A Tribute to the Fighting Generation : part6

Mindgames and betrayal.

This segment has been long in coming. The main reason for this is the fact that if not worded correctly it could take a very political colour. And Chatshack is a-political, totally neutral.

My first awareness of "the enemy" came in high school. There was a sub. called: "Geestesweerbaarheid*, which translates loosely as " mental/psychological preparedness".

The enemy that was described to us was real, but the enemy was only an enemy to the government of the day. Not really to the general populace of SA.

Then came national service. 2 years of afkak and fighting the enemy. Us that did not fight in the border war tried to keep insurgents out that would " sneak in with groups of " illegal immgrants". And yes there were terrorist attacks. Landmines, limpet mines in fast food outlets, even a church was a legitimate target. So we believed we were fighting the good fight.

As a cop the enemy had the same name, same face and same agenda that we learned about in the SADF. (Or so we were told over and over)

Then came the negotiations with "the enemy" negotiations we were not part of. One day we hear the enemy is no more an enemy. They are to become our colleagues. And that left a feeling of utter betrayal. What did we kak af for in training? What did army buddies and SAP colleagues die for? Black cops burnt to death in their homes, sometimes with their families. White cops ambushed and shot in cold blood? Suddenly the same government that told us how bad these people were, how they had to be shot on site, was telling us how they had been justified in all their actions because they had been oppressed.

This piece is not about the right and wrong of apartheid and the liberation struggle. It is about the mindfuck a soldier and cop feels when the political opinion he was led to accept as only truth is denied and changed by the self-same masters that brainwashed him from 13 years old. Your whole idea of right and wrong is lost. And then they leave you in that situation of total confusion without so much as even a debriefing or counselling session.

Politicians all lie at some point.

Written by

Mike

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