Every man, woman and child first...THE ETHOS OF THE INSURGENCY part 1

I often wonder how the most vulnerable ones in our nation are coping...As soldiers fighting for the liberation of our homeland from this current tyranny the next few weeks and months will be filled by the same single question that has filled our minds for the past few years.... ‘why’.

The things that we will see and many of the things we will have to do will cause this question to be asked over and over again.

This afternoon I was looking at graphic images of the victims of the latest round of atrocities; as I looked I wondered about the people who had done such things...and I asked myself ‘why’.

As much we may want to vilify and objectify our opponents in this struggle, they are men and women who have mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and thoughts and feelings, just like us...people caught up in the human condition just like the people they are beating and burning and scalding and harassing and frightening and abducting and murdering...

They see the suffering and know the hardships that the ordinary people in the country are going through. They know deep down that the people they attack are not guilty of anything or lack the power to hurt anyone....so why???

As soldiers the primary reason for our role is the defence of the nation against all threats foreign and domestic...

We can see that solely as a threat posed by physical form or nefarious plan... however on reflection I have concluded that the greatest enemy we fight is based in the psychology, in the attitude...it is why normal men and women can do such evil things...internal poverty.

The greatest challenge facing our nation in its short history is now before us, for years we have debated the issue...its causes and its effects and always the conventional wisdom is to externalise the problem...yes the external enemy exists but what about the attitudes held within him and within ourselves.

We want a new Zimbabwe yet what new nation will we raise up and upon what foundations...tribalism? racism? sexism? class discrimmination? ageism? All injustice starts in the hearts and minds of individuals first before it ever manifests as external greed or terror.

I understand that many comrades reading this will disagree, they want the name of specific men or the name of specific organisations (and those things will receive much discussion) ...but I will ask them to consider not just who we are fighting against... but what are we truly fighting for ...I would argue that the type of poverty I mean can be moral as well as financial.

It is that attitude, that poverty of intolerance, dishonesty, and ammorality and disregard that now makes it possible for some of us treat the lives of others so cheaply in this day and age.

Where is the respect?

Our ancestors did not raise such people.

Within myself I firmly believe that it is important that when we fight this coming battle we retain high standards... standards of honesty and honour, bravery, courage and commitment; indeed there will be moments and incidents where we may falter in these things but we cannot fail.

We cannot fail because in this fight against this corrupt system...we fight to show our people that their lives are of immense value, that after so much suffering their lives are important.
The most painful aspect of all these years is to think of how much compassion has been lost within Zimbabwe, how much our people have suffered because so much moral poverty has been allowed to continue unchecked within the present system.

So much moral bankcruptcy that people who have mothers and fathers and loved ones...can torture and kill people who have families and thoughts and feelings just like them for no good reason other than that they were acting within a frame work of moral poverty... a mindset and attitude that is the true enemy of our nation state.