By Crison Mugari
LIKE smoke, mirrors can be “blinding” – and have pretty much the same effect as the by-product of (deadly, and destructive) fires!
And this is pretty much the way that Zimbabweans – and all well-meaning people – must view Al Jazeera’s ‘gold mafia’ documentary.
While l have chosen to work with the “literary translation of smoke and mirrors”, and their uncannily related or similar effects on the human body, l am sure many will agree with me that the news network’s “expose” has “blinded and choked many” in terms of their perception of our country, and its leadership.
And those emotional-filled consequences have manifested themselves in the anger, and rage towards Harare’s body politic as well as key national institutions – just as the “hostility has been as sharp as the deadly edges of a broken mirror, blinding or suffocating smoke” of any inferno!
And from a national, patriotic position, this is how Zimbabweans MUST look at this so-called four-part documentary series, which when analysed from a non-partisan/blinkered perspective might give a totally different picture or outcome.
Firstly, it must not only be understood that the Al Jazeera films have had an effect of potentially destroying many of Harare’s socio-economic gains since 1980, including goodwill in the eyes of investors and our quest to rejoin such platforms as the Commonwealth, but some ‘geo-political project’ thrust upon us without proper knowledge as to its meaning and intended objectives.
Given the above – and the very public knowledge of Qatar’s on-going beef or feud with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – is it not TIME we start asking ourselves pertinent questions about: whether Zimbabwe was actually NOT used by the Doha-funded broadcaster to fight, perpetuate a war with Dubai, how the greed of a few miscreants like Uebert Angel and Ewan Macmillan’s tomfoolery cannot be ascribed to the whole country, and our leadership?
For clues on how this kind of projects work, one only NEEDS to look at how ‘uncle Sam’ is wreaking havoc in South Africa over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to Pretoria.
Crucially, is it too difficult to understand that it is really impossible to “hide” US$1,2 billion in a ‘diplomatic bag’ because the Geneva Convention prohibits the use of such privileged facilities to move goods and cash unintended for the use of the accredited mission or embassy?
For a company that has been secretly recording people for TWO to THREE years, have we asked ourselves as to why Al Jazeera did NOT disclose its motives to its victims, what inducements it had offered these ‘useful idiots, if not mercenaries’ before putting them on camera, why it has chosen to broadcast its doccie THREE months before our elections and whether tricky characters like Canadian national Alistair Mathias was actually not motivated by his lust for dollars to claim friendships with President Emmerson Mnangagwa, let alone knowing him?
Still on the UAE, is it NOT possible that the Qatari-based outfit – a network with so many credibility issues across the world – used us a “prime target and pawn” in its government’s socio-economic war against a Gulf neighbour based on Harare’s so-called bad-boy, if not rogue state, tag to smear its Middle East peer as a money laundering hub (when the truth of the matter is that it is not possible to pass through Dubai airport with US$10 000-plus without declaring it)!
Again, has anyone bothered to ask or consider why virtually everyone ensnared in the “blockbuster movie” has threatened or are on the verge of unleashing lawyers on the state-funded broadcaster on deception charges and to challenge the way, process or method it used in collecting its information – and the company is virtually quiet on this development – and whether its very damaging doccie is NOT actually against Zimbabwe’s long-term national interests?
By definition, “smoke and mirrors” is about deception and, so, l really believe that it is time for all Zimbabweans to consider Al Jazeera and its co-conspirators’ actions as a ploy to whip up emotions against the leadership by creating such an ugly picture of developments on the ground (mirror), and using a scorched earth policy as well as choking people with emotions (just like smoke) in a bid to sow seeds of socio-economic discontent.
So, people MUST remain careful about falling prey to the Arabian news network’s “smoke, and mirrors tricks” – in exactly the fashion, and true meaning of the phrase – which are targeted at deceiving them on many fronts!