THE introduction of anthrax at the height of the Zimbabwe liberation war to indiscriminately kill both livestock and people, shows the extent to which heartless imperialists can go to achieve their objectives.

To them, the end justifies the means, regardless.

We must point out from the outset that Ian Smith and his colonial regime did what they did on behalf of their imperialist kith and kin.

As the liberation war gathered momentum, it looked inevitable that the ‘communists’ would emerge victorious.

And this would mean the collapse of the Western imperialists’ ambition of controlling the natural resources of a future Zimbabwe.

This had to be stopped at all costs.

It is because of these vast resources the ‘war’ assumed  a different format even after the fall of the Smith regime.

In a previous publication, we saw how chemical and biological agents were introduced in a desperate bid to wipe out the liberation fighters.

The inevitable death of women and children was then dismissed as collateral damage.

How callous this breed can be!

No matter how horrendous this may sound, more evil was to be unleashed.

Anthrax was introduced, not only to kill livestock but also to drive a wedge between villagers and the freedom fighters.

For the Rhodesian propaganda machine was pushed to full throttle, falsely accusing the freedom fighters of bringing the deadly anthrax from Mozambique.

It is worth noting that Rhodesians carefully avoided areas reserved  for white farmers as they unleashed the anthrax spore.

There was yet another forlorn hope.

The Rhodesians believed, by wiping out livestock, locals would be hindered in their efforts to feed the freedom fighters.

This, they hoped, would lower the morale of the guerillas.

What becomes even more chilling is the fact that the anthrax spore survives for decades.

No wonder the persistent outbreaks of anthrax to this very day.

The use of anthrax to kill blacks and their cattle by the settler-regime must not be seen as an isolated event.

This apparent indiscriminate disregard of the suffering of innocent people is characteristic of the imperialistic modus operandi.

They will stop at nothing to control natural resources of weaker states.

Libya and Iraq can testify.

But do we  have to go that far!

The suffering of innocent Zimbabwean women and children because of illegal sanctions is a case in point.

To the imperialists, that suffering is immaterial, so long as a former liberation movement, which is unlikely to give them free access to the country’s natural resources, is in power.

We will not be fooled by their reference to democratisation of a system.

We have seen countries whose undemocratic practices do not need binoculars to see being backed by these imperialists and even being supplied with modern weapons of destruction.

The tacit support given to the Smith regime, as it unleashed anthrax spores on blacks, can never be argued as a defence of democracy. 

It was downright cruelty to blacks; reminiscent of what their forefathers did to slaves as they shipped them from Africa.

In retrospect, we must salute  both the liberation fighters and the povo for their steadfastness in the face of a ruthless enemy.

Despite all these adversities, on the battlefront, the colonial regime was vanquished.