Zimbabwe: The Case For No U.N.

Here I thought the United Nations was supposed to protect the world's downtrodden, but, Holy Cow, it appears they are too busy quibbling over the wording of documents on human rights and passing resolutions condemning Israel for wanting to continue to exist to actually care about people.

Why do we even bother to have a U.N. when one day's news brings these two stories?

The men who pulled up in three white pickup trucks were looking for Patson Chipiro (pictured), head of the Zimbabwean opposition party in Mhondoro district. His wife, Dadirai, told them he was in Harare but would be back later in the day, and the men departed.

An hour later they were back. They grabbed Mrs Chipiro and chopped off one of her hands and both her feet. Then they threw her into her hut, locked the door and threw a petrol bomb through the window. (Times of London)

And this:

Zimbabwean authorities confiscated a truck loaded with 20 tons of American food aid for poor schoolchildren and ordered that the wheat and pinto beans aboard be handed out to supporters of President Robert Mugabe at a political rally instead, the American ambassador said Wednesday. (Times of New York)

Robert Mugabe has given the world more than enough lessons in why he should not be allowed to remain in power in Zimbabwe. By his hand, his country lies in ruin, thousands of graves are filled with people whose only crime was to question his government, and hunger for hope competes with hunger for food as the national past-time. But the U.N. lets him rule, pretending that the recent toss-up election was somehow fair and Mugabe somehow has a continuing right to leadership.

As evidence, Sec Gen Ban Ki-moon met with Mugabe recently in Rome for a little chat (Obama supporters take note), and now is dispatching a senior emissary to the country:

Haile Menkerios, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, is expected to visit Zimbabwe from next Monday until 20 June, a spokesperson for Mr. Ban announced today.

Mr. Menkerios will discuss the political situation and the upcoming presidential election – which is scheduled to take place on 27 June – while in the Southern African country. (UN News)

And what will come of that? Another report that says things are bad in Zimbabwe? Great. Try to find room for it on the shelf. How about this for an alternative?

Prior to the election, Banki can get behind the mikes and say that if Mugabe is re-elected or otherwise continues to hold onto power, he will push for Zimbabwe to be expelled from the United Nations as a "worthless state." So much for aid and assistance.

Then all the UN Peacekeepers in the area can be re-routed to Zimbabwe temporarily (giving the local populations of young girls and boys in the countries the Peacekeepers come from some blessed relief), in order to present an armed presence at the polls -- with shoot to kill orders for anyone attempting to disrupt the election.

Then, the UN could collect all the ballots and with international oversight, count them.

Then, the results in hand, they could arrest Robert Mugabe and his henchmen and ferry them off to The Hague for their trial as criminals against humanity.

In my dreams. The Mugabes of the world exist because the UN exists, giving them a legitimacy they don't deserve ... which is pretty easy to do, since the UN steeps in legitimacy it doesn't deserve.

China Helping Mugabe Crush Opposition

Because I've been writing a lot about China's repression of Tibet lately, I've been getting a fair amount of hate comments from yellow journalists China supporters. I wonder if they support this:

A Chinese ship anchored outside Durban port in South Africa earlier this week with a consignment of arms for Zimbabwe, where a bloody crackdown on the opposition is in full swing.

An investigative magazine, Noseweek, raised the alert Wednesday, saying the An Yue Yiang was waiting for permission to offload 70 tonnes of weapons for transport by road to Zimbabwe.

The shipment comprised millions of rounds of ammunition for AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, grenade launchers, and mortar bombs and tubes, Noseweek editor Martin Welz, who saw the shipping manifest, said.

Customs officials confirmed that the ship was carrying arms. The ship's captain confirmed to SAPA news agency he had cargo for Zimbabwe.

According to Welz, the shipment was paid for in January, two months before Zimbabwe's disputed elections.

But the timing of the delivery, coming amid mounting reports of 'revenge' attacks by Zanu-PF supporters on supporters of the rival Movement for Democratic Change, has raised fears the weapons, even if part of a routine order, could be used against civilians. (source)

Mugabe should be leaving office, having lost an election fair and square before his party made the results indecisive, unfair and unsquare. Instead, he is clinging to his job, despite having utterly ruined one of Africa's finest countries through his greed and corruption.

And what does China -- the country my commenters would have us believe is the victim of the Tibetans instead of the other way around -- do at this critical juncture? Do they support the people? Of course not!

They support the man who is poised to brutally repress his own people, like an acorn that hasn't fallen far from the China tree.

Whip Inflation Now, Mugabe Style

Any guess what the inflation rate in the once paradisiacal country of Zimbabwe was last month? 100%? 1,000%? 10,000%? I'll have the probable answer in a minute.

It's anyone's guess, really, as the Times of London reports:

Zimbabwe can no longer calculate the rate of inflation because there are not enough goods left in the shops to allow price comparisons, the Central Statistical Office claimed yesterday.

Moffat Nyoni, the Director of the CSO, said that it had been impossible to compile reliable data for the past month because of “the unavailability of required information such as prices of goods, due to their shortage on the formal market”.

Robert Mugabe's single-handed destruction of the former Rhodesia now appears to be nearly complete. Of course we've said that before, only to find that the inventive despot can find new ways to make things worse. He has won the record as the world's current foremost example of why countries and markets should be free.

The inflation rate? Well, figures leaked to the paper peg it at 14,840%, up from 8,000% last month -- this as the Carteresque Mugabe assures his countrymen nation of prisoners that his government is whipping inflation. At least that's what he says when he's not whipping the businessmen who refuse to go along with his solution to inflation: Forcing retail price drops below the cost of goods.

And you wonder why they can't find enough goods on the shelves to get a reading of what the inflation rate is?

Mugabe takes not one whit of blame for this mess, blaming inflation instead on a conspiracy of Zimbabwe's battered business community and the African version of the bogeyman -- "Western governments" -- who are conspiring to create economic chaos, forcing Mugabe from office.

That's not a bad idea, actually, and I hope the CIA Africa desk at Langely is elbows deep in such a conspiracy ... if indeed anyone but a nation's leadership can manufacture inflation. I think that would be tough because inflation is, in one sense, a measure of a populace's faith in its government; the higher the inflation, the lower the trust.

The solution, then, appears obvious: Change the government.

Of course we've said that before, too, only to find that the inventive despot can find new ways to hang onto power.

Mugabe Again Proves U.N.'s Weakness

This badly beaten face belongs to Morgan Tsvanvirai, a leader of the opposition to Robert Mugabe's dictatorial regime in Zimbabwe.

His beating, following an anti-government demonstration, was so severe he suffered a skull fracture and needed transfusions due to internal bleeding, BBC reports.

The government blames the opposition -- 49 of whom were arrested -- for attacking police, who had to fight back, causing the injuries.

That's interesting. You'd think federal prosecutors would show up in court if these folks attacked police, but no prosecutors were to be seen, so the 49 were released.

Correspondents covering the trial said there were an "astonishing" number of broken arms among the demonstrators, indicating a high level of physical violence occured in Zimbabwe's police station.

Our reaction, stated by Condi Rice:

"The world community again has been shown that the regime of Robert Mugabe is ruthless and repressive and creates only suffering for the people of Zimbabwe."

She's right that the whole world has seen what a thug Mugabe is (again). The problem is that China sees but doesn't care. It will continue to block UN efforts to protect Zimbabweans from Mugabe, proving once again the powerlessness of the world body.

Even South Africa, which to its great shame sells arms to Mugabe's government, spoke out against Mugabe this time, but there was no condemnation from China. It will likely come, but it will be hollow, as Beijing will continue to support Mugabe politically and economically.

The U.N. is frozen, the African Union is powerless to do anything, and the world just watches. It would take U.S. troops a day to topple this piece of human slime. Unfortunately, the failure to secure Iraq has shown us that regime change is not a simple matter, so Mugabe sits content on his bloody throne.