A few days ago, the Sudanese generals at a joint press conference with an alliance of protest leaders announced that they had reached an agreement for a three-year transition to a democratic, civilian administration. The details of the agreement were not elaborated but they included an opposition-majority parliament. Reports today that the agreement collapsed speak to the political savvy of Sudanese protesters who openly discuss the lessons they have drawn from the Arab Spring uprisings, especially how the Egyptian military out-maneuvered the Egyptian Arab Spring.
A three-year transition period to civilian rule is a temporizing maneuver which would allow the military to end the protests encamped outside its headquarters in Khartoum, restabilize military control, & eventually crack down on dissidents in the same violent way as the military in Egypt under General Sisi.
The US does not have a hands-off policy toward military rule in Sudan whether or not they make public announcements of what that US policy is. As in every other Arab Spring uprising, the US is on the side of the dictators because it is implacably opposed to popular movements for democracy everywhere, no exceptions.
(Photo of Sudanese protesters by Ashraf Shazly/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)