Americans, wake up and see the similarities
What I loved about Catch A Fire is it did not shy away from the fact that the ANC used terrorist tactics to achieve it's objective. While no rational thinking human being could actually defend apartheid, the methods used by the ANC are often glossed over by a more romantic version of history.
The statement that Catch A Fire was making was that the Botha government's policies towards, and treatment of, suspected ANC operatives actually created MORE "terrorists". Regardless of whether Patrick Chamusso wished for a free South Africa, he was willing to keep his head down and go along with the program in order to keep his family fed and safe. But when the brutal tactics of the Botha security forces hit him too close to home, rather than caving in to the overwhelming force of his oppressors he instead rose up against them. In other words, Nic Vos caused Patrick Chamusso to become a terrorist.
Sound familiar? Did anybody else notice the similarities between the "security" strategies of the pro-apartheid government of South Africa and the current regime in the USA?
Secret prisons, infinite detention of suspects without charges, brutal treatment of detainees, etc. It didn't work in South Africa and it's not going to work in the middle east. If you treat someone like a terrorist long enough, chances are they will eventually become one. Exhibit A: I give you Al Queda in Iraq.