreement is reached granting the south self-government but not independence, it ends the war but does little to address the problems facing Sudan.

In 1978 Oil is discovered in South Sudan

Many historians consider the first and the second Sudanese civil wars to be the same (similar to world war 1 and world war 2) with an 11-year ceasefire 

1983 major stage of civil war broke out (SECOND SUDANESE CIVIL WAR) 1983-2005

The reason for the second civil war started as a result of resources necessitation and oil being discovered in the south. The north being located on the eastern part of the Sahara Desert is non arable and therefore in need of the crops from the souths equatorial region. Oil made up 70% of north Sudan’s economy and basically all of the wealth was sent to the elites in Khartoum.

Roughly two million people died as a result of this war and famine and disease caused by the conflict. Four million people in southern Sudan were displaced at least once (and normally repeatedly) during the war. The civilian death toll is one of the highest of any war since World War II[24] and was marked by numerous human rights violations. These include slavery and mass killings.

Anyanya 2 was defeated by the SPLA and incorporated into the armies of John Gerrang

SPLA Sudan People's Liberation Army led by John Gerrang was always divided by tribal and political factors

JOHN GARANG

John Garang, is regarded as the founding father and symbol of unity in today's South Sudan.

Interestingly enough, Garang believed in founding a secular NEW SUDAN state that would overtake the north and the south. Where all religions and all tribes had a say in the government

As a leader, John Garang's democratic credentials were often questioned. For example, according to Gill Lusk, "John Garang did not tolerate dissent and anyone who disagreed with him was either imprisoned or killed".[4] Under his leadership, the SPLA was accused of human rights abuses.

In 1983 – President Nameri declares sharia law (it wasn’t rigorously enforced in the south) nevertheless many in south objected leading to a rebellion

In April 1985 the government in Khartoum changed due to riots in North, causing the war in south to worsen

In 1989 Omar Al Bashir and Dr Hasan Al Turabi take over in a military coup

The SPLA got support from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Uganda (financial support from America) with President George Bush connecting with John Garang deeply on religious issues, calling him a "partner in peace."

In the USA the war was characterized as Arabic Islam vs Black people (digging into the sensitive topic of race in the USA)

SPLA fought relatively well for African standards

Both the North and South committed atrocities

Washington was Pro- South Sudan because Osama Bin Laden stayed in Sudan until 1996 and they said Sudan was involved in Enslaving the south (Dr Hasan Al Turabi claims this was a lie and manipulation)

The USA has described North Sudan as a terrorist state

The Clinton administration Authorized a missle attack on chemical factory in khartoum it was a mistake the factory had medicine to combat malaria leading to a breakdown of relations 

Sudan became internationally isolated

By 1999 oil began to flow from Sudan (khartoum needed good relations with USA for trade)

By 2001 famine spread across Sudan

Oil could have saved the economy but SPLA targeted the oil rich regions

By 2002 various ceasefires occurred in South

In 2003 rebels in Darfur (located in the west of (north) Sudan) started a western front (SLA) they wanted the same concessions granted to the Southerners

by Jan 2005 the USA UK NORWAY and Kenya were working behind scenes to make peace… 

War in the south was over creating a state Roughly the size of Arizona and New Mexico

The South would stay an autonomous part of Sudan (north) for 6 years then a referendum on Independence would be had 

Oil wealth would be shared equitably 

The UN sent 10,00 soldiers to keep peace in South

John Garang was sworn in as VP the second most powerful man in (north) Sudan (he was secretly attempting to create his secular unified NEW SUDAN state)

Garang was killed in a helicopter crash just 3 weeks after assuming the office of the vice president of South Sudan

Salvir Kiir Mayardit assumed the position of Vice president after Garangs death, having risen through the ranks of the SPLA throughout the first and second Sudanese civil wars he is a hardened veteran of war.

Salvir Kiir a stoic and Soft spoken man, looks like the perfect African dictator, with a brawny build who is famously seen wearing his black stetson hat, a gift from president George W Bush in 2006, he rarely makes appearances without the hat.

There are many rumors that Kiir could have orchestrated the helicopter crash,

a few years earlier Kiir’s rival DR Riek Machar Teny attempted a coup against Garang (Garang and Kiir are from the Dinka tribe whereas Macahar is from the Nuer) Garang offered amnesty in an attempt to cement peace between the constantly warring tribal warlords.

Machar contrasting Kiir, is a charismatic energetic man who can be regularly seen dancing, 

Machar has always claimed to want a democratic independent south Sudan contrasting Garang’s idea of a Unified (with the north) Sudanese state.

Machar has been called a tuut dhoali/Doth in English, which may be translated "adult boy", meaning uninitiated and literate. He has tried to transcend tribal divisions, and at one time attempted to ban initiation marks

Kiir positioned himself as a reformer, using his inaugural address to call for the South Sudanese people "to forgive, though we shall not forget" injustices at the hands of the northern Sudanese over the preceding decades

Setting a dark tone for the future of the world’s newest state.

Pre information

One of the main issues facing Africa today is tribalism, the modern states of Africa are overwhelmingly creations from the European colonial times. 

For example, take Rwanda, an ex-French colony about the size of Maryland with 3 main tribes the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. In 1994 they had a terrible genocide which some estimates claim to have killed 1 million people.

South Sudan is home to around 60 indigenous ethnic groups and 80 linguistic partitions

The major ethnic groups are

 Dinka with the vast majority, at 36% (Represented by Kiir) Located in the north west and center of the country

 Nuer the main minority (Represented by machar) 16 % located in the north east of the country

Shiluk (Johnson Oolony) 

Murle (David Yauyau)

These are just a couple of the tribes… (many of which would later form rebellions) 

The languages of South Sudan are Nilo-Saharan and are numbered at over 60 with some unintelligible dialects between the same tribes

English serves as the Lingua Franca in the capital Juba but all over the country (like much of Africa) you can hear different languages depending on the region you are in.

During the civil wars the tribes fought mostly together for independence from the Muslim north but there has always been infighting, take for example the Bor Massacre of 1991 led by Riek Machar, an estimated 2,000 Dinka civilians were killed and as a result of cattle being stolen another 25,000 died of famine.

Historically the people of South Sudan had a barter economy with cows being the principle currency

Cattle raids were an accepted and honorable way to acquire wealth

The amount of violence enabled was limited by tribal elders

The government of Khartoum began a policy of DIVIDE AND RULE by arming young men with assault rifles in an attempt to promote extreme violence in these cattle raids to end the rebellions

The policy failed but it did create a situation with a breakdown of civility and violence (and armed the south greatly)

SS autonomy

In 2005 South Sudan was granted semi-autonomy until 2011 when an independence referendum would be given

In 2011 the referendum vote passed with 99% voting for independence, it was a bright day for the people of South Sudan all had hope of a brighter future. Susan Rice the then ambassador to the UN gave a speech from John Garang Mausoleum in the capital Juba Saying “The day of triumph for all who cherish the rights of people everywhere to govern themselves in liberty and law”

Cooperation and civility quickly broke down 

The SPLM (Political wing of the SPLA) split along some say ethnic some say political lines on how to spend the massive oil wealth South Sudan had accumulated between 2006-2009 (2.1 billion USD)

Numerous rebellions occurred over “ethnic tensions” the SPLA in Juba adopted a “Big Tent” policy where the government would buy off militias and pardon generals creating an incentive to rebel

Even during times of peace the different ethnic groups always had high levels of distrust between each other

#####

 Chapter 7 South Sudanese Civil war 2013-2020 Wikipedia

THE bEGINNING

In 2012 Kiir began reforming the government on an unprecedented scale, rumors of a coup started to be heard

The move was seen as a power grab by his rivals with Machar speaking out against Kiir

And in 2013 Kiir dismissed the vice president Riek machar with his entire cabinet

Kiir was hosting a meeting on the evening of Sunday 15 Dec 2013 Machar boycotted the meeting

A soldier started firing at the meeting which Kiir accused as a coup attempt

Kiir rearmed only the Dinka soldiers

Fights broke out all over Juba

Many of Kiirs political enemies were detained following the battle and machar fled Juba with soldiers and cattle

Kiir accused Machar of orchestrating the coup some supported Kiir. Kiir warned of the fighting becoming tribal declaring on television “I will not let the events of 1991 happen again” (a reference to Machar and the BOR massacre)

######

Machar claimed Kiir was fabricating the coup in order to overthrow his political enemies and retreated into the Bush

Many feared ethnic cleansing would come

Early War

The Ugandans fearing a prolonged war and instability in the region sent troops to support Kiir

The rebels took the capitals in Unity and Jonglei states (located in the ethnically Nuer northeast region) 

Kiir decreed a state of emergency

Fighting spread to Malakal in the upper nile district (in the north of south sudan) where South Sudan gets all its crude oil.

 civilians emptied the town and at least 200 drowned in their boats

####malakal mentioned

PEACE TALKS 2014-2015

By 2014 The government forces supported by Ugandan troops retook every town held by the rebels, this was to appear stronger for peace talks

Kiir and machar reached a ceasfire agreement in Ethiopia

A few days later due to a lack of communication and discipline, the government troops took the small church village of Leer. This caused the rebels to boycott further negotiations 

Malakal was attacked in February and taken by the rebels who withdrew the following month… Leading to the 5th time Malakal (strategically important city near the oil fields) switched leadership

After the Bentiu massacre where 200 civilians all dinkas were massacred Kiir sacked his army chief

One of the rebel factions David Yauyau’s largely Murle (ethnic) Cobra faction made peace with the government (after Yauyau was appointed state governor of pibor. The cobra faction split and some joined Machar

Yauyau (an ethnic Murle and one of the many warlords) would became notorious for his use of child soldiers and for being accused of forming an oil company meant to exploit the weakened state of South Sudan

He has since repented his ways and now works to return stolen children to their families , he has returned about 54 to this day

Child abduction has been taking place for centuries in South Sudan, but the kidnappings spiked when nearly 20,000 kids were forced to the frontlines during the country’s six-year civil war

A second and third peace talk broke down when both sides accused the other of breaking the peace talk rules

A series of shadowy weapons dealers appear selling to both sides

The massive inflow of weapons has had disastrous effects on the elephant population

Before the long civil war, South Sudan had an estimated 80,000 elephants, today the population is believed to be 2,500

And by this point in the war complete chaos had broken out with many rebellions inside of the rebellion occurring

Johnson Olony led a shiluk militia that then defected due to the government creating new state borders (the shiluk thought it would divide their people on may 16 2015 they captured Malakal

Gabriel Tang and peter Gadet announced they had split with machar and would be fighting against the Dinka and Nuer because they didn’t want either to be in control

Just to mention a few of the many splinter groups from the rebellion

2015-2016 PEACE

In August 2015 a peace agreement was reached with Machar returning as VP 

Kiir on Christmas Eve 2015 increased the number of states from 10-28 and swore in all new governors loyal to him and giving the Dinka strategically powerful positions

The Dinka militias who had now confiscated many Nuer Cattle had grown rich 

This was a grave insult to the Nuer as Cattle is a sign of wealth and masculinity

The Dinka Militia groups now pushed into the bread basket southern lands of Equatoria where cattle farming was more prosperous

Peter Martel  a British journalist wrote “The War had started out over an Elite struggle for oil wealth had evolved into anarchy opportunism and revenge”

Atrocities 

By this point the war was mostly dominated by clan loyalties instead of ethnic ties, 20,000 child soldiers were reported as of 2016

Voilence erupted again on July 2016 after a meeting between Machar and Kiir was attacked, this time Machar fled Juba

Machar first fled to Kinshasa and next to South Africa

Kiir had his soldiers rob the central bank of South Sudan at night and put up a 5 million USD bounty on Machar… Kiir admitted to doing this saying “it was justifiable under the circumstances”

Mass rape had become an epidemic in South Sudan

a study of women at UN camps in Juba claimed 70% of women have been raped

Rape was used as a tool for ethnic cleansing as well as humiliation and revenge

Both men and children were also raped but both admitting to it less makes it difficult to know how many cases there are

Zainab Bangura (UN special envoy for sexual violence) reported “nowhere in the entire world had seen more sexual violence than South Sudan”

The United Nations said most of the attacks were conducted by youth militias and by elements of forces aligned with Mr. Kiir. A smaller number of attacks were linked to opposition fighters supporting Mr. Machar.

Almost 90 percent of the victims were raped by more than one attacker and often for hours at a time,

The number of people tried and convicted for sexual violence in South Sudan is extremely small

ARMS EMBARGO ATTEMPT

Due to the chaos American Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power asked for an arms embargo

There are no arms manufacturers in South Sudan all are imported

The UN took a vote with the USA, France, UK, New Zealand, Ukraine, Spain and Uruguay all voting for an embargo. Russia, China, Japan, Angola, Egypt, Malasya, Venezuela all abstained and the embargo was defeated

The USA eventually placed an embargo by 2017 but it was so full of loopholes it was ineffective 

African Union

The African Union planned to deploy troops in order to protect civilians

Kiir originally refused claiming “A Violation of Sovereignty”

Afer a resolution threatening an arms embargo Kiir eventually accepted with the condition that there were no troops from neighboring countries stating “They all had interests at stake”

The government also accepted a hybrid court to investigate war crimes

2017

During this time The Justice and Equality movement (JEM) was losing its struggle for independence in neighboring Sudan (in the DARFUR region) and was pushed into South Sudan. They began fighting for Juba as mercenaries

SPLM-North another rebel group in Sudan Near the Upper Nile also joined JUBA

Fighting spread from the Greater Upper Nile Region to include the vital region Equatoria

The destruction increased the number of people facing starvation to 6 million

The rebels lost ground in The Greater Upper Nile and gained ground in Equatoria

In late May Kiir declared a unilateral ceasfire it was symbolic as the rainy season would have mostly stopped fighting anyway

Many high ranking officials in Kiirs government began defecting as Kiir was increasingly being accused of Dinka favoritism

2018-now

By March 2018, 9 rebel groups formed a coalition the SSOA South Sudanese Opposition Alliance to negotiate with the government

Finally, in July 2018 the US successfully placed an arms embargo

Sudan (NORTH) dealing with economic troubles and interested in the oil of South Sudan convinced Kiir and Machar to have peace talks in Khartoum

Peace was negotiated but again after only a few hours it was violated by a lack of discipline from government forces, they attacked rebels in WAU state

Peace was again declared in September 2018 ending the five-year civil war (between Kiir and Machar)

In October 2018 Machar returned to South Sudan for a shared power agreement between himself as VP and Kiir as President

The number of states was returned from 28-10, the prewar arrangement

The most difficult situation has been the disarmament of South Sudan leading to clashes between civilians, militias, and the government

On 30 April 2020, despite the power-sharing agreement and arms embargo by the United Nations in place, the Amnesty International reported that South Sudan continues to import arms

Machar and Kiir have since both stated that they do not trust each other 

Michael Makuei the governments information minister doubts the credibility of the UN and stated “these claims need to be substantiated” when asked if he was sorry about the events that had occurred the past 9 years he said “all parties should feel bad, not just us”

The government of south Sudan has showed numerous times its distrust of outsiders and the UN 

Numerous tragic events of the killing and or rape of UN and AID workers have been reported

after a famine was declared in 2017 in the unity state from the UN, the government raised the price of a business visa from 100$ to 10,000 $ citing “a need for government revenue”

######

Nearly 400,000 People have been killed 

4 million people have been displaced including 2.2 million who have fled to neighboring countries 60% are reported to be children.

6 million people are starving

Today South Sudan is struggling to recover, 

As of March 2020 some say South Sudan is collapsing thanks to (among many things) corruption over oil

Oil shortages are common throughout South Sudan even though oil is the one resource the south has a surplus of

Some people are reported to have slept 2 days in their car waiting to fill up at a petrol station

Black market rates for oil can cost about 200 $ to fill a tank 

The country is completely broke with some doctors making 10-20 USd a month

The minimum wage is about 7.70$ a month

Living in Juba is extremely expensive, the cost is similar to what you would expect to pay in an American or western European major city. This is because everything must be imported and South Sudan produces nothing

  #######

South Sudan also has the lowest literacy rate in the world at 27%

The country has only about 300 kilometers of paved roads.

One survey found the People of South Sudan have same levels of PTSD as the people in Cambodia post Pol Pot

HELP

If you want to help South Sudan You can Donate using the Website World Vision, 87% of its donations go to operating expenses for programs that benefit children, families, and communities of east Africa 

You can also spread the word about the troubles people face in South Sudan, the website SaveTheChildren.org has a newsletter you can subscribe to, it is free and they will send you updates with information about countries like South Sudan.

For the brave ones out there you can either donate or find a job with Medecins sans Frontiers (Doctors without borders)… They accept people with all different kinds of skills. you could get a desk job in your current country, possibly in the lovely country of Switzerland where their headquarters is based. Or in the field of South Sudan.

ENDING

South Sudan suffers from many of the problems its fellow African countries do, Corruption, Nepotism, famine and resource exploitation. Oil was the cause of the start of the war back in the 1980’s and continued to be the main source of tension throughout the civil war. Malaka (the closest major city near the oil fields of south sudan) as of 2015, had changed hands between the government and rebel factions a total of 12 times (I was unable to find the complete number throughout the war). The country is only 9 years old

Perhaps cooperation with its sister country Sudan is the best way  The south for south sudan to improve, In an Ironic Twist South Sudan’s Difficulties started in Khartoum and the final peace agreement endig the 5 year civil war was signed there. The 2 Sudans although Unwanting will always be connected.

Tribalism and ethnic tensions have been a major problem for every country throughout history and unfortunately, it is true as ever, today in the world of 2020, If we can learn one thing from The horrors the South Sudanese have gone through its that Tribalism is Bullshit. People are people, and Some are good, Bad, and even Ugly.

World Vision

https://donate.worldvision.org/give/east-africa-emergency-relief

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1.888.511.6548

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CONTACT US

Numerous civilian centers have been targeted 

The town of Leer was sacked by government troops; forcing 240 Staff and patients of Doctors Without Borders in Leer to flee into the bush Doctors without borders has lost contact with 2/3rds of its staff in Leer.  it is belived to have been sacked because it was the home of Machar

The government was accused by the US and aid groups among others of using starvation as a tactic of collective punishment for populations that support rebels by intentionally blocking aid.

CHILD ABDUCTION

Fighting between ethnic groups had always occurred… mostly related to child abdution and cattle stealing

LOST BOYS             

Control of Malakal can allow easy access to the oil regions of northern south sudan as well as give control of the Nile river

During the course of the war Malakal ( the northern oil region and only source of wealth for south sudan) had been taken and retaken at least 10 times

A split in SPLA had simmered since late 1990, as Lam Akol and Riek Machar began to question Garang's leadership

The dissidents called for democratization of SPLA, a stop to human rights abuses, and an independent South Sudan (in contrast to the SPLA line of creating a united and secular Sudan)

Garang’s widow, Rebecca Nyandeng De Mabior, promised to continue his work stating: In our culture we say "if you kill the lion, you see what the lioness will do"

In the past Resource depletions have caused ethnic conflicts, Oil Cattle Herders, Drought

QUOTES

You can no longer see or identify yourself solely as a member of a tribe, but as a citizen of a nation of one people working toward a common purpose.”
 ― idowu koyenikan, Wealth for all Africans: How Every African Can Live the Life of Their Dreams

“Through love, tribes have been intermixing colors to reveal a new rainbow world. And as more time passes, this racial and cultural blending will make it harder for humans to side with one race, nation or religion over another.”
 ― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“There is almost no country in Africa where it is not essential to know to which tribe, or which subgroup of which tribe, the president belongs. From this single piece of information you can trace the lines of patronage and allegiance that define the state.”
 ― Christopher Hitchens

“Human nature favors the tribal. Tribalism engenders violence. It was ever thus and so it will ever be.”
 ― Kate Atkinson, Transcription

“Get rid of sectarianism, nationalism, tribalism, and there will be peace on earth.”
 ― Marty Rubin

“The mentality of who is your uncle—an ethnocentric way of thinking, is one of the leading causes of South Sudan’s internal conflicts.”
 ― Duop Chak Wuol

“The level of foreign greed in South Sudan is unprecedented. Most South Sudanese are probably not aware of the fact that Kiir’s government spent at least $2.1 million on United States lobbying and public relations firms from early 2014 through the end of 2015, according to U.S. federal records. The money was meant to influence the administration of former American President Barack Obama through U.S. Congress members and other powerful individuals in American politics. Kiir’s main goals were to promote his government’s image, improve diplomatic relations with the United States, ensure former President Obama gave financial support to his leadership, and prevent the U.S. from imposing tough sanctions against his regime. The firms that benefited from these seemingly immoral dealings included R&R Partners, Podesta group, KRL International LLC, and former Republican Representative J. C. Watts. Under U.S. laws, the actions of these lobbying firms were legal; however, there were serious moral and ethical questions that deserved answers from the representatives of these companies. Is it rational to promote the image of a leader who killed his own people out of his own political madness? Do these firms know that they were promoting the image of a ruthless tyrant who massacred the mothers and fathers of tens of thousands of children from December 2013 to 2015? Where is the morality behind these public relations firms’ decisions to ignore the wishes of suffering South Sudanese over money? Did the U.S. lose its global moral obligation under Obama? Why was the United States, under Obama’s leadership, using threatening language towards South Sudanese rival leaders without taking any action? Was the Obama’s administration influenced by liberal lobbying firms as alleged by most South Sudanese? Why was the U.S. only actively vocal about South Sudanese suffering three weeks after Obama’s presidency ended?”
 ― Duop Chak Wuol