Kansteiner's Remarks Should Put Nation On Guard
Posted: Thursday, September 12, 2002By David Samuriwo, www.glob.co.zw
Recent statements emanating from Washington and attributed to Assistant Secretary of State (for African Affairs), Walter Kansteiner should not be taken for granted.
A brief look at this man's curriculum vitae and his statement calling for the removal of a legitimately elected government in Zimbabwe underscores morbid racism inherent in American and European politicians.
It is on record that Walter Kansteiner, six years ago wrote a paper for the Forum for International Policy on the then Eastern Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) calling for the division of the territory in the Great lakes region.
Kansteiner believes the future of the DRC lies in the "balkanisation"of that state. In the same vein the future of Zimbabwe lies in the removal of President Mugabe from power in order to protect white minority interests especially commercial farmers who own over 70% of Zimbabwe's prime agricultural land.
Kansteiner"s obsession with removing President Mugabe from power partly stems from his previous stint at the Defence Department where he served on a Task Force on Strategic Minerals. After all 80% of the world's known reserves of coltan, also called tantalite, a primary component of computer microchips and printed circuit boards is in abundance in the DRC. Zimbambwe's involvement in the DRC war was therefore a slap in the face for the USA.
President Mugabe's continued stewardship of the Zimbabwean boat will not only affect American interests in Zimbabwe. American interests will be affected in the DRC, elsewhere in Africa and the world at large as communities, nations and regions realise that the often much talked about global village is nothing but a pipe dream designed to benefit the rich and powerful nations.
Kansteiner's remarks should be taken seriously in view of the violence mayhem and murder being perpetrated by MDC supporters at the behest of their party. Only last week, a ZANU(PF) activist and Harare provincial member, Ali Khan Manjengwa was gunned down in a corridor at a flat in Mbare.
The bigger picture in America's gunboat diplomacy, which was mentioned in Kansteiner's utterings is that his government was working with "other groups" in the international community to remove President Mugabe from power.
Such other groups include the Zimbabwe Project based in Uganda. The aim of the project is to recruit teachers, journalists and unemployed youth for military training and various other activities aimed at destabilising Zimbabwe. Senior members of the Ugandan Army are in charge of this project and they report directly to President Yoweri Museveni.
Also of concern are the activities of the Military Professional Resources, Inc (MPRI), a USA private military company based in Alexandria Virginia. Its Vice President for Operations is a former Director of the Defence Intelligence Agency.
MPRI provided covert training assistance to Paul Kagame's troops in Rwanda in preparation for combat in the DRC then known as Zaire in 1996. MPRI is owned and controlled by retired American army generals. Unsuspecting Zimbabweans may find themselves clutched in the jaws of these men who not only survive on the misery they inflict on powerless nations but take pride in planning, and coordinating senseless killing of innocent people worldwide.
While the British Embassy has already admitted that it is recruiting young Zimbabweans for military training, intelligence sources say investigations have established that over 50 young Zimbabweans have completed full military training in the UK.
Current top military men in Zimbabwe are products of the liberation war. Enemies of Zimbabwe, the US and Britain included have completely failed to make inroads in the chain of command. As a long term project Britain is currently on a drive to establish a nucleus of well -trained military men from Zimbabwe for future use.
The above scenerio fits well in Kansteiner's remarks in that the Americans are working with "others" to remove the government of President Mugabe from power.
Reproduced from:
http://www.glob.co.zw/political/kansteiner.htmPrinter friendly version
Send page by E-Mail
Previous Page | Zimbabwe Watch | Historical Views | Home
NOTICE: All articles are the copyright property of the writers. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C., section 107, some material on this site is provided without permission from the copyright owner, only for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of federal copyright laws. Visit: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml for more details. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
