The dogs of war

I’m shocked and saddened by the loss of 14 of our soldiers in the Central African Republic. It sounds like the Wild West. And it doesn’t matter how many of “them” our forces killed, it’s all just bullshit. How do 200 of our troops get attacked by a rebel army of some 3 000? And nowhere near our own borders?

I am a white South African who lived through the conscription days, did the two years (15 months of which was on the border over five trips) and did camps for 10 years after. So I think I can speak with a small amount of knowledge about this topic. And I am really angry that we lost soldiers in a foreign fire fight. In my days in Namibia and Angola we also brought body bags home. What a useless, senseless reason for a parent to face their worst nightmare. On both sides the losses were regrettable and meaningless in today’s context. But that was a different world and a very different South Africa. So why do we have to re-live that scenario again in someone else’s war?

I’m willing to bet my last R4 rifle that 99% of us in this country don’t even know why the hell we’ve sent troops to the CAR. Do you know?

Never mind the fact that we can’t even protect our own citizens from daily events of rape, murder, robbery and God knows what else. But we can send troops to the middle of Africa? I would also love to know how much this exercise in breast beating is costing our country. Who is paying for our esteemed armed forces to guard some dodge president in Africa? You guessed it. We are! As usual.

I wonder what the shell-shot soldiers who were under attack for 13 hours think of that. I also wonder what deal Zuma has made with Bozize. The reality is that we are again being bamboozled by an inept ruling party. I do not want any more of OUR soldiers to die in combat under any circumstances. These are OUR boys. We should protect them.