By David Himbara
General Paul Kagame’s November 8, 2019, can be summed in one word – terror. Kagame terrorized various categories of Rwandans, neighbour country, foreign newspapers, foreign countries, members of parliament from overseas – you name it. He categorically termed these his enemies which he will defeat first by his brilliant spying and by any other means needed. That’s it – that was Kagame’s press conference. Listening to Kagame’s brutal press conference, I couldn’t help think of two influential texts, namely, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and the Bible.
The Art of War
I guarantee you that Kagame never read one of the most famous books ever written – Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. Sun Tzu teaches us that the best way of winning is to win before the fighting begins. Sun Tzu repeats this wisdom over and over again as in the following:
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
“Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.”
“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”
“The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.”
“He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.”
“Who wishes to fight must first count the cost.”
“To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”
Kagame’s philosophy, if we can call it that, is the opposite of the Art of War. Here is a man who fights even before determining what he is fighting for. Fighting is his way of life. From 1979 when Kagame joined the Ugandan bush war, through Rwanda’s own, and the DR Congo wars, Kagame is still fighting anything that moves in 2019. Put in another way, Kagame has been fighting nonstop for 40 years. Kagame’s long list of enemies at his November 8, 2019 press conference shows the man is not slowing down.
The Bible
Kagame is not familiar with the often cited words in the Bible: “At this, one of Jesus’ companions drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him. “For all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”
Here is an African iron-fisted ruler determining how he will be dumped into the dustbin of history – by the sword.