{"id":53286,"date":"2025-08-24T02:32:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T23:32:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/?p=53286"},"modified":"2025-08-24T02:32:40","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T23:32:40","slug":"the-egg-and-stone-paradox-is-no-war-tactic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/24\/the-egg-and-stone-paradox-is-no-war-tactic\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u201cEgg and Stone\u201d Paradox Is No War Tactic"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Maj. Gen. (Rtd.) Osama Mohamed Ahmed Abdel-Salam<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no good in us if we fail to say it plainly: the so-called \u201cegg and stone\u201d paradox is not, and never was, a tactic for war.<\/p>\n

An egg and a stone are not twins, nor counterparts, nor even vaguely alike. They do not form a harmonious pair. They are irreconcilable\u2014like water and fire, or rain and thorn. Yet a common proverb says of someone \u201che plays with the egg and the stone.\u201d Its roots go back to an ancient Egyptian contest where young men tried to throw eggs without breaking them. One contestant deceived the judges by using stones shaped like eggs to avoid breakage and claim the prize.<\/p>\n

The phrase has since described the cunning trickster: someone resourceful, sly, and clever in manipulation\u2014balancing contradictions, exploiting fragility and hardness at once, maneuvering language and circumstance to his own advantage.<\/p>\n

But Sudan\u2019s war of dignity is no playground for such games. This struggle, led by the people and fronted by the Sudanese Armed Forces, has drawn clear lines. It is not a field where neutrality or ambiguity can survive. One side seeks to dismantle the state\u2014mercenaries and militias financed from abroad, burning, looting, and killing. The other side fights to preserve Sudan\u2019s sovereignty and dignity, mobilizing the nation\u2019s full strength. There is no middle ground, no \u201cgray zone\u201d where one can hide behind claims of neutrality.<\/p>\n

Those who pretend at neutrality in this war only mask their alignment with the rebels. They are embarrassed supporters, dressing their stance in the false modesty of silence. Even within the political factions allied to the insurgents, splits have emerged, though all remain tied by complicity.<\/p>\n

In such a moment, the entire machinery of the state\u2014military, economic, diplomatic, social\u2014must be directed toward defeating the militia and dismantling its project, while exposing and deterring its foreign patrons. Yet troubling signs remain: statements from senior officials in the Sovereign Council and the government suggest that sympathizers of the militia still sit within state institutions, playing the role of a \u201cfifth column.\u201d Their mission is not to fight openly but to delay, distract, and weaken the war effort.<\/p>\n

Most crucial of all is the role of the Commander-in-Chief, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. As head of state and supreme commander, he is meant to rally the nation\u2019s energies for total war against the militia and its backers. But doubts linger: does he fight with the full resolve the hour demands, or does he, too, \u201cplay with the egg and the stone,\u201d hedging between opposites\u2014drawing benefits from the sacrifices of the army while leaving room for political maneuver with the rebels\u2019 allies?<\/p>\n

Sudanese remember him across four phases: as chair of the Transitional Military Council after Ibn Auf\u2019s resignation; as partner with the civilian coalition during the transitional council; as head of state after breaking with those same civilians; and now, since April 15, 2023, as wartime leader in a country aflame. Each phase required its own prescriptions. Yet a common thread runs through them all: his tendency toward caution, delay, silence\u2014and at times, the calculated juggling of contradictions.<\/p>\n

But Sudan is no longer in an era where such political games can be tolerated. Millions have been displaced, livelihoods destroyed, civilians subjected to atrocities, cities reduced to rubble. The luxury of \u201cegg and stone\u201d politics is gone. What remains is the stark duty to destroy the rebellion and its foreign sponsors, to reclaim every inch of Sudanese soil, and to restore security by force of arms, not by the cosmetics of \u201cgovernments of hope\u201d or hollow dialogue.<\/p>\n

Victory belongs to the Armed Forces and their allies, to the national project that defends Sudan\u2019s existence.
\nShame and defeat belong to the militia, its patrons, and its project of chaos.<\/p>\n

God is great\u2014and glory to Sudan.
\nGod is great, and may the eyes of cowards never sleep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Maj. Gen. (Rtd.) Osama Mohamed Ahmed Abdel-Salam There is no good in us if we fail to say it plainly: the so-called \u201cegg and stone\u201d paradox is not, and never was, a tactic for war. An egg and a stone are not twins, nor counterparts, nor even vaguely alike. They do not form a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53286"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53288,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53286\/revisions\/53288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}