It should always be for God and country

“For God and country — Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo.”

We are told these were the words triumphantly pronounced by a US special forces serviceman in a moment of ecstatic fealty after fatally pumping two bullets — one in the chest and one in the head — in America’s tormentor-in-chief, Osama bin Laden, in the small village of Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011.

It ended the most expensive manhunt in history, where the US deployed every asset imaginable — cash, a sprawling network of spies, satellites and drones — to account for a broke chap in flip-flops.

Osama bin Laden had managed to elude the Americans for exactly nine years, seven months and 20 days since Al-Qaeda attacked the Americans on their soil on September 11, 2001, in the most egregiously sadistic act of recent times.

But, that raid by the Americans in Abbottabad — neither sanctioned nor known by the Pakistanis — represented a vaulting supranational interest for Washington, which meant the then Obama administration was more than prepared to undertake an illegal extraterritorial operation to execute an extrajudicial killing of Osama.

The abiding interest for the Americans was not to bring Osama to justice, or at least in the conventional sense that we know it, but to kill him.

From the outset, the objective of the manhunt was clear: no arrest, no jury, no jail time, but death.

For Americans, as for any other sovereign country, such missions are always carried out “for God and country”.

But, why is Bishop Lazi even in the least concerned about Osama bin Laden and the Americans?

You see, the Bishop feels that he should tell his countrymen this very valuable lesson learnt throughout history: no individual or party can endlessly reconcile itself to American interests.

Clearly, the overriding objective of any nation-state is the furtherance of its own national interests.

Once quislings are past their sell-by date, they are thrown out the window in the cruellest way possible.

I will explain.

Frankenstein monster

Well, not so long ago, Bishop Lazarus told you what a Frankenstein monster is: a thankless creature that devours its creator. Osama was such a monster, which was created in the crucible of the Cold War era between the capitalist Americans and the then communist USSR, especially after the latter invaded Afghanistan in December 1979.

In order to create trouble for the Russians and the Russophile administration in Kabul, Americans, through their spy agency, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), began sponsoring the mujahideen Islamic group, which largely viewed the Russian communists as Islamophobic.

It is this convenient union between two unlikely bedfellows — the CIA and mujahideen — that conceived Osama, who arrived in Afghanistan in 1979, aged 22, ostensibly to fight the islamophobes.

Bin Laden’s Office of Services, which recruited overseas for the war, also received some cash from the spy agency.

Overall, the CIA poured more than US$500 million in Afghanistan, a staggering amount then — even now.

But, look how it all ended for him.

Another monster

And then there is Saddam Hussein.

Those who ferreted through archived intelligence files discovered that Saddam Hussein was actually on the CIA payroll since the late 1950s when he participated in an American-sponsored farcical assassination attempt against then Iraqi leader Abd al-Karim Qassem on October 7, 1959.

Qassem had fallen out of favour with the Americans after he withdrew from the anti-Soviet Baghdad Pact in 1959 and began buying arms from the Soviet Union.

He also began promoting communists in both the party and government.

After the botched assassination attempt, the CIA helped Saddam escape and he was temporarily sheltered in Egypt.

Even after returning to Iraq and assuming the reins in 1979, he continued his dalliances with the CIA, which supported him materially.

It all changed when the cocky Saddam invaded neighbouring Kuwait, where the US had its oil interests, on August 2, 1990.

Thirteen years later, the US and its allies invaded Iraq and toppled him.

He was subsequently fed to the wolves, and his life came to a gruesome end, just like Osama bin Laden, when he was hanged on December 30 2006.

Oil is thicker than blood

It seems the Syrian Kurds have not learnt this important lesson.

Obviously, as a group pursuing its own sectoral interests, the Kurds might feel entitled to ally with the Americans.

And the Americans duly armed and supported them to fight the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad when the civil war broke out after the so-called Arab Spring failed to dislodge the Assad regime.

They also subsequently resourced them to confront the growing menace of ISIS — regarded as terrorists and American tormentors — particularly in northern Syria.

It was also meant to achieve an American end.

Soon after they had dealt with ISIS, at a heavy cost to them, which was paid in their own blood, the American troops began withdrawing and left the Kurds at the mercy of Turkey, who wanted them far from their border.

After being left high and dry, they have now humiliatingly and indignantly been forced to forge an alliance with Assad, their erstwhile enemy. But, only a small contingent of American troops have remained in Syria to protect, not the Kurds, but oil. Kikikiki.

Take heed

Bishop Lazi would like to take an opportunity to advise the Americophile comrades among us — for they are many, and there is nothing wrong with this — that this might be a cliché, but it is very true: America does not have permanent friends, but permanent interests, and you are not part of them.

For Americans, their national interest is supreme and paramount; so should it also be for Zimbabwean interests.

What will become of you if Harare and Washington find each other, as they will eventually do, and the Americans decide to tie up the loose ends?

It is not a matter of if, but when.

The Bishop was unpleasantly surprised to see that quite a sizeable number of Zimbabweans could not even agree on the need to pressure the Americans to lift sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.

Whatever our differences, one would imagine that Friday’s event, which was ably supported by our regional brothers and sisters, was an opportunity to find a rallying point.

Is it not fair for sanctions to be removed so that Government can be given a wide berth to pursue its agenda without being unnecessarily encumbered?

Well, one political party, in its “finite” wisdom, or lack thereof, thought that an anti-Government demonstration will do.

Baba’ngu shava. Kikikiki. Zvakazodii?

It is clear whose interests they are pushing.

But, there is a lesson to be learnt from Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus Christ’s disciples.

Luke 22 verses 1-4 teaches us how selling out all begins.

“Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. They were delighted and agreed to give him money. He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.”

And then the curse came.

“The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But, woe to that man who betrays him!” (Luke 22:22) For the record, Judas Iscariot gruesomely hanged himself.

This explains the roll of dishonour I have explained above: Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, the Kurds, the list goes on.

Betraying one’s country comes at a cost, a heavy cost that is sometimes paid with blood. So, we should learn from the Americans, it should always be for God and country.

Bishop out.