After 37
years of murderous and destructive rule, it looks like the curtain is finally
coming down on the Mugabe regime. Military coups are seldom welcome, but few of
Zimbabwe’s beleaguered citizenry are unhappy with this dramatic turn of events.
After decades of misery, the prospect of life under “Gucci Grace,” the ghastly
First Lady, provided a frightening future scenario that propelled the military
into a direct and decisive confrontation. Almost universally this man is now
reviled, and few will lament his political demise. But it was not always like
that, and be mindful; he did not get to where he did without international
help, and he could not have ruled for 37 years without the enthusiastic
assistance of a liberal-socialist political and media machine that revered him
no matter what he did.
British
foreign secretary Boris Johnson spoke emotionally about “this beautiful
country” that has suffered a “brutal litany of events” under the despotic rule
of a man who has rigged elections and stands responsible for the “murder and
torture of his opponents.” He said that “all Britain has ever wanted for
Zimbabwe…is for Zimbabweans to be able to decide their own future in free and
fair elections.” Prime Minister Theresa May expressed sincere concern for the
safety of “British nationals” in the benighted country. These pronouncements
resonate with the mood but invite some scrutiny.
Interesting
to note that Her Majesty’s leader of the government is now concerned about
Britons in the wake of a coup, but through the course of almost fifteen years
of civil war, when Rhodesia fought to stave off the odious challenge posed by
Mugabe and his forces, and thousands of “British nationals” faced the gravest
of threats, the British government of the day resolutely backed the other side.
And Boris Johnson’s recollection of history and Britain’s long-term commitment
to “free and fair elections” is also rubbish. The fact is, the Mugabe accession
to power was carefully choreographed through the ’70s by the wily mandarins of
the Foreign Office, culminating in the Lancaster House Conference.
“The fact is, this catastrophe was
allowed to happen largely because the Western world not only allowed it to, but
enthusiastically aided it.”
Ironically,
the only genuinely free election ever held in the country took place under
European rule in April 1979 when a black majority government took power under
the leadership of Bishop Abel Muzorewa, only for Mrs. Thatcher to renege on her
promise to recognize it. “The lady who was not for turning” did a double
somersault when confronted with the wrath of the African despots, who insisted
on Mugabe as the leader of the new Zimbabwe and swiftly moved the goalposts to
Lancaster House. Within those hallowed halls, her Machiavellian foreign
secretary, Lord Peter Carrington, stitched up an agreement that (then former
prime minister) Ian Smith rejected, but he was quickly drummed out of the
negotiations so as not to blow the great con. John Giles, the Rhodesian legal
expert at the conference, also warned against accepting the terms, and he was
soon after found dead under highly suspicious circumstances. Ian Smith was
unequivocal in insisting he was murdered. But Carrington and Thatcher got their
way; Britain took back control of the country under the boozy governorship of
Lord Christopher Soames and a farcical election was held during which Mugabe’s
forces ran a violent intimidation campaign that decisively influenced the
result in their favor. When then Rhodesian military supremo Gen. Peter Walls
cried foul, called for a rerun, and demanded access to Mrs. Thatcher as
previously promised, the door of No. 10 was slammed shut in his face.
A beaming
Prince Charles, resplendent in his naval commander’s uniform, soon arrived to
deliver Rhodesia on a silver platter to a richly undeserving Robert Mugabe, who
thus came to power with the blood of thousands of his countrymen on his hands.
Virtually the entire world, led by the liberal praise-singers of the mainstream
media, with the BBC jubilant at the fore, cheered the dawn of “freedom” and the
demise of “racist, settler rule.”
From then on
Mugabe, hard as he tried, could do no wrong. He quickly set about destroying
“the jewel of Africa” by dragging the country into an encounter with a command
economy where he and his cronies would attempt to control all the levers in the
public and private sectors while following a vaguely Marxist blueprint.
Tax levels
were hiked to being some of the highest in the world, the best civil service in
Africa was smashed, and his stated commitment to a nonracial meritocracy was a
lie from the start. In all sectors, black political hacks, regardless of their
experience or qualifications, were ushered into positions way beyond their
ability. Antiwhite racism was institutionalized throughout the public sector.
Detention without trial was the order of the day, and during his tenure there
has never been anything remotely like a “free and fair election.”
When the
threat of political opposition appeared early in the ’80s in Matabeleland,
Mugabe reacted with a ferocity and brutality that would have cheered Stalin and
Mao. A systematic state-sponsored genocide ensued, and scores of thousands were
killed—more were maimed and tortured. The world looked the other way. Oxfam
refused to speak out. Margaret Thatcher’s Conservatives defended the genocide,
insisting that the Zimbabwean killers were merely addressing “legitimate
security concerns.” As minister for overseas development, Baroness Chalker
remained a loyal friend and was well-disposed to having her photograph taken
holding hands with the man while romping up the steps of the State House.
British aid
continued to flow freely, and Mugabe was frequently entertained by the Queen.
The Conservatives under John Major paid him a parting tribute by rewarding his
atrocious behavior with a knighthood. He returned from the investiture to
Zimbabwe to explain that gays and lesbians should be evicted before referring
to like-minded people as “worse than dogs and pigs…beasts…guilty of subhuman
behavior,” and called for them to be removed from society. The Labour
government of Tony Blair ensured that Zimbabwe’s police and intelligence
services were well supplied with British-made equipment so the terror machine
was kept in good order.
In the late
’90s the Americans, despite Mugabe’s policies, were still cheering him on. Bill
Clinton’s ambassador to Zimbabwe, Tom McDonald, was gushing in his praise of
him and rather astonishingly concluded that the country, thanks to the man’s
tender ministrations, was an “African success story.”
The sad
irony is it was the same whites who had powered the Rhodesian economy through
fifteen years of war and sanctions before independence that were the dynamic
that kept the new regime buoyant despite the official hostility. Vital players
were the farmers. Through their efforts, exports of agricultural product in the
postindependence era increased and the national coffers were kept reasonably
full. The people Mugabe loathed most made the monster look good and played a
significant role in feeding him until he decided to devour them. Four thousand
white farmers (.03% of the total population), their families, and dependents
were “ethnically cleansed” starting in 2000 and the economy collapsed,
triggering the worst hyperinflation in history. This resulted in soft sanctions
and a travel ban on the president and some of his cohorts. Zimbabwe joined a
legion of ravaged African countries with populations reduced to a life of fear
and famine.
The fact is,
this catastrophe was allowed to happen largely because the Western world not
only allowed it to, but enthusiastically aided it. Consumed by an obsession
with political correctness that forbids criticism of tyrants when they are
black, no one had the gumption to stand up and call the man to account; instead
they helped him on his horrible way. If the liberals who ruled and their media
associates had stood by the same principles that they screamed about when it
was time to ride the anticolonial bandwagon and impress all with their contempt
for all things white and allegedly racist, the history of Zimbabwe might have
been a happier one.
Unsurprisingly
Mugabe was relieved to find that no matter how badly he behaved, he could
traverse the world and enjoy the unanimous, virtually unqualified acclaim of a
misguided liberal establishment that believed he was doing a wonderful job. He
took this as a signal to continue as before, so when the tanks arrived outside
his house on Monday night and the generals told him and his wife the game was
up, I empathized a little with poor Robert; he thought he was doing a hell of a
good job.
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