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behaviour by state security institutions and the technical, logistical issues hampering the administration of a credible and transparent election”.
Keep your concern, Uncle Sam, if it was genuine you would feel for the people of Libya and Egypt where your games led to illegal regime change that you applauded without shame.
Why are you quick to pre-judge an election that is still to be held? If there are glitches, it is for us to resolve. And we are doing so even as you work clandestinely with your askaris here to frustrate the process.
We saw you raise the red flag in Kenya when you knew your man Raila Odinga was on the ropes, but you can’t save your man here; and your opinion matters not to us.
Washington’s stance is that if Zimbabwe’s elections do not meet the standards they expect, this might have adverse implications on the removal of the illegal economic sanctions that they imposed on Zimbabwe when it took back its land and the rich minerals resources therein.
This is the threat from Washington. Apart from the sanctions regime, the playing field for Zimbabwe to hold free, fair and credible, is not even.
Just before the March referendum on the draft Constitution, two Deputy Assistant Secretaries of State Reuben Brigety and Karen Hanrahan were in Harare and gave conditions for the full normalisation of relations between Harare and Washington
The monitoring and evaluation was taken a step higher by the US Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Bruce Wharton, who ignored diplomatic protocol and went on to write letters of complaint to the head of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, the Registrar-General and the Police Commissioner-General.
We are in possession of copies of the letters that ambassador Wharton wrote on July 1 and the warning given by Ventrill was nothing but a repeat of what Wharton had said, which makes us question the information that Wharton gives to his government.
President Mugabe has been calling for free and fair elections under a peaceful atmosphere, before, during and after the elections. He did not need the US to make him do that. So, why does the US think that it should always preach to us about democratic values as if they are a new discovery?
We fought for this democratic space and it will not take nations, no matter how powerful they think they are, to destroy that which we hold so dearly. The US has waged a war on terror in order to protect its citizens and what it believes in: unfettered freedom. Indeed, it imposed illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe, but instead of killing our spirit, it strengthened our resolve. Zimbabwe will never be a colony again.
When will it also ever dawn on the US that Zimbabwe is not only a sovereign state that is governed by its own laws but that Zimbabwe is not the 51st state of the United States?
We also take this opportunity to remind them that much as we appreciate the bilateral relations we have with them, this is not only mutual, but is a relationship bound by international laws. The US is not a member of Sadc and neither is it a member of the African Union.
What makes the US so special that it gives itself that singular honour of harassing and bullying Zimbabwe by constantly meddling in Zimbabwe’s internal affairs? Zimbabwe is not the MDC, which they created, and neither are the MDC formations Zimbabwe. Just like the US, Zimbabwe is a diverse country, and its diverse population is responsible for choosing the next Government, and not the US.
Lest the Americans and their stooges here forget, the US is poking its nose in Zimbabwe’s affairs because there are too many problems in its backyard to contend with. If the US really cared about democratic processes, why did it not condemn the military junta in Egypt, and why have they refused to call Morsi’s ouster a coup d’état when the whole world knows that Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, was overthrown by the military?
The United States looked the other way as Egypt’s interim leaders arrested Morsi and senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Instead, a few days ago, Obama sent a senior envoy to Egypt to ensure that their interests are entrenched.
Apart from the chaotic situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, we also have Guantanamo Bay, the biggest scandal in the war on terror where people have been held for decades under tortuous conditions.
Obama promised to shut down Guantanamo, but five years on, the facility is still open. The prisoners on hunger strike are being force-fed against their will. This is the United States’ human rights record, which should not be questioned by countries like Zimbabwe.
The Edward Snowden whistle-blowing affair has become one of the worst nightmares for the Obama administration. Snowden has created fear that if the data he mined is known by America’s closest allies, it will be one of the major disasters of the 21st century.
The US should also not pretend that it is the “saviour” of the world when the economic crunch is not only resulting in massive unemployment, especially among young people. The recession that started in 2008, when the GPA was signed is still affecting the US economy.
A week ago, the Pentagon sent 650 000 civilian employees on unpaid leave. While we know that you will not run out of cash for regime change agendas, we are also cognisant of the fact you want to be in Zimbabwe to derive benefit from its rich resources, and you think that an MDC-T win will get you back on that gravy train.
Finally, if the US is democratic and upholds the rule of law, why has the case on the murder of the black teenager, Trayvon Martin, caused such uproar? If American courts are capable of delivering justice, why are people all of over the world, including African-Americans, questioning the nature of America’s justice system? Why is there a review of the “not guilty” verdict against the killer George Zimmerman? What double standards then!
So, if the US is “deeply concerned about the lack of transparency” in Zimbabwe’s electoral process, so, too, is Zimbabwe about the United States’ human rights records, at home and abroad.
Deal with the mess in your backyard.
Online Reporter