Voice from the Commonwealth
Commentary, World Views and Occasional Rants from a small 'l' libertarian in Massachussetts

"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams
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Wednesday, May 07, 2003

Clare Short thinks Comrade Bob's tyranny in Zimbabwe is nearing its end. I don't know what gives her this feeling. That the people of Zimbabwe are trying to fight back and carrying out strikes does not seem enough to me. As long as his militias and youth groups get their pay they will continue to kill and rampage among the opposition. As long as there are natural resources enough for Mugabe and his inner circle there will be no impetus for him to leave.

The international development secretary told MPs that there were increasing signs that Zimbabwe's leadership was beginning to crumble. "Things seem to be moving," she told MPs on Wednesday. "The mass stay-aways seem to be quite big. My instinct is that the end is coming. It can't come soon enough."

Short said efforts to bring an end to the Mugabe regime had been hampered by the absence of an international court and the lack of political will among Zimbabwe's neighbours. "We don't have the tools to deal with these individual dictators," she told MPs, adding later that the pressure on Mugabe from within Africa "has been much less than it should have been".


See? Here lay the fallacy offered by the Left. If only we had a court that could make decisions and tell us that we should do no business with Comrade Bob, he would have fallen ages ago. How exactly can they account for this belief? What ould a world court have done? Tell us that we cannot trade with Mugabe? Why do we need a court for that. Recognize the evil and oppression and cut ties. Would they have restricted his travel by threatening to have him arrested if he left Zimbabwe? Well supposedly he cannot travel to the EU, by act of the EU Parliament. That didn't stop Chirac from haveing him over to Paris for a trip. And even were such a ruling handed down, who would enforce it? Who would go and arrest Mugabe? Would they violate Zimbabwe's sovereignty to do it? Any decision handed down by such a court would be nothing more than window dressing. International tools like this are farcical illusions.

As for the regional African leaders not pressuring Mugabe. Not only have they not pressured him they have been silent or have come out and supported his 'reforms' and tactics. I really don't know what can be done to change this situation.

< email | 5/07/2003 04:21:00 PM | link




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