Text:
http://www.africanews.org/central/congo-kinshasa/stories/19990411_feat1.html
Source App: [The Forgotten War - Netscape]
The Forgotten War
April 11, 1999
Harare - The Zimbabwean military authorities and the government are doing the
Zimbabwe citizens a disservice by not improving on their public relations. We
find ourselves helpless in trying to assess the validity of unconfirmed reports
on the casualties supposedly inflicted on Zimbabwean troops in the DRC.
Military analysts say that the Zimbabwean troops are spending most of their time consolidating what gains they have made, patrolling these regions and training the Congolese. They are not, apparently, engaged in actively prosecuting the enemy, and are therefore unlikely to have suffered serious casualties.
This is in stark contrast to the disturbing statistics broadcast recently on South African television. Such contradictions only serve to fuel conjecture. Even in the days of the Rhodesian bush war, the Rhodesian military authorities issued regular communiques, released details of casualties and held regular briefings after raids.
Although the information might have been a bunch of lies, it at least allowed journalists the opportunity to report the official side of the story, while checking details with their own sources. Since the start of the DRC war, the only information the authorities have released has been through The Herald, and it has been pretty mild stuff.
The problem with a lack of information is that it allows mental conditions to prevail within the country, and rumours to become rife. We only have to cast our minds back to the seven years our army spent in Mozambique, to recall morbid tales of dead soldiers' bodies being shipped back into the country in refrigerated trucks-all, no doubt, the figment of fertile imaginations.
Military sources who actually operated in Mozambique, claim that the majority of Zimbabwe's casualties during that conflict was from road accidents. The reason for the rumours then, was the press black-out that existed, and a populace which felt intimidated by the government. Now the public are fatigued by the government's transgressions and aren't afraid to say so. The government has indicated a lack of maturity in dealing with such criticism.
Unfortunately, the ZNA seems to be equally convinced that the whole country is against them. This of course is wrong. While we may not agree with the politics that have sent our troops to the DRC, they are still our kith and kin and we support them. Why then, are we denied information on their activities? The ZNA needs to take a leaf out of Nato's book, and emulate the efficient system currently in play in the Kosovo campaign, which allows for constant updates on their activities and casualties.
It would be naive to think that the authorities in Zimbabwe will be forthcoming with such information, which is why the country's journalists have to pound them with requests until they are forced to comply.
The conflicts in both Angola and the DRC are currently under-reported, and the international media have exposed their preoccupation with the conflict in the Balkans. Journalists in this country would be transgressing if they allowed the conflict in the DRC to become the forgotten war.
Copyright © 1999 Zimbabwe Standard. Distributed via Africa News Online (www.africanews.org).