Sudan War Is Better Than a Bad Peace

Spouting a nationalist credo, Rebel Leader John Garang fights on

John Garang is seated in a dry riverbed, under the sweeping branches of an acacia tree. Around his belt, the tall (6 ft. 4 in.), American-educated leader of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) wears a knife and a 9-mm automatic pistol; his thick hands are clasped around the stock and barrel of a Hungarian-made AKM assault rifle, private serial number 000. Suddenly, the stillness is broken by the shouts of 1,000 of Garang's guerrillas passing on their way to battle at nearby Kapoeta, a southern Sudanese town 140 miles east of the city of Juba. First they chant, "Garang,...

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