Opinion / National
Fight sanctions or withhold commentary
30 Mar 2018 at 08:35hrs | Views
A few weeks have come and gone since President Mnangagwa had an op-ed published in the New York Times entitled "We Are Bringing About The New Zimbabwe".
Exactly 11 days after this op-ed was published on March 22, 2018, two members of the US Foreign Relations Committee Senator Jeff Flake a Republican representing the State of Arizona and Chris Coons a Democrat representing the state of Delaware, introduced a bill that based on their exact wording will lay the framework for US relations with the new government in Zimbabwe.
The primary objective was to up the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 and highlights the measures and steps that President Mnangagwa have to take in order for US-EU sanctions on Zimbabwe to be lifted once and for all.
Senator Flake was quoted as saying "President Mnangagwa has signalled his intent to bring about change in Zimbabwe. His words need to be followed up by concrete actions".
The blunt yet empty rhetoric with of course a ultra-conservative leaning by a flaming Republican, was followed by Senator Coons who was a tad bit more verbose than his counterpart when stating
"After 37 years of suffering under the repressive rule of Robert Mugabe, the people of Zimbabwe should be excited about the possibility of a brighter future.
To ensure conditions throughout the country improve, the international community should insist on concrete actions from the new government of Zimbabwe before lifting sanctions and renewing investment in the country. This bill is intended to outline the US Senate's expectations of the steps President Mnangagwa and others should take".
This latest initiation of US-EU Sanctions is 9 pages long on a PDF file and includes the following sections: Section 1 Short Title whose sole purpose is to indicate that this act is officially recognised as the "Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Amendment Act of 2018"
Section 2 Reconstruction and Rebuilding of Zimbabwe, Section 3 Findings, Section 4 Removal of Provisions Related To Multilateral Debt Relief And Other Financial Resistance, Section 5 Withholding Of Funding For African Development Fund, Section 6 Additional Certifications For Requirements, Section 7 Removal Of Authority To Pay Land Acquistion Costs, Section 8 Inclusion of Australia In Consultations About Zimbabwe, Section 9 Sense of Congress On Past Atrocities and Human Rights Abuses, Section 10 Sense of Congress On Enforcement Of Sadc Tribunal Rulings, Section 11 Sense of Congress on Steps That Might Increase Possibility of Increased Ties.
In the past we have exposed the background of Senator Flake in particular his Mormon Missions in Zimbabwe and South Africa where he learned to speak Afrikaans. The next stop on Senator Flake's travelling circus was Namibia where he worked as the Executive Director of the Foundation for Democracy in Namibia.
This Senator Coons who was appointed to his seat in 2010 to succeed Ted Kaufman who was appointed after Senator Joe Biden became former US President Barack Obama's choice for Vice President.
When future generations of Mother Africa's children the US-EU Imperialist regime change agenda comes full circle, the role of the state of Delaware should not and will not be overlooked.
This is due to former VP Biden being an original co-sponsor of Zidera and Senator Coons who based on his condescending posture he displayed last week, feels qualified to lecture President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF how to govern Zimbabwe's political affairs.
We have to say by attempting to use the US-EU sanctions as a political measure aimed at the strangulating and intimidating President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF, liberals like former VP Biden and Senator Coons are upholding the tradition of Delaware, who as so-called African Americans are well aware rejected the 13th 14th and 15th amendments that were aimed at abolishing chattel slavery being incorporated into the US Constitution. Delaware rejected the 13th amendment on February 8, 1865, the 14th Amendment on February 8, 1867 and the 15th amendment was rejected on March 18, 1869.
The State of Delaware did not come to their senses until February 12, 1901 when they ratified all three amendments.
There is some rather interesting bulletin board material that President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF could more than likely use concerning Senator Coons, when and how they see fit.
Senator Coons is the first recipient of the Truman Scholar award to serve in the US Senate, meaning he has an intellectual connection to the US President who established the CIA and laid the diplomatic groundwork for the Zionist State of Israel. Inside so-called African American circles, Truman is best remembered for officially desegregating the US Military for so-called African Americans to continue the cycle, of taking part in wars abroad instead of fighting for their liberation from US Imperialism inside US borders.
Like Ronald Reagan and Hillary Rodham Clinton before him, Senator Coons is a first rate political chameleon who went from an ultra-conservative who campaigned for Reagan and then became a bleeding heart liberal, which identical to how Mrs Clinton was the President of Wellesley Young Republicans who campaigned for US Senator Barry Goldwater for the 1964 elections. Arguably Mrs Clinton and Senator Coons political makeovers fail in comparison to that of Reagan who revered FDR and later worshipped the ground that Senator Goldwater walked on. Reagan later said "I didn't leave the Democratic Party The Party left me".
When it comes to the Zimbabwe question US Imperialist politicians have displayed a trend of maliciousness that appears to be rather infectious and contagious. It is also non-partisan and at the root of Mr Reagan's refusal to honour the Lancaster House Agreement in 1980, Mrs. Clinton becoming a co-sponsor on Zidera in 2001 and Senator Coons reintroducing Zidera a few weeks ago.
Pertaining to US-EU sanctions on Zimbabwe the main points of President Mnangagwa's op-ed were "Zimbabwe is changing-politically, economically and societally-and we ask those who have punished us in the past to reconsider their sanctions against us. Zimbabwe is a land of potential, but it will be difficult to realise it with the weight of sanctions hanging from our necks."
"Those who cling to the sanctions are stuck in the old Zimbabwe – the Zimbabwe of poverty and international isolationism."
Africans everywhere must applaud the decision by President Mnangagwa and those in his inner circle to strategically target the same newspaper that allowed former US Joint Chief of Staff and Secretary of State General Colin Powell to write or have a ghostwriter pen an op-ed entitled Freeing a Nation From A Tyrant's Grip, and later allowed one of their most celebrated journalists Nicholas Christoff to sneak into Zimbabwe posing as a tourist who claimed to find Zimbabweans that on record said to him they long for the days of Rhodesia.
A key point of engagement that US-EU Imperialism has been obsessing over for a rather long time has been, wanting to dictate to President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF that allowing an observing team handpicked by the Trump administration for the upcoming harmonised elections in Zimbabwe.
This hanging point is nothing in 2016 at the United States Institute of Peace where the Director of the Africa Programme of the UK Think Tank Chatham House of Dr Alex Vines shared his report, former US Assistant Secretary on African Affairs Ambassador Johnnie Carson publicly stated, that before the 2013 elections he sent a communicated to the Government of Zimbabwe that if the Carter Centre were allowed to observe the elections he would make the official recommendation that US-EU sanctions on Zimbabwe be lifted.
Another troubling dynamic is the loose rhetoric by some of our comrades concerning the manoeuvring of President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF, on the one hand they give a multitude of reasons why Zimbabwe is not on their agenda, yet are extremely eager to hear and pass judgment on the programme and vision of those who have a consistent track record of service and loyalty to Zimbabwe moving forward.
What on the surface appears to be an analysis on Zimbabwe, is a confession attempting to justify abandoning the fight to get the sanctions lifted, by implying that due to the current political terrain President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF are not worthy of being defended.
These individuals also make an error of lumping those who are nothing but props for white liberals who occasionally lean to the left, that allow themselves to be used as mouthpieces against President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF primarily because while liberals cannot afford to lock horns with Africans on the Zimbabwe question, which would reveal their position mirrors that of Senators Flake and Coons.
The mouthpieces for White Liberals who lean to the left also have no meaningful programme or sustainable activity we can point to, aimed at uplifting Zimbabwe yesterday today or tomorrow.
We promise at all costs to execute what others merely and occasionally articulate.
-Obi Egbuna Jr is the US correspondent to our sister paper The Herald and External Relations Office to ZICUFA (Zimbabwe Cuba Friendship Association). His email address is obiegbuna15@gmail.com
Exactly 11 days after this op-ed was published on March 22, 2018, two members of the US Foreign Relations Committee Senator Jeff Flake a Republican representing the State of Arizona and Chris Coons a Democrat representing the state of Delaware, introduced a bill that based on their exact wording will lay the framework for US relations with the new government in Zimbabwe.
The primary objective was to up the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 and highlights the measures and steps that President Mnangagwa have to take in order for US-EU sanctions on Zimbabwe to be lifted once and for all.
Senator Flake was quoted as saying "President Mnangagwa has signalled his intent to bring about change in Zimbabwe. His words need to be followed up by concrete actions".
The blunt yet empty rhetoric with of course a ultra-conservative leaning by a flaming Republican, was followed by Senator Coons who was a tad bit more verbose than his counterpart when stating
"After 37 years of suffering under the repressive rule of Robert Mugabe, the people of Zimbabwe should be excited about the possibility of a brighter future.
To ensure conditions throughout the country improve, the international community should insist on concrete actions from the new government of Zimbabwe before lifting sanctions and renewing investment in the country. This bill is intended to outline the US Senate's expectations of the steps President Mnangagwa and others should take".
This latest initiation of US-EU Sanctions is 9 pages long on a PDF file and includes the following sections: Section 1 Short Title whose sole purpose is to indicate that this act is officially recognised as the "Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Amendment Act of 2018"
Section 2 Reconstruction and Rebuilding of Zimbabwe, Section 3 Findings, Section 4 Removal of Provisions Related To Multilateral Debt Relief And Other Financial Resistance, Section 5 Withholding Of Funding For African Development Fund, Section 6 Additional Certifications For Requirements, Section 7 Removal Of Authority To Pay Land Acquistion Costs, Section 8 Inclusion of Australia In Consultations About Zimbabwe, Section 9 Sense of Congress On Past Atrocities and Human Rights Abuses, Section 10 Sense of Congress On Enforcement Of Sadc Tribunal Rulings, Section 11 Sense of Congress on Steps That Might Increase Possibility of Increased Ties.
In the past we have exposed the background of Senator Flake in particular his Mormon Missions in Zimbabwe and South Africa where he learned to speak Afrikaans. The next stop on Senator Flake's travelling circus was Namibia where he worked as the Executive Director of the Foundation for Democracy in Namibia.
This Senator Coons who was appointed to his seat in 2010 to succeed Ted Kaufman who was appointed after Senator Joe Biden became former US President Barack Obama's choice for Vice President.
When future generations of Mother Africa's children the US-EU Imperialist regime change agenda comes full circle, the role of the state of Delaware should not and will not be overlooked.
This is due to former VP Biden being an original co-sponsor of Zidera and Senator Coons who based on his condescending posture he displayed last week, feels qualified to lecture President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF how to govern Zimbabwe's political affairs.
We have to say by attempting to use the US-EU sanctions as a political measure aimed at the strangulating and intimidating President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF, liberals like former VP Biden and Senator Coons are upholding the tradition of Delaware, who as so-called African Americans are well aware rejected the 13th 14th and 15th amendments that were aimed at abolishing chattel slavery being incorporated into the US Constitution. Delaware rejected the 13th amendment on February 8, 1865, the 14th Amendment on February 8, 1867 and the 15th amendment was rejected on March 18, 1869.
The State of Delaware did not come to their senses until February 12, 1901 when they ratified all three amendments.
Senator Coons is the first recipient of the Truman Scholar award to serve in the US Senate, meaning he has an intellectual connection to the US President who established the CIA and laid the diplomatic groundwork for the Zionist State of Israel. Inside so-called African American circles, Truman is best remembered for officially desegregating the US Military for so-called African Americans to continue the cycle, of taking part in wars abroad instead of fighting for their liberation from US Imperialism inside US borders.
Like Ronald Reagan and Hillary Rodham Clinton before him, Senator Coons is a first rate political chameleon who went from an ultra-conservative who campaigned for Reagan and then became a bleeding heart liberal, which identical to how Mrs Clinton was the President of Wellesley Young Republicans who campaigned for US Senator Barry Goldwater for the 1964 elections. Arguably Mrs Clinton and Senator Coons political makeovers fail in comparison to that of Reagan who revered FDR and later worshipped the ground that Senator Goldwater walked on. Reagan later said "I didn't leave the Democratic Party The Party left me".
When it comes to the Zimbabwe question US Imperialist politicians have displayed a trend of maliciousness that appears to be rather infectious and contagious. It is also non-partisan and at the root of Mr Reagan's refusal to honour the Lancaster House Agreement in 1980, Mrs. Clinton becoming a co-sponsor on Zidera in 2001 and Senator Coons reintroducing Zidera a few weeks ago.
Pertaining to US-EU sanctions on Zimbabwe the main points of President Mnangagwa's op-ed were "Zimbabwe is changing-politically, economically and societally-and we ask those who have punished us in the past to reconsider their sanctions against us. Zimbabwe is a land of potential, but it will be difficult to realise it with the weight of sanctions hanging from our necks."
"Those who cling to the sanctions are stuck in the old Zimbabwe – the Zimbabwe of poverty and international isolationism."
Africans everywhere must applaud the decision by President Mnangagwa and those in his inner circle to strategically target the same newspaper that allowed former US Joint Chief of Staff and Secretary of State General Colin Powell to write or have a ghostwriter pen an op-ed entitled Freeing a Nation From A Tyrant's Grip, and later allowed one of their most celebrated journalists Nicholas Christoff to sneak into Zimbabwe posing as a tourist who claimed to find Zimbabweans that on record said to him they long for the days of Rhodesia.
A key point of engagement that US-EU Imperialism has been obsessing over for a rather long time has been, wanting to dictate to President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF that allowing an observing team handpicked by the Trump administration for the upcoming harmonised elections in Zimbabwe.
This hanging point is nothing in 2016 at the United States Institute of Peace where the Director of the Africa Programme of the UK Think Tank Chatham House of Dr Alex Vines shared his report, former US Assistant Secretary on African Affairs Ambassador Johnnie Carson publicly stated, that before the 2013 elections he sent a communicated to the Government of Zimbabwe that if the Carter Centre were allowed to observe the elections he would make the official recommendation that US-EU sanctions on Zimbabwe be lifted.
Another troubling dynamic is the loose rhetoric by some of our comrades concerning the manoeuvring of President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF, on the one hand they give a multitude of reasons why Zimbabwe is not on their agenda, yet are extremely eager to hear and pass judgment on the programme and vision of those who have a consistent track record of service and loyalty to Zimbabwe moving forward.
What on the surface appears to be an analysis on Zimbabwe, is a confession attempting to justify abandoning the fight to get the sanctions lifted, by implying that due to the current political terrain President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF are not worthy of being defended.
These individuals also make an error of lumping those who are nothing but props for white liberals who occasionally lean to the left, that allow themselves to be used as mouthpieces against President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF primarily because while liberals cannot afford to lock horns with Africans on the Zimbabwe question, which would reveal their position mirrors that of Senators Flake and Coons.
The mouthpieces for White Liberals who lean to the left also have no meaningful programme or sustainable activity we can point to, aimed at uplifting Zimbabwe yesterday today or tomorrow.
We promise at all costs to execute what others merely and occasionally articulate.
-Obi Egbuna Jr is the US correspondent to our sister paper The Herald and External Relations Office to ZICUFA (Zimbabwe Cuba Friendship Association). His email address is obiegbuna15@gmail.com
Source - zimpapers
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