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If you fought for Cecil Rhodes, you aren't a hero.
by rodgerd 10y ago
If you fought for Cecil Rhodes, you aren't a hero.
- arethuza 10y ago"He’d fought against Communist-backed insurgencies in Cyprus from 1957 to 1960, and in Rhodesia from 1960 to 1963." Cecil Rhodes died in 1902? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Rhodes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Rhodes
- mxfh 10y agoIt's about the country which is now known as Zimbabwe, which still had this colonial name up to 1980.
- guard-of-terra 10y agoWould you call Zimbabwe a success?
- jahnu 10y agoPeople prefer to make their own mistakes and not have "order" imposed upon them.
- noelwelsh 10y agoIt's not necessarily the case in war that either side is "good". It certainly wasn't the case in the Rhodesian war, though we have to be careful to distinguish the actions of the leaders from the actions of individuals who get caught in events outside their control.
- guard-of-terra 10y agoThis addresses the second Main Russian Question but not the first one: "Who's there to blame" but not "What's there to do". What's there to do with Zimbabwe now? And other post-decolonization failed states?
- noelwelsh 10y agoI really don't know. There aren't many models for successfully transitioning out of a dictatorship. A few European countries have done it but in a vastly different context. As for what will actually be done, that's fairly easy to guess: in all likelihood nothing, unless Zimbabwe somehow starts to threaten western interests.
- pjc50 10y agoI'm having trouble lining up the history dates exactly. It seems to have been one of the forgotten conflicts of the retreat of the British Empire; Wikipedia dates the "Bush War" to 64-79, slightly after the 63 that this guy is supposed to have fought there. White Supremacists vs. Communists. Not really something anyone involved should be very proud of. But that appears to have been after Rick left. He would have been in the British colonial police, which was a pretty ugly position to be in but the British government was also attempting to ensure that Rhodesia did not secede as an apartheit state.
- sangnoir 10y ago> White Supremacists vs. Communists I'd say nominal communists. Cold war liberation politics was...complicated. British colonial authorities were allied with the west by default, so the "liberation" movements could only get funding, training and arms from communists. In exchange, they would have to show outwards signs of supporting communism, but that was not what they were fighting for.
- pjc50 10y agoOh, indeed. It was practically the only way to be anti-colonialist. ISTR the IRA declared themselves to be Marxist at some point for this reason, despite not really having any Marxist or Communist doctrine.
- refurb 10y agoISTR the IRA declared themselves to be Marxist at some point for this reason, despite not really having any Marxist or Communist doctrine. Marxism was quite deeply imbedded in the IRA platform and became the doctrine of the "Official IRA" once it split off from the parent organization.
- lostboys67 10y agoTo the point they had to hide it when they had American Visitors "quick take own the posters of che" - as this would have impacted passing the hat for the "boys behind the wire" in some Boston pubs
- venomsnake 10y agoYes you are. The fact that you imagine some causes as evil, doesn't mean anything. And does not diminish the heroism.