Beating up Aged Parents and Small Children

I awoke this morning finding myself having to comment upon the kidnapping of the parents of an exiled MDC official and a much publicised attack on a small child.

The lines....the Zanu PF mob stormed their Nyakatondo village around 8pm and tied up their 79-year old father and 76-year old mother using wire. Several other family members were frog-marched to a torture camp at Nyakatondo Primary School... in particular making me wonder what makes us seem to forget common decency, it also made me wonder if people think about where their actions are leading to?


It comes as no surprise that the run-off in Zimbabwe’s presidential election due this month was put off yesterday until as late as July-August, the announcement of the delay prompting the opposition to accuse the OPFOR of trying to buy time for a crackdown.

To anyone seriously studying the events over the past decade; the goings on centred around the flawed election process of 29/03/08 should come as no surprise.

The real surprise however, is why the opposition to the OPFOR continue to stubbornly hold onto a myopic philosophy that insists that the OPFOR regime will level the playing field and hand over power without a serious fight.
All the evidence over the past 10 years shows them clinging desperately onto power...They have said over and over and over that they have no intention of ceding and in the present case of the 'run-off', they are again using torture, intimidation and murder as a means of highlighting their level of resolve.

Many people within the opposition say that they are following a moral and principled path. A 'legal', 'constitutional' and 'democratic' route towards change in order to avoid wide spread chaos and violence. A route which sets them above the violence prone OPFOR regime.

the ZIMBABWE insurgency response to that point is that, that is all well and good if you are trying to win a popularity contest, or a beauty competition; however power struggles are not based upon anything but harsh realism.

The OPFOR regime announcement on 12/05/08 that there will be no 'run-off' until the economic sanctions that skew the electoral playing field away from their party and in the oppositions favour are lifted; is a statement that sums up the nature of the polemic and speaks to the nature of the fact that the 'violence' many speak against is not just a physical phenomenon.

When the OPFOR regime talk of sanctions and opposition they also mean of course the larger powers they accuse of seeking regime change in Zimbabwe...

Statements of funding support and the oft repeated statement by Chester Crocker, the former Secretary of State for African Affairs in the Reagan administration, who in a foreign policy testimony to the US Senate in 2001, said "to separate the Zimbabwean people from Zanu-PF we are going to have to make their economy scream, and I hope you senators have the stomach for what you have to do"... feed ammunition into the OPFOR propaganda weapon.

Looking at the various images the economic hardships, the state sponsored terrorism, it struck me (along with the news regarding the murder of the teachers), that power struggles cannot be hidden and Zimbabwe is no exception. One side is using economic violence and propaganda without physical force. While the other side is using economic violence along with propaganda and physical force.

The OPFOR regime claims to be defending itself and Zimbabwe's national soveriegnty, against internal enemy forces, that are sponsored by external foreign handlers.
As part of its 'defence' policy it has set about carrying out a purge, separating 'loyalist' Zimbabweans from what it percieves to be 'traitors' and 'sell-outs'...

(Please study this article to gain an insight into the OPFOR psychology)

http://allafrica.com/stories/200805120667.html

It is important to separate the methods used from the mentality of the people using those methods. A savage act can be spawned within an insecure mind that hates criticism; just as easily as such ideas can come from a homicidal type of mind that is sociopathic for any number of unaddressed reasons. It is important to know the root from where such things spring from.

The OPFOR claims justification in its acts of madness; the true Zimbabwe resistance needs to understand their method.

A method used for many years that wilfully dismisses ALL ideas of respect and manners and tradition.

In short they are operating at a level of psychology and culture, that must be fully understood by we who oppose them.

One of the gravest errors continuously made by the Zimbabwean opponents of the OPFOR regime and their outside supporters is that of no effective strategy.

(For the purpose of a clear analysis it is important that we separate Zimbabweans opposed to the OPFOR regime from foreign interests, it is Zimbabweans suffering on the frontline so ALL methods used must cater to their welfare.)

After years of falling into obvious and predictable traps, years of having no effective operating procedure, years of denying that any real power struggle exists. The opponents of the OPFOR still believe and see only the hope that they want to believe in, rather than appraising the actual reality on the ground and forming real plans.

The consequence is best summed up by a saying that goes... how can you play to win if you dont want to recognise the true nature of the game?

It is not a sign of morality or strength to constantly lead opposition supporters into costly situations against an organised and well lead OPFOR meat grinder...That is in fact a sign of structural and planning weakness and mendacity on the part of the 'colour revolution' planners.

Reports from South Africa of Zimbabweans being attacked and mistreated are nothing new; for a month AFTER the flawed election some opposition leaders have claimed to be on a diplomatic mission to support a peaceful regime transition (The mis-timed statements regarding the international criminal court notwithstanding).
The question here being how much of that time was spent delving into the concerns of ordinary people? Why would reports come from Zimbabwe stating that opposition supporters were looking for direction and leadership if it was present?

With leaders blinded by a hunger for power, and all too many ordinary members locked in states of denial, over confidence, blind faith, false hope, or desperate groundless optimism; the opposition is left with far too many minds that are closed and far too many ears that are plugged to any commonsense, by the constant drone of their own ..."the end is near, the regime is beaten, the international community is watching", empty rhetoric.

Had their analysts been less clouded from constantly seeking and offering endless excuses and defensive answers for obvious failures, things would not be where they are today.

One can say that their most dangerous failing however, is thinking that they are dealing with a civilian administration that will negotiate with them; rather than with a military authority that thinks nothing of killing them.

These are issues that have been spoken of in the past and will be touched upon at greater length in future posts.

The main point remains that by brutilizing old people and children the OPFOR regime forgets that all worldly power is held only for fleeting moments in time...that all worldly power fades away eventually.

In any struggle the advantage is with those seeking revolution for the simple reason that all change is inevitable.

Reading that old people have been taken to a torture camp; shows that its time for some people to pause and consider what they are really doing. When this is all over, many will say they were just following orders or too afraid to opt out...

The important thing to never forget, is that which ever side you claim to fight on, we come from a culture of respect, where respect should always be offered to our old people just as care should always be given to our young people in Zimbabwe.

The disrespect shown within these series of events is a clear sign that as much as Zimbabwe may be surrounded by enemies; the greatest enemies of our nation are those power hungry individuals among us, who dont see the need to respect their past through the respect for our old people and dont care for our future via their brutalization of our youth.