Tuesday, July 1, 2008

US Diplomacy In Zimbabwe An Absolute Sham





From Obi Egbuna in WASHINGTON DC

BECAUSE of the negative and antagonistic slant of Western propaganda
aimed at Zimbabwe since the beginning of the 21st century, diplomatic
activities of these countries' representatives on the ground must be
monitored
carefully.

This is the most dependable method to determine if these embassies are
truly committed to good will and friendship or are functioning like
extensions of their country's military and intelligence agencies.

When President Mugabe threatened to expel the current US Ambassador to
Zimbabwe James D. McGee recently, and condemned US Assistant Secretary
for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer for her pro-MDC analysis of
political developments in Zimbabwe, he sent Zanu-PF and the
Government's strongest statement to the Bush Administration since the
elections on March 29.

When Western countries whose history is stained and polluted due to
their direct involvement in Colonialism and Slavery, we as Africans
can make a strong argument that they are incapable of practicing
diplomacy anywhere in Africa, since racism and white supremacy
prevents them in the final analysis from acknowledging we belong
to
the human race.

While Western journalists have attempted to dismiss President Mugabe's
remarks that focused on US diplomatic activity in Zimbabwe as a side
bar, the African community in the US and worldwide had better pay
extremely close attention especially to the cultural and political
ramifications.

It would be criminal to ignore the conventional wisdom of President
Mugabe in connection with this urgent matter, especially since both
Ambassador McGee and Frazer are African, but because of their job
titles and political orientation will remain patriotic to the Bush
administration.

While the US government will never openly admit that appointing an
African to serve as Ambassador to Zimbabwe was both deliberate and
strategic, the actions of Ambassador McGee since assuming his post
leave absolutely no doubt whatsoever. When Zimbabwe celebrated its
28th anniversary of independence on April 18,
Ambassador McGee made
the following statement: "What should be a proud and joyful day is
overshadowed by uncertainty and fear."

This poor choice of words used by a so-called diplomat should not be
casually dismissed. Ambassador McGee is a graduate of the Defense
Language Institute which is an educational and research institution,
that provides cultural and linguistic instruction to the US Department
of Defense.

Since Zimbabwe's colonial language is English, Ambassador McGee has
the task of trying to discredit President Mugabe and Zanu-PF using
words the majority of the nation can comprehend.

McGee's consistent references to violence in Zimbabwe have also led to
the US State Department updating an emergency travel alert instructing
US citizens to defer non essential travel to Zimbabwe due ''to ongoing
political instability stemming from the elections in March.''

McGee recently
claimed the US government has confirmed 700 incidents
of violence where people were beaten in their homes and 200 have been
hospitalised, McGee also stated Zanu-PF have started a campaign of
violence to block vote for change. The words and movement of McGee in
Zimbabwe must be watched extremely carefully, not only because of his
cultural makeup but his military background as well. McGee earned
three distinguished flying crosses while serving in the United States
Air Force between 1968-1974 during the Vietnam War.

While the courageous voices of the 1960's generation like Dr Martin
Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali and Kwame True to name a few,
stated Africans in the US had no business fighting in Vietnam since
French colonialism made them our natural allies, the McGee decided to
prove his loyalty to his slave master by bombing innocent people into
submission.

It appears that the Bush
administration has decided to approach
Zimbabwe in the same manner that President Lyndon Johnson approached
Vietnam, the US committed genocide and repression against the
Vietnamese to secure the interests of their kith and kin in France, in
the same manner Bush wants to starve and isolate the people of
Zimbabwe to show his loyalty to Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the
British colonial empire.

The US government's militaristic approach to diplomacy in Zimbabwe
will continue to intensify, because of the training of the individuals
who have the responsibility of formulating policy, when Frazer served
as the Senior Director for African Affairs and Special Assistant to
Bush on the US National Security Council she was also the political/
military planner.

Frazer's doctoral dissertation examined the relationship between
Kenya's military and civilians, this tells us, in relationship to
Zimbabwe, the
Bush Administration will stop at nothing until their
civilian neo-colonialist outfit MDC presides over the country.

The fact that McGee replaced Christopher Dell in Zimbabwe must also be
an issue of great concern, during his three years as US Ambassador to
Zimbabwe Dell took renegade diplomacy to new heights. Dell's meetings
with MDC leaders showed he had no regard for diplomatic protocol and
went on to predict the downfall of President Mugabe and Zanu-PF in six
months when his post ended in June 2007, leaving for Afghanistan.

The tactic of using an African to do its bidding in the diplomatic
arena is nothing new for US imperialism, when Osagyefo Dr. Kwame
Nkrumah was overthrown in Ghana on February 24, 1966 by the CIA, a
diplomat by the name Franklin Williams was the US Ambassador to Ghana,
who ironically was Nkrumah's classmate at Lincoln University. When
commenting on the overthrow of his old
classmate, Williams denied
having prior knowledge of details in relationship to US and British
plans to oust Nkrumah.

The response by Nkrumah was equally as bold and clear as President
Mugabe's response to McGee's recent activity, Nkrumah said "treachery
provided a sharp reminder of the insidious ways in which the enemies
of Africa can operate".

As long as the Zimbabwean and US governments have normalised relations
the latest actions of Ambassador McGee serve as a threat to the
diplomatic process, when a comparative analysis is done of Zimbabwe's
embassy in the US to the US embassy in Zimbabwe, it is like comparing
day and night.

The Zimbabwean Ambassador to the US Dr Machivenyika Mapuranga and his
staff have done absolutely nothing to openly antagonise the Bush
administration, let alone predicted an overthrow of the Government
like his US counterpart did in Zimbabwe. The world has seen in
the
case of Cuba when US imperialism wants to force a regime change, they
will not hesitate to use military driven approaches to diplomacy,
while on paper the US Interests Section in Cuba claims their mission
is to promote a peaceful transition to a democratic system based on
respect for rule of law, individual rights and open economic and
communication systems, how does failure to acknowledge a country's
right to plot its own course do anything for diplomatic relations?

McGee's language and gestures led some of us to believe he is
suffering from an identity crisis, he occasionally will slip into the
mode of a military soldier representing a country that Dr King
referred to 40 years ago as the greatest purveyor of violence in the
world. It is obvious McGee wants to continue the legacy of the Buffalo
Soldiers in his capacity as a diplomat in Zimbabwe.

Buffalo Soldiers were an all African regiment
created by the US
military in 1866 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. They were brainwashed
into believing that helping their white counterparts kill our native
American sisters and brothers, would help them gain favour in the
white world for years to come. They also participated in the Spanish
American War, The Philippine Insurrection, the Mexican Expedition,
World Wars I and II and the Korean Police Action.

When McGee looks at the face of a freedom fighter like Cde Mugabe, it
probably reminds him of the Vietnamese Revolutionary leader the late
Ho Chi Minh, and since he was convinced it was his patriotic duty to
slaughter those people then his actions in Zimbabwe come as no
surprise.

l Obi Egbuna is a member of the Pan African Liberation Organisation
and Zimbabwe-Cuba Friendship Association.




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