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whats happening in Zimbabwe

Mugabe says "no more Mr Nice Guy". :rolleyes:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world...says-opposition/2008/04/07/1207420215226.html

Zimbabwe is on a "razor's edge'', opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai wrote in a comment piece published today, as the country's ruling party refused to release its grip on power.
Mr Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), wrote in Britain's The Guardian that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was committing an "act of political thuggery'' and declared that it was now a "time for strong action''.
He urged the International Monetary Fund to withhold $A2.16 billion of development aid to Zimbabwe unless Mr Mugabe stepped down, and called for South Africa, Britain and the United States to put more pressure on Mr Mugabe and his supporters to stand aside.
"A mooted presidential run-off ... is a sham,'' Mr Tsvangirai wrote. "Our country is on a razor's edge.''
Mr Tsvangirai wrote that Mr Mugabe was building up government troops, blocking court proceedings aimed at forcing the country's election commission to release the results of the March 29 vote, had raided the MDC's offices, and was "casting a pall of suppression and gloom over the country''.
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Still waiting on the election results.High court in Zimbabwe says they will make a ruling on whether they will be announced.
Trouble is no matter what the result no-one will believe it is all above board.
 
petra10 said:
Still waiting on the election results.High court in Zimbabwe says they will make a ruling on whether they will be announced.
Trouble is no matter what the result no-one will believe it is all above board.
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The result was always not going to be above board, because even with the opposition winning, it was only because the task of stuffing the ballot boxes was so large, ZANU PF wasn't up to it this time. The closeness of the result indicates that. They shouldn't have got more than about 5% of the vote.
 
petra10 said:
Still waiting on the election results.High court in Zimbabwe says they will make a ruling on whether they will be announced.
Trouble is no matter what the result no-one will believe it is all above board.
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Considering Mugabe's record, you can't really blame people for doubting a Mugabe win would be above board.
 
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/mugabe-pulls-out-of-crisis-summit/2008/04/12/1207856880383.html

Mugabe decides he's going to shed as much blood as he has to, to ensure his place in the Guiness Book of Records for country with the highest ever inflation rate will never be beaten.

President Robert Mugabe today pulled out of a regional summit on Zimbabwe's post-election crisis and tightened his grip on power, banning all political rallies and deploying riot police in the capital.
Thirteen days after the presidential election no result has been forthcoming and while Mugabe's ruling party is adamant there will be a run-off, the opposition says Morgan Tsvangirai won outright and will not compete.
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) called today on Zimbabweans to launch a general strike next week and to remain off work until the result of the election is made public.
And amid increasing reports of threats in Mugabe's rural heartlands, the United States spoke out and urged the president to stop "violence and intimidation" against those wanting to express their political rights.
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So we're still waiting for the election results... Maybe Mugabe's tactic is just to keep stalling until everyone forgets about it :)

I think it's clear now that the celebratory newspaper headlines were a little premature. Oh well. Maybe he'll die soon.
 
Well, Gordon Brown has said the world cant wait any longer for the result of the elections. Mugabe says Mr Brown is a "little tiny dot" on the world stage.
Thabo Mbeki, the south African president, says "there is no crisis in Zimbabwe.


Mugabe imo is not going to budge without a fight.I can only see violence ahead for Zimbabwe.
 
BPSCG said:
The only thing U.N. soldiers drag out is corpses after they stumble on another civilian massacre.
Yes, it would serve him right to die in bed like Slobodan Milosevic did during the fifth year of his trial.
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Yup.
 
The current state of play (I think) is:

1--The MDC has petitioned Zimbabwe's High Court to order the release of the presidential ballot results by the Electoral Commission, but the Court judge has not decided that yet

2--ZANU-PF asked the Electoral Commission to recount the presidential and the 9already released) parliamentary ballots in 22 constituencies. The ZEC has agreed to do this in 5 days' time. It seems possible that such a recount could restore ZANU-PF's majority in parliament.

Whole thing absolutely stinks.
 
I think what AUP was objecting to was routine bashing of UN peace keeping efforts.

Mostly this routine bashing comes from people who have supported the vastly corrupt and incompetent Iraqi occupation led by Bush.

What to make of this disaster to a UN peace keeping force basher. If peace keeping was so easy and the US is so good at it and the UN is so bad at it why this result?

To a jingoistic American UN peace keeping force basher this is a question that is never asked. It is just assumed that what the US does is good and what everybody else does is bad so the American led disaster in Iraq doesn't slow down their jingoism one bit. UN bad, US good. Just repeat it over and over and it becomes the truth, kind of.
 
davefoc said:
I think what AUP was objecting to was routine bashing of UN peace keeping efforts.

Mostly this routine bashing comes from people who have supported the vastly corrupt and incompetent Iraqi occupation led by Bush.

What to make of this disaster to a UN peace keeping force basher. If peace keeping was so easy and the US is so good at it and the UN is so bad at it why this result?

To a jingoistic American UN peace keeping force basher this is a question that is never asked. It is just assumed that what the US does is good and what everybody else does is bad so the American led disaster in Iraq doesn't slow down their jingoism one bit. UN bad, US good. Just repeat it over and over and it becomes the truth, kind of.
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I wasn't aware that this thread had anything to do with the U.S. or Iraq. Thanks for enlightening me on that score.

My original crack about the U.N. not dragging out anything except dead civilian bodies was prompted by this:
Sefart said:
If that's the case, maybe we can get some UN intervention, i.e. soldiers draggin Mugabe out by force.
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I would expect someone to win the JREF million before seeing the U.N. drag out Mugabe, or any dictator, by force. Does it keep the peace anywhere that the belligerents don't already want peace in the first place?

And could you please explain to me what this has to do with the U.S. or Iraq? Do you believe that only "jingoistic" Americans who support the Iraq war notice how ineffectual the U.N. is at keeping the peace?
 
davefoc said:
All good points.

I had a negative reaction to what seemed like just routine UN bashing, that I wish I hadn't shared.
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Damn you, davefoc, stop being so reasonable. Here I was all geared up for a good argument. I can feel the testosterone coursing through my veins as I type this and now I have no choice but to go outside and punch someone.

Oh, joy; the Jehovah's Witnesses are knocking at my door.
 
Why bother sending in the UN?

The world of the intellectuals and ivory tower idealists rejoiced when the blacks tossed out the whites in Zimbabwe. The only problem was that of expectations: that all would proceed as before, with merely the color of leadership changing.

It didn't work out that way.

Let Zimbabwe sort out its problems in its own way. If that means via civil war, so be it.

The US had a civil war for four years to sort out any number of things, likewise the Russians. Mao fought for over twenty years versus Chiang and the Japanese to sort out China.

Once they get tired of killing one another, in Zimbabwe, they'll either break the country up or patch it back together.

Let them control their own destiny.

DR
 
Darth Rotor said:
Why bother sending in the UN?

The world of the intellectuals and ivory tower idealists rejoiced when the blacks tossed out the whites in Zimbabwe. The only problem was that of expectations: that all would proceed as before, with merely the color of leadership changing.

It didn't work out that way.

Let Zimbabwe sort out its problems in its own way. If that means via civil war, so be it.

The US had a civil war for four years to sort out any number of things, likewise the Russians. Mao fought for over twenty years versus Chiang and the Japanese to sort out China.

Once they get tired of killing one another, in Zimbabwe, they'll either break the country up or patch it back together.

Let them control their own destiny.

DR
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Why do you hate Zimbabwe?
 
I hate to see any country at war,especially countries where people are aready suffering because of ruthless rulers.

I am hoping for some intervention by Kofi Aman or the African Congress.Hopefully to stop what happened in Kenya.

Unfortunitly I can only see violence on the streets of Zimbabwe, where the people suffer and the likes of Mugabe sit back and wait to pounce.
 
petra10 said:
I am hoping for some intervention by Kofi Aman or the African Congress.Hopefully to stop what happened in Kenya.
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Hope is nice.

"Have the audacity to hope for that child of yours. Have the audacity to hope for that home of yours. Have the audacity to hope for that church of yours. Whatever it is you've been praying for, keep on praying, and you may find, like my grandmother sings, "There's a bright side somewhere; there is a bright side somewhere. Don't you rest until you find it, for there is a bright side somewhere." - Rev. Jeremiah Wright

"Hope is not a strategy." - Hillary Clinton

“I would also say that despair is not a method.” - General John Abizaid, in response to the above.
 
BPSCG said:
Are you claiming the U.N. drags out something else besides corpses? If so, what might that be?

Or that it doesn't even drag out corpses?

Really, a_u_p, you need to be a little more specific when you post.
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Having the will and ability to use massive force does not guarantee you anything. Eg, Vietnam. Millions dead for no actual purpose.
The UN has achieved many succesful objectives, East Timor being the latest.
 
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