The death and burial of General John Garang, 7 August 2005

To: Editor@NYTimes.com, Letters@NYTimes.com, Ombudsman@NYTimes.com
Subject: General Garang is buried today, in the Sudan
Sent: Sunday, August 7, 2005 8:50 AM
To the Editor:

Some 10 years ago, writing for a local New York Jewish monthly, I was privileged to interview General John Garang. As Dr. Garang was bivouacked in the Washington, DC, area, I was taken in blindfolds to see him, since security for this visionary strongman of the Southern Sudan Army was necessarily high. Once our station wagon had arrived, the blindfold was removed, and I interviewed the deeply commanding, deeply earnest man for many hours, as the sun set over the capitol city.

Your report ("Former Rebel Leader Buried As Sudanese Pay Tribute," Marc Lacey, 7 August) of the burial of General John Garang, which dismissively referred to him throughout as "Mr." and as merely a 'rebel leader' was both disrespectful of his military rank--he had been a shrewd and staunch fighter on behalf of the proud Christians and animists of Southern Sudan for two decades, and merits his title for the numerous campaigns he led against the genocidal northern Muslim forces who sought (and still continue to seek) to eradicate the nonMuslim segments of this largest African country--and inaccurate. Garang was much more than a 'rebel leader,' and his ascension three short weeks ago to the Vice Presidency of Sudan indicates the respect in which Dr. Garang was held, especially to his supporters and forces, as well as to the reluctant northern blocs that had tried for so long to quell the millions who refused to convert to Islam under horrific pressures or to knuckle under to the second-class dhimmitude in which they had been unwillingly placed.

It is more than likely that the former general, along with his bodyguards and accompanying detail of some dozen individuals, was deliberately downed in their copter by the anti-liberal forces controlled by an unregenerate Khartoum. We shall probably never know. In the meantime, General John Garang should be remembered for the brave soldier, credentialed PhD, and leader he so unquestionably was. Sudan will sorely miss him, as shall all those who, like myself, were singularly privileged to meet him for even a brief time.

Sincerely,

Marion DS Dreyfus
Journalist
The Dorchester
New York, NY 10023