The history of the use of bacteriological and chemical agents during Zimbabwe's liberation war of 1965-80 by Rhodesian forces

In 1979 the largest recorded outbreak of anthrax occurred in Rhodesia, present day Zimbabwe. The incident, widely known in Africa and in intelligence circles is not widely known in the USA or Europe. At the time Rhodesia was fighting a guerilla war against black nationalist insurgents. Rhodesia first accused the nationalist side of using anthrax as a weapon. In allegations that surfaced in 1998--and which persist to this day--external researchers and the current government of Zimbabwe insist that the outbreak in 1978-80 was anything but benign. They argue that the original outbreak was the result of a calculated move by the Rhodesian government with the duplicitous acknowledgment of apartheid South Africa. Furthermore, the government alleges that a current outbreak is the work of disgruntled white farmers in the country. The allegations over the 1979-80 outbreak are given credence by the acknowledgement by Ken Flower, Chief of Rhodesia's Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), and by CIO Officer Henrik Ellert that the white minority regime of Ian Smith used biological and chemical weapons against the guerillas, against rural blacks to prevent their support of the guerillas and against cattle to reduce rural food stocks. The current government and researchers have drawn inferences from his statements to show that the unusual outbreak in 1978-80 was a deliberate use of weaponized anthrax. These inferences rely on important facts which will be highlighted in this paper, namely that: 1) by 1978 the 'writing was on the wall' for the white regime and recourse to a weapon of last resort was not unfathomable; 2) because of its international status, Rhodesia had become an expert in sanctions busting; 3) the alliance between South Africa and Rhodesia makes the allegations more credible; and 4) the current government of Zimbabwe has purposefully failed to launch a formal investigation because it is convenient to its continued survival to vilify the former regime and current white farmers in order to deflect attention away from the 21-year-old dictatorship of Robert Mugabe and the economic woes that have followed from the regime's mismanagement.