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Is Zimbabwe checkmating a neo-Jonas Savimbi and Unita?
Lloyd Whitefield Butler
August 08, 2008

http://www.talkzimbabwe.com/news/117/ARTICLE/3131/2008-08-08.html

"Security is the priceless product of freedom. Only the strong can be secure, and only in freedom can men produce those material resources which can secure them from want at home and against aggression from abroad. - B. E. Hutchinson, 1930s industry leader.

The opposition to the duly elected Zimbabwe government takes pride in their U.S. and EU strategic support. But according to the Honorable Nelson Mandela and President Thabo Mbeki their support is equivalent to inviting guests with questionable morals into the home; as evidenced in Iraq, Afghanistan, Granada, Panama, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Somalia, Zaire, DR Congo, Haiti, Rwanda, and Vietnam.

The Opposition MDC-T should ask the US and EU; where are the success stories for the African countries they colonized in the past 400 years? What African nations, the US and EU supported, over the past 50 years sits as a beacon of success, prosperity, and civility?

What are the social and economic conditions of the US-EU governed 100-plus million former captive and enslaved "landless" African populations in North, Central, and South America?

The top commanding principles of MDC-T have made their positions known world-wide that if the 51% plus results favor Zanu PF; MDC-T will declare war or file a lawsuit at the International Criminal Court or the International Court of Justice.

Both courts are owned and operated by former colonizers. Courts that refuse to consider or indict America and Europe for the European-American Atlantic Slave Trading with Africans as commodities and or Human cargo. A ten-trillion dollar trade if we include theft of treasures, crown jewels, refined minerals, and intellectual property from colonized African kingdoms, queendoms, or countries.

As a reminder it was MDC-T-s July 1, 2002 federal court ruling that led to asset freezes in the United States against the government of Zimbabwe. A federal magistrate in New York recommended a $73 million civil penalty against Zanu PF.

By March 2003 President George Bush-s executive order sanctioned the government and people of Zimbabwe: "by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code" no one in the US can conduct business with the Zimbabwe government; thanks to yours truly Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC-T.

The Western Arrogance of Power

Old Testament Prophet Obadiah-s advice to We-stern, pardon me, Western civilization: "The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the grown?"

"Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them." - Proverbs 22:22-23. "He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich--both come to poverty." - Proverbs 22:16. - "The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall." - Proverbs 18:11.

South Africa-s President Thabo Mbeki said; "The prospect facing the people of Iraq should serve as sufficient warning that in future we too might have others descend on us, guns in hand to force-feed us (with democracy)" . . . "If the United Nations does not matter...why should we, the little countries of Africa...think that we matter and will not be punished if we get out of line?" Mbeki said in remarks prepared for a conference on elections, democracy, and governance.

"Great Britain does not limit the period during which a person may hold the position of Prime Minister, to say nothing about the hereditary position of Head of State," he said.

"I have never heard of international observers visiting the United Kingdom verifying whether any British election was free and fair," Mbeki said.

The Honorable Nelson Mandela, Nobel Peace Prize winner, warned America and Britain about illegal aggression against Iraq and told the International Women's Forum (2003): "Why does the United States behave so arrogantly?" Mr Mandela asked. "Their friend Israel has got weapons of mass destruction but because it's their ally they won't ask the United Nations to get rid of them . . . They just want the oil...We must expose this as much as possible."

"One power with a president who has no foresight and cannot think properly, is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust," . . . "Why is the United States behaving so arrogantly?"

Concerning US & UK disrespect for U.N. Security Council-s advice and Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is from Ghana, Mandela declared: "Is it because the secretary-general of the United Nations is now a black man? They never did that when secretary-generals were white,"

Concerning United States pass atrocities in Nippon, Mandela said the United States, which dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, has no moral authority to police the world.

"If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don-t care for human beings," he said.

"Who are they now to pretend that they are the policemen of the world, the ones that should decide for the people of Iraq what should be done with their government and their leadership?" he said.

Dealing with Jonas Savimbi-s Hell on Earth - a history lesson

The purpose of the quoted excerpts below taken from The United States Institute of Peace Special Report 10/12/99: "Angola-s Deadly War - Dealing with Savimbi-s Hell on Earth."
Should act as a historical reminder that war talk leads to war and that pre-emptive war avoidance mechanisms must be enforced to secure the peace.

'Despite a $1.5 billion peacekeeping operation and the tremendous potential a peace-time economy could unlock, Angola has descended back into Africa's most deadly war for the fourth time in the last four decades. The rebel UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi has decided for the second time this decade that war is a better option than peace, choosing to plunge the country back into war in 1992 after losing national elections and in 1998 after abandoning—after four years of uneasy peace—an internationally brokered peace plan to which he had agreed. Savimbi again has decided that if he himself cannot govern the country, he will continue to endeavor to make the country ungovernable.-

'Better armed than ever, the Angolan government and UNITA rebels engage in scorched-earth offensives, destructive sieges, and other tactics that primarily rebound on civilians. More vulnerable than ever, Angola's civilian population continues to pay an increasingly heavy price.-

'After Savimbi and UNITA walked away from two peace agreements this decade, should he continue to be viewed as a credible negotiating partner? Or should the war option be played out in full, with the military defeat of UNITA—as elusive as that goal surely is— becoming the sole path to future stability? Or is there a middle option, perhaps hard to envisage now, in which other elements of UNITA beneath Savimbi are engaged diplomatically in order to lay the foundation for a future peace agreement beyond Savimbi's capacity to destroy?-

'Over the last decade, UNITA has sold over $4 billion worth of diamonds, despite United Nations (UN) Security Council sanctions. This wealth has helped purchase one of the most highly militarized countries on earth, peppered with 10 million landmines and up to 100,000 amputees. Angola stands alone at the top of UNICEFs Child Risk Measure, which examines the risk of death, malnutrition, abuse, and development failure for children worldwide.-

'The fuel for UNITA's resupply efforts during this decade has been diamonds, replacing the aid UNITA received from the United States and apartheid South Africa during the Cold War.-

'Given current projections, Angola will produce 2.5 million barrels of oil per day by 2015, more than Kuwait's current daily production. American refineries are the only ones outfitted for Angolan crude. Angola clearly must be treated as a country in which the United States has direct national security interests, both for the future energy security of the United States and for the American jobs related to contracting for and supplying the infrastructure necessary to exploit the oil.-

'Over the last five years, UNITA was able to rearm and resupply—during implementation of the 1994 Lusaka Protocol peace agreement and despite international sanctions— because of a robust network of sanctions busters.-

Renewed Warfare Erupts

'With the breakdown of the Lusaka Protocol peace agreement, full-scale war between UNITA and the government resumed in late 1998, following a number of attacks throughout the year by UNITA on government positions. The Lusaka Protocol, signed by the government and UNITA in 1994, included: (1) a cease-fire (2) demobilization and disarmament of UNITA forces (3) the integration of UNITA senior military officers into the government army, and (4) the extension of government administration into all UNITA territory.-

'UNITA seeks to hold its positions, continue to increase pressure on key government-controlled towns, conduct hit-and-run attacks on vulnerable targets, make some advances in the context of a counteroffensive, make some areas ungovernable, and eventually create what it hopes will be a "victory by social explosion"- thus forcing the government back to the negotiating table or to collapse under its own weight.-

'To do this, UNITA will likely increase pressure on infrastructure targets, such as water and electricity, and hit where the government is vulnerable. It also continues to attack small towns and villages throughout the country, resulting in countless civilian casualties and continuing displacement. Some argue that a fallback goal of UNITA is to divide the country in a way in which UNITA could control a major port and many of the key diamond-producing areas. Whatever the goal, Savimbi perceives war as his best option for now, buying him time as he fights for the day if/when his military and political fortunes might improve.-

'Nevertheless, there seem to be an inexhaustible supply of young cadres recruited by Savimbi and fiercely loyal to him long enough to cultivate the next batch of recruits. Savimbi retains the loyalty of his army in part because of his method of recruiting young people: totally saturating them for years with pro-UNITA and antigovernment propaganda, aiming to win their hearts and minds at an early age, and terrorizing those who don't comply.-

'Corruption on both sides continues to be a massive obstacle to peace and development in Angola. Power has increasingly been concentrated in the Angolan presidency (Futungo), and UNITA authority remains concentrated in the hands of Savimbi.-

'UNITA has pursued a policy of pushing civilian populations into government-held cities in order to stress the government's capacity to control these areas and demonstrate that the government is unable to protect civilians. Then UNITA shells them incessantly and indiscriminately. Most of the civilians moved into government areas are children and the elderly, whereas those of productive ages are press-ganged into military service or kept to work the fields.-

Savimbi-s UNITA dissatisfied with elections

'What to do with Savimbi is as much as anything the cause of the return to war in Angola.-

'Dissatisfied with election results in 1992, and again unhappy with the end state called for in the Lusaka Protocol, Savimbi has exercised his veto with extreme prejudice. He has twice gone back to war and halted tentative transitions. The international community should search for ways to bring pressure to bear on Savimbi to remove himself from active UNITA leadership. Misplaced advocacy for direct talks with him or offers to mediate between him and the government provide a forum to Savimbi that will only fuel his further machinations.-

'Angolan civil society has shown an increased resolve in its advocacy for peace. Led initially by the Protestant Church, a diverse group of civil society leaders—mixing all sorts of points of view—produced a Manifesto for Peace, advocating for renewed negotiations and arguing for a role for civil society in the peace process. The Catholic bishops also have contributed to the push for peace with a pastoral letter calling on the government to negotiate."

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