Life With Leftovers
The history of The Western Sahara War
The Western Sahara War was a conflict between the Sahrawi indigenous Polisario Front and Morocco from 1975 to 1991. It is a part of a long struggle for independence of Western Sahara, initially from Spain as a Spanish colony since the end of the 19th century to 1975, afterward from Morocco and Mauritania.
Officially, the war was over in 1991, but the territory is still disputed.
Bombs were planted across huge territories in Western Sahara. It hasn’t been safe for a long period to go through these territories, because bombs could go off. Even right now, a large number of unexploded mines remain on the territory, most are along the Moroccan Wall.
It makes me question how it is. Envision the field, which is a ground covered with sand and some little plants. Infinite, flat, yellowish space goes far away beyond your gaze.
But the bombs are hidden in the ground out there. You might not even know it. You can’t see the superficial sign of it. It has already taken the work of many sappers to recognize and eliminate them. They are clearing the minefield. It was a field before the war, but now it is a minefield.
The landscape is full of bombs. It is modern Consequences of War, amongst other things, like in the eponymous painting by Peter Paul Rubens.
People who lived on these territories were forced to abandon their homeland. Many of them immigrated to Algeria. What common for this type of conflict and those that refer to Africa, is that people move to the nearest country, but they do not change the way of life by organizing it anew. They do not create a new order. They are in the middle of something waiting for things to come to the way they previously were. Coming back to normal life before the conflict and bombs. They have been living in camps on a new spot for 40 years. You consider it temporarily, but finally, you do not know how long it is going to take.
There are lots of mines in Tifariti and its surroundings. Many people were injured by landmines. However, many people live out there, which means that they live in danger of explosion.
Because of this invisible weapon, some people were paralyzed. Some people lost their legs. With modern weapons, you not only fight against the enemy, but you can make harm decades ahead.
Strategic people spoilt the land in a long-term perspective by using the invisible fatal plants. It is a way of waging war without effort for one side. There is no enemy army now, but what is happening with the leftovers? Is it really finished; and who is killing people right now?
Most killings occur in times of peace.
We know through history that people attempted to replace the vision or lie to their enemy in order to win the battle. One of the first examples is The Trojan Horse that was used by Greeks to enter the city of Troy and win the war. Famously, it was presented as a gift, but many soldiers were hidden inside of the figure.
But the false that nothing is going on is another thing.
