Another Day of Life

Another Day of Life, Ryszard Kapuscinski, Penguin Books, 1987

In 1975, as America was dealing with its military defeat in Vietnam, another major war was going on, this time in the African country of Angola. The author, a Polish journalist, was one of the few people to fly into the country, while all the foreigners were desperate to leave by any means possible.

Portugal, the colonial power, gave Angola and all its other colonies the chance for independence, after a change of government back home. There were three well-armed groups in Angola vying for control of the country. The FNLA was backed by the West and Zaire, UNITA was backed by the West and South Africa and the MPLA was backed by Cuba and the Soviet Union.

Life in Luanda, the capital, takes on a bit of a surreal feeling. A few foreigners stay behind, but anyone who can leave is at the seaport (air travel has basically stopped). The city is generally deserted, Light and water become sporadic. One day, it is noticed that the garbage collection has stopped. Wild dogs roam the city.

The author travels to a unit north of Luanda. Commander Ndozi is a veteran guerilla leader, but his recruits are all young people who should be in school. The only way for the recruits to chase away the fear, the belief that the bullet with their name on it is speeding towards them at this moment, is to make a lot of noise with their weapon. It also gets rid of scarce ammunition very quickly.

Checkpoints are everywhere in Angola. The safest thing to do is slowly approach it in your car, get out and walk the rest of the way. At all times, several people are watching, the sort of people who can easily shoot first and ask questions later (if at all). There is no way to know whose checkpoint it is (MPLA, FNLA or UNITA) so saying or doing the wrong thing can lead to a quick death (after you are forced to dig your own grave).

Like any other war zone where reliable information is scarce, this war seems to run on rumors, mostly concerning South African troops, who may, or may not, be ready to invade at any time.

It's been said that it is hard to convey the dirt, blood and confusion of war to anyone who hasn't witnessed it firsthand. The author does an excellent job of doing just that. Forget antiseptic, video game wars; this is what war is all about. This book is short, well done and very much worth the reader's time.