Prexy Nesbitt, a Chicago-based anti-apartheid activist, delivered this talk for the In the Public Interest radio show. At the time, Prexy Nesbitt was Director, Inter Press Service Africa Project Washington D.C. 2 pages

Nesbitt, Prexy

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Columbia College ChicagoDigital Commons @ Columbia College ChicagoRozell 'Prexy' Nesbitt Writings and Speeches Rozell "Prexy" Nesbitt Anti-Apartheid Collection6-1-1979Rhodesia: "The Slipperty Slopes of Intervention"Prexy NesbittColumbia College ChicagoFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.colum.edu/nesbittwritingsPart of the Arts and Humanities Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Rozell "Prexy" Nesbitt Anti-Apartheid Collection at Digital Commons @ ColumbiaCollege Chicago. It has been accepted for inclusion in Rozell 'Prexy' Nesbitt Writings and Speeches by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons @ Columbia College Chicago. For more information, please contact drossetti@colum.edu.Recommended CitationNesbitt, Prexy, "Rhodesia: "The Slipperty Slopes of Intervention"" (1979). Rozell 'Prexy' Nesbitt Writings and Speeches. 15.https://digitalcommons.colum.edu/nesbittwritings/15; In the Public Interest Radio June 1,1979 ... , , Prexy Nesbitt • ,.._.,.,. pirector IPS Africa Project Washington D.C. ~ RHODESIA:"THE SLIPPERY SLOPES OF INTERVENTION" In the now independent country of Guine Bissau in Africa people there have a saying. They say','No fist is big enough to hide the sky." So it is too with the situation in Rhodesia. The recently held and so-called fair elections there are not sufficient to hide a constitution constructed to favor the white settler minority • . Nor can they hide the state of martial law which prevails over 90% of the country. Nor can the elections hide the fact that the war not only continues but has escalated to the point of a daily death toll of between 100 and 200 and to a cost to the Rhodesian economy of over $1,000,000 a day. The war cannot be wished away by Rhodesia's new Prime Minister and Defense Minister,Methodist Bishop Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa. All this is fairly well known information. But what we,the American people, are not so aware of is how close the United States is to a deepening involvement working with the side of white supremacist, now Minister-without-Portfolio, Ian Smith,the white settler community and the Bishop's forces. Besides the May 17th "Sense of the Congress" 75-19 vote by the Senate to lift sanctions, there have already been calls by some Senators,as early as the March " "observer" hearings,that we should send arms to any new "democratically elected government in Rhodesia. Further, the April 1979 Newsletter of the New York-based Concerned Citizens Committee on Africa reports that the Pentagon recently conducted simulation exercises which included airlifting Marines from the US Seventh Fleet to secure the perimeters of Rhodesian airfields. We hear much in the US press about the so-called "terrorists" and "Slippery Slopes"- p. 2 their alleged killing of white nuns. What we, the American people, don't hear about is items like a recent report to the UN Security Council which shows a heightened number of arms ; , and helicopters-many of US origin- now being secreted into Rhodesia. What we, the American people, need to remind ourselves about is how familiar it all sounds. Perhaps our role in Southeast Asia in the 196O's? Ot maybe • our role in the Congo Crisis in 1963-64? Our military airlift cooperation with South Africa in Angola in 197S-76,perhaps or maybe our airlift of Belgian,French and Moroccan troops to Zaire in 1978 to fight the Katangese troops who "just wanted to return home?(Did our administration ever find the Cuban troops they told us were leading the Katangan invasion?) We have been on"the slippery slopes of intervention" before in countries throughout the world. But our recent activities and the fact that South Africa is the new Rhodesian gover~ment's staunchest ally seem to introduce a new twist-one which links US policy with that of white settler colonialism. It all seems to recall an old boy scout camp song ••• the words of which are something like: We are marching to Pretoria Pretoria, Pretoria, We are marchin' to Pretoria ret-fr;a PRE TOR IA Hurrah(?)?! 

Rhodesia:  The Slipperty Slopes of Intervention

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Rhodesia: The Slipperty Slopes of Intervention

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