Zimbabwe
Norm Geras has an excellent post on Zimbabwe’s latest spate of Mugabe-led violence. Likewise Chester (ht Instapundit) and Wretchard at The Belmont Club.
StrategyPage’s archives on Zimbabwe document the turmoil — particularly the last five years following the stolen election in 2000. I wrote a number of those updates.
Here’s a link to a column from February 2002 — I dub Robert Mugabe the “Slobodan Milosevic” of Africa.
Here’s the lede:
He’s an ethnic cleanser, a “former Marxist” and a cynical thief whose greed and mismanagement has destroyed a once productive economy.
His scheme to retain power involves the dictator’s usual routines: stoking ethnic strife, inciting economic envy, silencing the press, physically intimidating his domestic opposition.
Serbia’s Slobodan Milosevic? No, Slobo’s been nabbed and is on trial in the Hague. This time the scoundrel is Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe. The local context is a March 2002 national election in Zimbabwe, where once again Mugabe’s election platform includes the murder of his democratic opponents in the black-led Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Mugabe is never held accountable for his oppression and destruction.
I have friends who at one time worked in Zimbabwe (for an extensive period). It became clear in the late 1990s that Mugabe’s regime was decaying — which is a mild way to put it. Mugabe’s involvement in the Congo War (renting soldiers for access to resources) was an indicator StrategyPage noted early on (can’t find a link but it’s in the archives, somewhere).
Unfortunately, Africa is probably history’s biggest “good old boy” network, which is why nothing will ever be done about Zimbabwe. African tyrants stick together. And if the UN could not muster the will to intervene in Rwanda during the genocide (where there were UN troops), they won’t do it in Zimbabwe. The UN will continue to do what it does best - nothing.
Comment by Mwalimu Daudi — 6/9/2005 @ 11:19 am
I’ve been blogging on Zimbabwe and the rest of Africa off and on for the past two years. I’ve always asked this question: Where in the hell are our Black Politicians on this? Aid requires a consensus. I have opined that they only care about more welfare checks for their various constituencies. I also wrote a major essay on farming, researched like hell. There is opinion out there that if the Africans used Genetically Engeneered grain starvation would end in two growing seasons. Environmentalists from the EU won’t have it. Their own farmers are among the least efficient on the planet and they have told Africa that if they use GE seeds France will cut them off to all trade. DDT would end malaria within days too.
Comment by Howard Veit — 6/9/2005 @ 12:02 pm
It is quite amazing what is happening in Zimbabwe and the lack of MSM coverage, where is the moral outrage by the liberals. If this was Iraq you can be sure we would hear about it.
Comment by Anna — 6/9/2005 @ 3:05 pm
What was Jimmy Carter’s take on the 2000 election in Zimbabwe
Comment by davod — 6/10/2005 @ 3:18 am
Most African countries aren’t capable of governing themselves. No one wants to admit this or do anything about it. As for the people who are going to die . . . they’re black, they’re foreigners, no one really cares. Too bad, but no skin off our tails. So they’ll be allowed to die. THE SAUDS MUST BE DESTROYED!
Comment by Stephen M. St. Onge — 6/10/2005 @ 5:26 am
This is from my new satire blog. Visit if you like it. http://satire.myblogsite.com/blog (June 12, 2005) Irish Bono, the leader of U.2., and his English counterpart, Tony Blair, the leader of U.K., plan to co-host July G-8 summit at Bono’s humble palace in Scotland. Bono, a rocker turned politician, has a plan to solve the poverty and the AIDS epidemic in Africa. “We should eliminate all trade barriers with Africa. In 17th and 18th centuries, Africa exported jazz music to the U.S.A, which at the time was a musical dump. The free flow of music modernized America, and now it is leading the world in pop culture and music. Its time to export rock music and rap crap to Africa. While in Tibet, I studied the healing aspects of classical music on HIV/AIDS patients. However, in this post-modern age, exporting the decadent and decayed music of the dead white Christian European males will not be sensitive to the black Africa, with its large animistic and Muslim population,” explained Bono, who holds a Ph.D. in economics and Masters in the history of music. “Moreover, my colleague Dr. Dean will address the side effects of such quack medicine in the upcoming meeting of the Democratic National Committee,” continued Bono. Dr. Howard Dean, the chairman of the D.N.C., is well known for his recent diagnosis of the Republican Party as a white Christian party. In addition, my good friend Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, a respected musician, talented lyricist, generous philantropist and a non-partisan Democratic party operative, volunteered to turn ‘Rock the Vote”‘ organization into the ‘Africa Corp’ of 21st century,” said Bono. “After ‘Rock the Vote’ and the gay rights movement successfully got Bush’s ass during the 2004 election, its time to go home - Africa,” stated P. Diddy, who is a black Muslim. “However, to be successful, we must adopt our methods of intercouse with the local population with its narrow minded traditions of strictly heterosexuality.”
Comment by David — 6/13/2005 @ 3:47 am
Visit This is Zimbabwe, our blog which is regularly updated with personal details of what’s actually going on on the ground in Zimbabwe. It’s beyond belief. We’re blogging our hearts out, desperately trying to make people aware - please help us to get the word out there! Many thanks, Sokwanele (Enough is Enough in Ndebele).
Comment by Sokwanele — 6/16/2005 @ 5:33 pm