Rhodesian COIN (consolidated thread, inc original RLI)

[JMA]

I believe we are drifting off the essential focus of Dzimbanhete's paper which was:

The foregoing discussion has shown that current attempts to equate and link the selective nature of violence that was deployed by the revolutionary guerrilla forces to contemporary outbreaks of violence are unfounded and devoid of academic analysis. The nonselective violence that is perpetrated by troops of an incumbent government is normally intended to stifle legitimate demand for economic and political spaces by the citizens. On the other hand the application of violence on civilians by the liberation fighters was in the interest of creating economic and political space. It would be fitting to refer to guerrilla violence as ‘freedom violence'.

So quite frankly if, repeat if, some priest was taken out for collaborating with the insurgents that could hardly be termed 'non-selective violence'.

So it all comes down, according to Dzimbanhete, 'creating economic and political space'.

Just as with that garbage from the Dutch boy, which the MR saw fit to publish, the thesis is not proven (by any stretch of the imagination).

In point of fact what he attempts to sell is that the atrocities of the insurgents were justifiable and acceptable. As he attempts to convince:

Executions were dictated by the need to survive since civilian collaboration with the colonial army forces put the lives of the freedom fighters and the peasants at risk. It was clear that guerrilla violence that visited the rural folk was discriminate. It was used against only those elements of the rural population, who against the express advice of the liberation forces collaborated with the Rhodesian security forces.

This as opposed to:

The violence that the Rhodesian colonial forces perpetrated against the rural peasants was apparently systematic and organised. It is on this score that it should be appropriately labelled ‘terrorism' and it was the Rhodesian security forces that deserved to be called ‘terrorists'.

In the Rhodesian thread on SWC many aspects of the Rhodesian bush war have been discussed and more discussion would serve to inform people better on what worked and what did not work during the bush war.

However, I see little point in using a piece of garbage such as this paper to launch into such discussions. The MR published and thereby gave some credibility to the Dutch boy just as the Journal has done with Dizumbanhete's garbage. Both the MR and the Journl should be ashamed.