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[Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee]

Mugabe blames West for Zimbabwe's woes By MICHAEL HARTNACK, Associated Press Writer
20 minutes ago



President Robert Mugabe opened a new legislative year Tuesday with a speech to Parliament blaming economic problems on the U.S., Britain and other Western critics of his human rights record.

Zimbabwe is in a state of economic collapse, suffering from the world's highest inflation rate � more than 1,000 percent � and shortages of all basic goods. A quarter of its 16 million people has emigrated since 2000 and millions more are dependent on aid.

"My tribute goes to the gallant people of Zimbabwe for continuing to exhibit great fortitude despite the prevailing economic challenges which are orchestrated by the country's detractors," the 82-year-old president told legislators.

The meltdown is widely blamed on the seizure of white-owned farms which began in 2000 and has been accompanied by a clampdown on the independent press, human rights groups and political opponents.

Mugabe said a national regulating authority would be established in the coming year to monitor electronic communications. Critics say the move will give the secret police extraordinary powers to intercept mail, e-mail, telephone or cell phone communications.

Mugabe said recent rains have raised hope for an "economic turnaround" and a revival of agriculture under new, black holders of land grants. A recent government report said only 40 percent had occupied their farms or small-scale plots, leaving millions of acres derelict and unproductive.

In what has become a ritual, Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, blamed the country's woes on his foreign critics.

"We note with concern the continued imposition of illegal sanctions by the European Union and the United States of America at the behest of our erstwhile colonizers," Mugabe said, in reference to Britain.

"We feel proud that we have defeated that strategy that was aimed at the collapse of our economy and the happening of regime change."

The United States and the European Union have imposed travel bans and other targeted sanctions against Mugabe and members of his government.




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Questions or Comments

[dogbert]

From Korea to Zimbabwe, "blame whitey" is a tried-and-true formula.

[Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee]

....

[jaebea]

Mugabe and Mr Kim up North must have had the same speechwriter.

jae.

[Gopher]

Achebe dealt with this theme in Things Fall Apart, which is incidentally an excellent read.

I especially like his opening and titling his novel from Yeats:

[soviet_man]

Zimbabwe is an interesting argument to have.

The current neocon/liberal/western thinking as demonstrated on this thread is that (for a laundry list of reasons) it is fashionable to generally "oppose" Zimbabwe and its leadership in every way possible and hope that it will eventually collapse under its own weight.

But for everything I've read, I think the anti-Mugabe political arguments fail in three areas:

1. Opposition to repealing Land reforms.
It is extremely difficult to argue that the tiny white minority in Zimbabwe (less than 1% of the total population) should own almost all of the usable agricultural land in the entire country. That is what existed in the previous arrangement and is now (correctly) recognised as being institutionally racist.

2. Lack of a viable, popular, opposition.
There isn't popular support for any of the political alternatives to Mugabe. If there were such popular support, then the Mugabe leadership would be overthrown and replaced. No amount of army/militsia enforcement or even state sponsored terror could suppress such a popular mass - if it truly existed. But it doesn't.

3. Under-estimating pro-Mugabe international support.
Overwhelmingly the majority of the 100+ states in the Non-Aligned Movement (including countries like India, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Iran, Egypt and many African states) are opposed to a Nepal-style political change in Zimbabwe. Trade and defense cooperation continues with them and others (including with Russia and China) despite years of sanctions and threats.

[Manner of Speaking]

I think this thread should be re-labeled "posturing ideologues gather here."

C'mon, guys.

If Mugabe and his party were gone tomorrow, the country's economic and food problems would begin to clear up immediately.

One bomb, well-placed, would do it.