Where the Hell is Matt?

This guy's gets it.



And fuck the assholes who can't get it figured out. Sorry you're such a prick.

I'm with Matt.

This is why pressure will not work in Zimbabwe

Because that's the problem. Or, at least, it is the consistent excuse that Mugabe has to offer.

Zimbabwe official: Mandela bowed to West

What Robert Mugabe is consistently able to use as propaganda to rally people of Zimbabwe to his utterly ugly, failed, and ridiculously dysfunctional leadership is Zimbabwe's past colonial relationship to Great Britain, and, by extension, the West, and the manipulation of internal Zimbabwean affairs by foreign forces.

We've already poisoned the well with imperial activity. Manipulating them further only strengthens Mugabe's hand. The abuse of power does have consequences, whether we want to face those consequences or not. And, in this case, our abuses of power have kept a murderous, repressive thug in power.

Morgan Tsvangirai's suggestion for United Nations peacekeepers to guarantee a free and fair election is the best proposal I have heard thusfar.

He is now disavowing it, I think likely in response to pressure from Mugabe and his government mouthpiece, the Herald, referring to Tsvangirai's talk of United Nations troops as calling "for military intervention in Zimbabwe disguised as peacekeepers," which prompted Mugabe to rally Zimbabweans to "vote for the ruling party to show the world their resolve to defend the country's sovereignty and independence." And that is the heart of the problem.

I agree with Tsvangirai that United Nations peacekeepers guaranteeing a free and fair election is the most ideal way out of this mess. The people of Zimbabwe need to remove this despot, if despotism is not to become a habit in Zimbabwe and if liberal and democratic principles are to take root. The troops should be made up by as many African nations as possible, and some from Zimbabwe, if some independent Zimbabweans might be able to volunteer for such a force (Zimbabwean government forces should either be excluded or only included if it is absolutely clear that they can act independently, a likelihood I doubt), and as few European and American forces, as possible. We need a competent and credible professional troop presence. If African nations can do the trick, that would be ideal. But if they cannot, as many non-European and non-American troops as possible would be best to ward off fears of foreign invasion or occupation by Zimbabwe's most recent imperial masters or those they associate with them.

We want these elections to be free and fair. We also want Mugabe booted, is the truth. But we neither want to determine that outcome for the Zimbabwean people, nor do we want them to keep him in power as a bulwark against British and Western imperialism. Zimbabweans should bring Mugabe to justice, ideally, which can best happen with a self-determined democratic election that ousts him from power and brings him to justice for his horrific crimes against Zimbabwe and humanity.

We will find this in most places around the world, today. It is our abuses of power that undermine our ability to use our power wisely. This is a valuable situation to learn that lesson. Because learning it will make all the difference in the success or not of our efforts.