Zimbabwe's real devil
From Mr Phil Wyness Sir: Fergal Keane (Blind eye to slaughter', 16 March) makes an isolated snide reference to 'the ghastly Ian Smith'; however, he enlightens us no further. Given that such spiteful remarks are de rigueur for the likes of Keane and the school of broadcasting he represents, would there be any point in asking him to expand on his choice of adjective? Surely it would have been far more appropriate to apply it to the subject of the article, Mugabe.
I lived and worked in that part of the
world before the darkness fell in. As far as I could tell, Ian Smith was one of us. That is to say, he was not a mass murderer, corrupt or evil, and he had the interests of Rhodesia as a whole at heart, including the blacks. He, along with many more white farmers, employed, fed, educated and provided them with medical care. Law and order prevailed.
Perhaps what gets up Keane's nose is that the early prognostications of Ian Smith have turned into such tragic reality, just as in the rest of Africa. It's a pity for the sake of the truth that BBC correspondents can't 'cut the crap' and put two and two together to make four.
Phil Wyness
Esher, Surrey
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