Wikileaks, Nation, And Aussie Factor - When whistleblower WikiLeaks leaked some damning stuff about MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, the man said he was not bothered by what former United States of America envoy to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell said about his leadership calibre.
Isn't it that the truth always hurts?
Tsvangirai also made a dramatic U-turn.
Suddenly, what the people of Zimbabwe think about him matters more than what the US, the world's self-imposed kingmakers think.
Zimbabwean analysts have been called names after writing and saying exactly what Dell said in these first set of published diplomatic briefings.
But, there is no doubt about it. The man now stands between a rock a hard place, and we hope that Zimbabwean voters will rise to the occasion, and also tell him what Dell told him.
In the 80s, some people said exactly what Tsvangirai said after the publication of late Rhodesian central intelligence supremo Ken Flower's book "Serving Secretly". He mentioned names, but some bit their lower lips and said they couldn't care less. It was their word against those of a dead man! Seeking comfort in meaningless words, when pain eats you up, and when you wonder what other skeletons would be taken out of your closet.
Why do we think that Tsvangirai is seeking solace in words uttered through one of his staffers? His paymasters through US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have made several phone calls to allies reassuring them that WikiLeaks would not damage their diplomatic ties, but in Zimbabwe Tsvangirai says he is "not bothered".
This writer initially thought that the US was really worried because it did not know what this WikiLeaks computer hacker was capable of doing and the amount of damaging information he had, until a BBC December 4 report changed all that and revealed the bigger picture.
In addition, a few days ago, WikiLeaks boss was a wanted man, but on December 4, there was a question on BBC report as to whether it was possible for the Obama administration to just embrace WikiLeaks?
What had changed in the week since the WikiLeaks became a leading news item?
When BBC factored the Google/China element it became too translucent for comfort. It was a Pauline revelation on the road to Damascus. The former Soviet Union had crumbled using such tactics, and we all believed that the Cold War was over. Now that the Bric (Brazil, Russia, India and China) were becoming too economically powerful, it was also time for them to go under.
China in particular, which they prefer to use as a model since they accuse it of becoming an economic powerhouse while it ignored issues like "human rights".
And, what better weapon to use than the Internet, making available what is deemed sensitive information about leaders of some chosen countries to create a panic mode among those leaders and weaken them in the process. But, "news on demand" scuttled everything.
It became everyone's story. Exactly how the global village should operate.
Alvin and Heidi Toffler in their book "War and Anti-War: Survival at the Dawn of the 21st Century" write about knowledge warriors, and this is not kids' stuff. They claim: "As the Third Wave war form takes shape, a new breed of 'knowledge warriors' has begun to emerge -- intellectuals in and out of uniform dedicated to the idea that knowledge can win, or prevent wars. If we look at what they are doing, we discover a step-by-step progression from initially narrow technical concerns towards sweeping conception of what will be called 'knowledge strategy'."
So, has WikiLeaks' Julian Assange become one of this new breed of "knowledge warriors" that is emerging to fight these smart wars?
While Tsvangirai might not be bothered, we question why last week US President Barack Obama, acting like George W. Bush, the war president, made a surprise visit to US soldiers in Afghanistan and told them that it was not over until it was over? He meant it, for WikiLeaks had exposed US troops to more danger after publishing diplomatic briefs on their "ally" Hamid Karzai.
Obama was also in a dilemma. He wanted to ensure the safety of American soldiers considering that the CIA had worked with a phony Taliban leader who went AWOL on them after he had been pampered and financed. Said a November 27 report: "A former American Nato commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, is reported to have asked British intelligence service MI6 rather than the CIA to develop contacts with the Taliban, and approved peace talks with a fake Taliban leader. According to The Guardian, General McChrystal also approved the release of thousands of dollars in 'goodwill payments'."
Is it coincidental that one of WikiLeaks' news source(s) are members of the US army?
But in Zimbabwe, Tsvangirai is unfazed, "not bothered" at all?
There are "attempts" to make WikiLeaks a terrorist organisation and there is right now a manhunt for Assange, but Zimbabwe's Prime Minister says he is "not bothered". Whoever sang that song, "Anopenga, ane waya, anopenga zveshuwa siyana naye", knew what he meant.
"Ain't no stopping just now!" How will Zimbabweans whom Tsvangirai now want to use as scapegoats stop WikiLeaks and its soon to be formed competitor from downloading all that information they claim to have?
Dell's remarks could be the sum total of what the West thinks about Tsvangirai. But it is notable that these comments did not come from Johnny Carson, James McGee and Charles Aaron Ray, all African-American envoys. What has race got to do with it? A lot!
This represents a caricature of dealing with the United States of America. Maybe Tsvangirai can read Patricia Cornwell's thriller (also an American writer), "Body of Evidence", and see whether he would still claim that he is "not bothered" by Dell's remarks.
When there is that much body of evidence that the US does not have permanent friends, but permanent interests, we hope that this has finally struck something in him.
The nature of the Internet is such that even the likes of British MI5's Michael Heatly/Beatle cannot control the inflow and outflow of information where hackers become instant celebrities.
When Google CEO warned young people that they would be forced to change identities because of the information trail they are leaving behind, he meant just that. When diplomacy is conducted in unbecoming ways, it bears such fruit.
The honeymoon with the Anglo-Saxon world is also over. Tsvangirai's funders and backers gave him his first objective public performance appraisal, and he has to be bothered. As with any appraisal, it is not about whether you like the outcome, for the buck stops with the one who controls the purse. You either stay on the job, get promoted, or you are fired!
Dell, representing the West, interpreted Tsvangirai with WikiLeaks giving those documents to four media houses on a selective criterion. Al-Qaeda does the same, and it means a lot, as argued by Professor Jonathan Moyo.
Maybe Tsvangirai should also start being bothered because of the Australian connection that I will illustrate.
The anti-Zimbabwe lobby is an intricate web, but surprisingly, Australia -- one of the proxies in that web -- produces more than its share of surprises. WikiLeaks' Assange is Australian.
As we watched the MDC-T's "Down Under" scenario involving Jacqueline Zwambila unfolding with breathtaking speed, we forgot that in the Zimbabwe saga, Australia was part of them. Australia has played that important role -- a former colony backing Britain and the USA -- and it has become home to many a Rhodesian and their sympathisers.
But now, it is as if MDC-T's downfall was crafted Down Under (no pun intended). Whether it is by default, only the Lord knows.
Maybe it is to do with their history -- descendants of former British convicts. Zimbabwean independence in 1980 also saw a large chunk of Rhodesians "migrating" Down Under -- at least those who were "honest" enough to spurn the hand of reconciliation extended to it by then Prime Minister Mugabe's new government. This is why Zwambila believed that she was home -- so far away, and no one from Zimbabwe would ever know about the MDC's Internet forays! She was unaware that she was just a cog in the scenario.
In the Commonwealth of Nations, 2002 could have been crucial to Australia, but for Zimbabwe and the Zanu-PF government, it was the deciding moment and they spoiled that moment for Australia.
The 2002 Brisbane Commonwealth Heads of State and Government was when the so-called international community using the Commonwealth (Britain, Australia and New Zealand) tried to push Zimbabwe into the corner.
Chogm 2002 also took place as the nation was preparing for the presidential election, the first presidential when Tsvangirai challenged President Mugabe, after his initial poor show in the 2000 parliamentary elections in Buhera North. Cde Kenneth Manyonda (Zanu-PF), an alleged relative to Tsvangirai, beat him.
The West wanted Tsvangirai to win by any means so the land reform programme could be reversed. The Commonwealth gave Zimbabwe conditions or face ejection. But more critical was the role played by then Australian prime minister John Howard. Praising him, the BBC said: "John Howard's role as chairman of the committee which approved the suspension of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth council has raised his profile on the international stage."
Contrary to common thinking, after Brisbane Chogm, Zimbabwe pulled out of the Commonwealth on its own much to the chagrin of the West. Not many had anticipated this no-turning back move by Zimbabwe. Kicking it out would have given them the opportunity to put Zimbabwe under a beggarly state to be reinstated. The Zimbabwe issue created fissures in the Commonwealth.
It is an open secret that if, and it is an if Tsvangirai wins next year's elections, Zimbabwe would be a member of the Commonwealth again.
Ari Ben Menashe
However, while in 2002 Tsvangirai was fighting for Zimbabwe's presidency, an Australian SBS's Dateline had a production titled "Killing Mugabe". In that TV programme some revelations were made that the MDC leader and some accomplices had sought the assistance of Ari Ben-Menashe, an alleged former Mossad intelligence operative, to do in President Mugabe. Tsvangirai, together with his accomplices were subsequently charged with treason.
Credence was sought when Justice George Bizos, who had defended former South African president Nelson Mandela, was roped in to defend Tsvangirai.
Meetings with Ben-Menashe did not take place in Australia, so, why was Australia interested in the story, when the cable channel did not even transmit in Zimbabwe? Was this an early warning about Australians masquerading as "knowledge warriors"?
The Australian connection does not end there. Just like the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States of America that welcomed thousands of Zimbabwean immigrants allegedly fleeing from torture by the Mugabe government, so too did Australia.
Then we had the exuberant John Howard. My, my, was he such an excited prime minister. He went that extra mile to ensure that Zimbabwe was punished for repossessing its land, and he did not want that to happen with Australia's Aborigines. Howard even took it upon himself to deny the Australian cricket team to come on a tour of duty to Zimbabwe, citing violence.
But the ousted Howard had never thought that there would be a life after his premiership. Early this year, he wanted an international job, and Zimbabwe was one of the countries he had to lobby where Mugabe whom he had fought is still Head of State and Government. However, Zimbabwe showed the former premier that things do not change that fast. We forgive, but not forget: "Chinokanganwa idemo, asi muti wakatemwa haukanganwi."
Ken Mufuka recently gave us another dimension of Australia in the Zimbabwe situation. In a piece in the Financial Gazette titled "Is He The One, Nathaniel, son of Manheru?' Mufuka wrote: After witnessing US President Barack Obama torn mercilessly, 24 hours a day by Fox News, for two years, the threat of news organisations is not a threat to Manheru . . ."
None other than media mogul Rupert Murdoch -- an Australian -- owns Fox News. How did he gain acceptance in the USA after destroying the UK's Fleet Street in the infamous 1987 strike when he introduced automation in newspaper production? Mufuka thinks that Zimbabweans should be acquiescent in the face of a media industry that seeks to set agendas against us, while they reap the benefits.
The Aussie connection does not seem to end, does it? Now, we have the Andrew "Diamond Baron" Cranswick saga -- moneybags reportedly being taken out of the country and Zimbabwe used as a conduit.
But the mother of all Australian connections in Zimbabwe's regime change agenda theatric -- Zwambila and her showcasing of the bankruptcy in the "chinja maitiro"agenda.
In the "Third Wave", Paul Strassmann says: "The history of warfare is the history of doctrine . . . We have a doctrine for landing on beaches, a doctrine for bombing, a doctrine for Airland Battle . . . What is missing . . . is the doctrine for information. . . . So far much of this doctrinal discussion still focuses on the details of electronic warfare -- knocking out an adversary's radar, infecting his computers with viruses, using missiles to destroy his command and intelligence centers, 'spoofing' his equipment by sending false signals, and using other means to deceive him."
But there is also another dimension in the "Third Wave", the open sources spearheaded by a former Central Intelligence Agency and Marine Corps operative, Robert D. Steele.
What do such metaphors like "open sources" mean in the WikiLeaks saga?
However, when all is said and done, WikiLeaks has helped create new perceptions, revise old ones, and in some cases, totally reconfigured others.
Tendai Hildegarde Manzvanzvike
The Herald
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