Posted on 08/05/2002 4:17:25 AM PDT by Clive
IN May 2000, one month before the parliamentary election, I stood in the little trading store of our Marondera farm.
All the men and women who worked for me were sitting down in the long grass in the field below the house.
They had been ordered to attend the Zanu PF rally being held there.
They were cold, hungry, tired and fed up with the demands being made by the men who had invaded our farm and called themselves war veterans.
Every weekend for months on end the rallies went on, but the workers were too scared not to attend.
If they refused to go they had stones pelted on their roofs at night, the vegetables in their gardens were trampled and the maize cobs lying drying on sheets of tin were stolen.
The workers on my farm said I should just keep quiet because this was “only politics”.
I often stood alone in my trading store serving customers and the talk was always about the situation in Zimbabwe.
Bus and taxi drivers, teachers and passers-by would all shake their heads in disgust and shame at what was happening on our farm.
One day a black pastor said to me: “But when are you farmers going to do something to stop this?”
I laughed sadly and shook my head – what was I supposed to do?
The leaders in the Commercial Farmers’ Union who supposedly represented my interests, told me to do nothing, to say nothing and not to make waves, because this was “only politics”.
One day a black lawyer driving past our farm from Harare stopped when he saw at least 300 people gathered in our field.
There were Zanu PF posters tied onto the trees, our fences had been cut, war veterans had dug pit latrines in our fields and a calf, tied to a tree, bellowed in agony as it waited to be slaughtered by the men who called themselves the commanders of our farm.
The lawyer said: “My God, is this a land invasion? This is outrageous. What are you going to do? Have you phoned the police?” I laughed sadly and shook my head – what was I supposed to do?
The police had told me they could do nothing, they told me to keep quiet, to say nothing and do nothing and not to make waves because this was “only politics”.
By the end of September 2000 when the war veterans squatting on our Marondera farm had made our lives unbearable, crippled us financially and emotionally and claimed every field on the farm, my family and I left.
We leased the property out to another couple and for a while everything went quiet. The squatters left, the war veterans drifted away and some sort of normalcy returned.
In February 2002, weeks before the presidential election, the government men came back. They set up a torture camp in the fields below the house.
They dragged young boys and girls there at night, stripped them naked and beat them with sticks, accusing them of supporting the opposition.
They ordered the tenants out of the main farmhouse and off the property. They evicted all the workers from the staff village.
They took over the trading store and turned it into a beerhall.
I was visited by a professional black woman from Harare who said to me: “This is unbelievable. What are you going to do? Have you been to see the government?”
I laughed sadly and shook my head because the government officials had told me there was nothing they could do because this was “only politics”.
For 29 months this has been going on and still we are alone.
So many people have lost everything they worked all their lives for.
Farm workers are now destitute peasants. Their children are raggedy and dirty and don’t go to school anymore.
Farmers are living in rented houses in Harare.
Many hundreds of companies have closed down and many thousands of people are unemployed.
Six million people are starving and still we do nothing.
Still, as a nation, we do nothing. Black, white and brown people do nothing. Regardless of the colour of our skin, we are all Africans and yet we do nothing. We all wait for someone else to do something.
For 29 months we have been waiting for someone else to do something.
Don’t Zimbabweans realise yet that no one can help us until we help ourselves and that politics doesn’t put food in our bellies?
--Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965),_The Gathering Storm,_bk.I ch.19 p.348 (Houghton Mifflin, 1948)
NOTE TO GWB:
Mister President, where is your voice on this issue? I understand that you are very busy with the War on Terorism, but this problem pre-dates the 9/11 attacks by a year and a half. You've had plenty of time to get "up to speed" on this, and if even those of us sitting up here in the cheap seats looking at the field through binoculars can see it, don't tell me nobody's even mentioned it you you.
I hate to accuse you of politics, but that is, after all, the calling you have chosen. And I understand the "give and take" nature of politics as well. Nevertheless, I call upon you to stop ignoring this situation and show some leadership in the matter of the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Because from way up here in the cheap seats, where you get the long view of the field, I just get this creepy feeling that your silence and lack of action on this issue is due to the fear of the left-wing extremists of the Congressional Black Caucus, many of whom support Mugabe and his particular brand of insanity, and who would instantly condemn you for "interfering in the internal politics of Zimbabwe".
Say it ain't so, Mister President. And get out in front and lead, this is an ongoing tragedy. Mugabe's record is clear; it is time to announce your support for a regime change in Zimbabwe. Who knows, you might actually make a difference.
Respectfully yours
With all respect, who died and made GWB God? He isn't the President of Zimbabwe, and the Zims need to take control of their own destiny. Afterall, the US military can't be expected to take care of every tinpot dictator, there's just too many of them and their own people need to do something.
Any white or coloured who remains in Rhodesia today is either an accredited diplomat or a person as deluded and naiive as the Jews who thought they could ride out Hitler. What I would support at this point is US air and logistical support for a British seizure of the major airports, insertion of the SAS and paras, and a complete evacuation of all whites (and coloureds who want to go) with a scorched earth policy destroying all white owned property left behind. Let Mugabe and his people stew in their own juices. Not one cent, not one morsel of food until the thugs are gone and the locals invite the whites back with full compensation.
I suppose a good tongue in cheek response to this question would be that the Soviet Empire died, making the leader of the sole superpower on the planet. While this is technically not the same thing as being God, it's pretty damn close.
He isn't the President of Zimbabwe, and the Zims need to take control of their own destiny.
No, that would be Robert Mugabe, and technically, you might say the "Zims" have done that. The "opposition" in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe is about as effective as the opposition in Iraq right now, and ZANU is running roughshod over them.
Afterall, the US military can't be expected to take care of every tinpot dictator, there's just too many of them and their own people need to do something.
Oh, I agree with you to some degree on this. But I'm not suggesting we go it alone. Another poster made some very good suggestions on how the British might play into this.
The point that I am making is that the opposition in Zimbabwe stands no chance of liberating their country without outside support. And GWB is, although not God, the leader of the Free World. I can't think of anybody more appropriate to play a leadership role in addressing that fact. And from what I've seen about GWB, putting the whack on "tin-pot dictators" seems to be something he shows a natural talent for.
Well, I can't argue against that point. However, every now and then I think it's a good idea if America does something just because it's the right thing to do. Besides, stability in the African subcontinent is very much in our national interest. If what you are saying is "we shouldn't bite off more than we can chew", I would agree. However, I just think the Mugabe regime is quite "chewable", and, with some support to bolster the opposition, he's as ready to fall as an apple in October.
Another AWFOF.
We either have monumental divergence in the definition of "national interest", or you are pulling banalities out of yout butt.
Would you care to elaborate with historical or even academic (i.e. useless) justification for that statement?
My family has been sending representatives to "do the right thing" going back to 1775, including me from 1966 to 1970. I understand that our "plate is full" right now, and I understand your reluctance to get involved in this issue. We just disagree about whether or not it is a just cause worthy of our attention.
The innocents are already desperate, and there's nobody helping them. As is the case under most despotic regimes, there is no such thing as a "loyal opposition". In order to "save themselves" they need the same kind of help that he Kurds need to take on Iraq, or the Northern Alliance needed to topple the Taliban, or the Phillipines need to go after Abu Sayeff . They need assistance, weapons, training and logistical support. Without that, a successful uprising is doomed from the start.
Got me on that one, I'm afraid. I don't speak in tongues.
We either have monumental divergence in the definition of "national interest", or you are pulling banalities out of yout butt.
Take your pick. Maybe you would be more comfortable with the statement "Stability in Africa is NOT in our national interest"?
Would you care to elaborate with historical or even academic (i.e. useless) justification for that statement?
I wouldn't waste any more time than I already have responding to your sarcastic post. There's room for civil disagreement here without resorting to insults, unless of course, that's just your personal style.
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