Zimbabwe: US Interference Backlash

http://www.raceandhistory.com/Zimbabwe/2007/0904.html

By *Ayinde*
[log in to unmask]
April 09, 2007

How do people feel knowing that Western powers have been paying people to
criticize the Zimbabwe government?

They should feel duped; especially if they actually believed most of the
anti-Mugabe news that has been pushed by the Western media ever since the
land reclamation exercise that forced some Whites to stop occupying large
tracts of land that were to be distributed to Blacks.

The US did state their intentions in 2002 following an election that saw
Mugabe victorious at the polls. In August 2002, Chris McGreal writing for
the Guardian UK<http://www.guardian.co.uk/zimbabwe/article/0,2763,778557,00.html>stated:


The United States government has said it wants to see President Robert
Mugabe removed from power and that it is working with the Zimbabwean
opposition to bring about a change of administration.

Mr Kansteiner [the then US assistant secretary of state for African affairs]
said the US was working with trade unions, pro-democracy groups and human
rights organisations to bring about change. He did not say how he believed
Mr Mugabe could be brought down...

A senior Zimbabwean foreign affairs official replied:


The legitimacy of our political system or our president is not dependent on
America, Britain or any other country, but on Zimbabweans.

The bullying tactics that America and Britain are using against us are meant
to frustrate our quest for social and economic justice, to stop our
programme to redistribute some of the very large tracts of land held by
whites here to the indigenous black people.

The Guardian UK
article<http://www.guardian.co.uk/zimbabwe/article/0,2763,778557,00.html>continued:


The US attack on Mr Mugabe came after police began arresting white farmers
for defying an August 9 deadline to vacate their land and homes.

The US failed to recognize the results of the elections although African
observers stated that the 2002 elections in Zimbabwe were "free and
fair"<http://www.guardian.co.uk/zimbabwe/article/0,2763,667042,00.html>
:


Apart from the result, the main jolt yesterday was that election observers
from South Africa, Nigeria and Namibia effectively endorsed the election.
"It is our considered view that the election was free and fair and reflects
the wishes of the people of Zimbabwe," Namibia's observer team said in a
statement, adding that the poll was "watertight, without room for rigging".

The South African team described the election as "legitimate" while the
Nigerian observers said they had seen nothing that threatened the integrity
of the poll.

Many do not consider the US elections that saw George Bush become the
president as "free and fair". There were no independent observers to the US
elections but there certainly were observers in the elections in Zimbabwe.

The US has once more confirmed what some of us have been saying all along.
The US is funding opposition activities for regime change in Zimbabwe. The
US is working with unions and opposition groups in Zimbabwe. The evidence
has been there all along. Simply read the latest admission in the US State
Department's reports on
Africa<http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/shrd/2006/80586.htm>
.

Several recent articles could have been buried if it were not for the
vigilance of a few who are sensitive to negative attitudes towards Africa
and African people. The story was first carried by Pravda.ru in an article The
U.S. acknowledges sponsorship of public events in Zimbabwe to undermine the
President <http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/05-04-2007/89158-zimbabwe-0>and
was followed soon after by the Guardian UK's article, US
reveals its efforts to topple Mugabe
regime<http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2051629,00.html>
.

The US "supported workshops to develop youth leadership skills necessary to
confront social injustice through nonviolent strategies." This is important
to understand the wave of "leftist style" protests that are being used
against the Zimbabwe government.

The US government agencies have co-opted the style of protest that is
usually used against them, and trained and funded groups to do the same
towards the government in Zimbabwe. How many believe the US and UK
Governments are supportive of the type of change that the "left" demands?

Unfortunately, there are many social activists who genuinely feel they are
part of a noble cause and are unaware that the wave of protests they are
supporting against the Zimbabwe government are being paid for by the US and
UK Governments.

The US and UK Governments are using the "left" to serve their imperialistic
agenda.

The US and UK have done a disservice to genuine calls for development in
Zimbabwe. Some of the anti-Mugabe reports may be true, but these reports
have all been skewed by the deliberate antigovernment propaganda activities
of the US and UK in collaboration with the opposition forces in Zimbabwe,
especially the MDC.

Sanctions should be lifted and Britain should honour the agreement to fund
the land reform exercise. The West should leave the Southern African states
to help work out the genuine concerns of the people. Failing this, every
anti-Mugabe protest remains skewed by the interferences of western
governments.

Now that the real story is out, check your favorite media to see how many of
them carried that news or linked these articles. I know several websites
that would usually link stories from the *Guardian UK* and *Pravda.ru*, but
somehow they happened to miss these, among other articles, that dispute what
many claim is taking place in Zimbabwe. Many did not pick up these or
similar articles while they continue to carry the stories bashing the
President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe and his government.

It seems that most websites among other media are simply comfortable
spreading the bogus news reports about Zimbabwe that are written by persons
and organizations that are financed by the US and UK Governments.

The simple truth behind the Western concern with Zimbabwe is that Mugabe
took back land from White settlers and returned the land to Africans in
Zimbabwe. He also shifted from the IMF and World Bank policies. White
Western powers, in their anger at being defied, are underhandedly doing
everything at their disposal to crush this movement.

That is the simple story, and as I previously stated:

"Their aim is to ensure that Zimbabwe collapses under President Robert
Mugabe and that this collapse serves as a deterrent to other African leaders
and nations from reclaiming lands that were seized from Africans during
colonial rule."

The US and European governments want African nations to continue to be
trapped by the World Bank and IMF policies that favour the US and other
Western powers and rob African nations. If they had their way, Africa would
remain a cheap source of raw materials and a recipient of their
paternalistic, false-sense-of-self-serving charities.

Most of the news reports that are against the Zimbabwe government following
the beginning of the land reclamation exercise are just to cover up these
simple facts.

This does not mean that the government in Zimbabwe is perfect. As should be
expected, the Zimbabwe government is struggling with colonial issues without
compensation from the colonizers, as are many African governments. Most
African countries have not successfully addressed the theft of their land,
as well as other natural resources during colonialism. There is a direct
link between these unaddressed issues and poverty.

It is easy for any government that believes it is being unfairly attacked to
become repressive, and in the case of Zimbabwe, there is sufficient proof
that the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is aligned and funded by
imperial powers. There is sufficient evidence that the US and Britain have
targeted Zimbabwe for regime change.

Many have witnessed how the corrupt and brutal White governments got away
with their crimes and have adopted similar backward conduct.

I know the struggles of African governments and the unaddressed issues that
few dare tackle. I also know the attitudes of many towards Africa and
Africans in general. The West has long portrayed Black African governments
as corrupt while the impression remains that White, Western governments,
even in Africa, are somehow graced with greater virtues. So it is easy for
people to believe that problems in Africa are as a result of corruption and
mismanagement and not the history of slavery, colonialism and land theft on
the continent. Of course, corruption and mismanagement contribute to poor
governance but the underlying unaddressed racial and land issues are at the
heart of the poverty and dependency in many post-colonial countries,
including Africa.

So-called successful African countries are so judged by the wealth of Whites
and the ease at which they extract wealth from the countries in Africa. For
the most part, the indigenous African population remains poor and part of
the underclass in their own countries.

There are corrupt governments all over the world that are financed and
endorsed by the US and UK, so their claims of being against corruption and
trying to assist in developing democracy in Zimbabwe are just lies that any
honest person can see through.

To them Africans must never try to remove the noose of White Supremacy from
around them.

African nations must develop better governments, but this must not be done
at the behest of imperialistic powers that want institutions in Africa to
primarily serve their economic interest.

Where are the most murderous regimes on earth? Which governments continually
lie to the people in order to wage war?

The answer is not Zimbabwe, but the US and Britain. They have left a long
murderous history of their example of good governance.

*Email: [log in to unmask]*

*Visit: Zimbabwe Watch <http://www.raceandhistory.com/Zimbabwe/>*

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