The Leopard Never Changes Its Spots

Whilst doing research for my memoirs, I come across all sorts of information. With all the violence that President Mugabe is instigating against the people of Zimbabwe in opposition to his tyrannical rule, I decided to put up a few memories of what the ‘Great Liberator and darling of the liberal West’ did back in the ‘good’ old days.

The pictures are from a Rhodesian Government booklet from 1978. It is called – Anatomy of Terror. I have supplied a link. It is not for the faint hearted.

Massacre at Elim Mission - June 23^rd 1978

So says Mr. Andrew Young, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, in a recent interview with the London Times.

This weekend, in the worst atrocity committed against white civilians in the history of Rhodesia's six-year war, terrorists of Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe National Liberation Army hacked and battered to death almost the entire white staff and their families at the Elim Pentacostal Mission in the Eastern border mountains.

Mr. Young is asked: "Does Mr. Mugabe strike you as a violent man?"

He replies: "Not at all, he's a very gentle man. In fact, one of the ironies of the whole struggle is that I can't imagine Joshua Nkomo, or Robert Mugabe, ever pulling the trigger on a gun to kill anyone. I doubt that they ever have.... The violent people are Smith's people and hopefully they won't be around for the new Zimbabwe."

This weekend, when local and international journalists arrived at the scene of the massacre 15 km from Umtali and less than 7 km from the Mozambique border, the mutilated and blood-stained bodies of three men, four women and five children - including a three-week-old baby - were lying as they had been found that morning.

Mr. Young is asked how he gets on with Mr. Mugabe.

He replies: "I find that I am fascinated by his intelligence, by his dedication. The only thing that frustrates me about Robert Mugabe is that he is so damned incorruptible.... The problem is he was educated by the Jesuits, and when you get the combination of a Jesuit and a Marxist kind of philosophy merging in one person, you've got a hell of a guy to deal with."

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About Andrew Young.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Young the Ambassador to the UN. His controversial statements made headlines almost from the start. His greatest contribution was helping bring peace and a new constitution to Zimbabwe, and he also helped improve US relations with Nigeria. He was criticized for many of his statements, such as his suggestion that Cuban troops brought stability to Angola. However, President Carter continued to support his ambassador until 1979, when, contrary to US policy and statute, he met with a representative of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. When the occurrence of that meeting was revealed, Young's public statements were perceived as evasive by Administration critics. Ultimately, Young was forced to resign.

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From Time Magazine July 10 1978

At the beginning of the war, the killings of white missionaries had seemed, in most cases, to be merely part of the prevailing violence. The latest rash of murders suggests that the guerrillas are now killing missionaries in an effort to create panic among Rhodesia's remaining whites, particularly in rural areas. Since whites are now leaving the country at the rate of 1,000 a month, that brutal plan may be having some success.

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BBC 1^st June 1979: End of White rule in Rhodesia

Mr Smith warned that "pushing people forward simply because of their colour, irrespective of merit, would be most unfortunate and would of course lead to disaster".

He continued: "It would mean that Rhodesia would then develop into a kind of banana republic where the country would in no time be bankrupt."