Posted on 02/20/2006 8:24:16 AM PST by dead
ZIMBABWE President Robert Mugabe has branded African leaders cowards for not standing up to Western powers over Zimbabwe, and said outsiders must not interfere as there was no crisis requiring intervention.
Critics accuse Mugabe, who turns 82 tomorrow, of plunging the southern African state which he has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980 into a severe political and economic crisis in the past six years with a raft of controversial policies.
In a 90-minute interview with Zimbabwe state television to mark his birthday, Mugabe portrayed himself as a brave and principled African nationalist and his opponents as either imperialists or political stooges.
He said his government would print money to help it ride over its economic problems – including food, fuel and foreign currency shortages and the world's highest inflation rate, which he blames on Western sanctions and intermittent droughts.
Mugabe, who last week suggested he was ready to repair strained relations with Britain which he regularly accuses of seeking to recolonise Zimbabwe, again said his country's main problems were largely caused by London.
"Our erstwhile former colonisers still wants to govern us by remote control," he said repeating charges denied by Britain that it is sponsoring Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Asked whether he felt lonely in his fight against Western critics and whether countries and organisations which have tried to intervene in Zimbabwe's crisis were justified, Mugabe said:
"I don't feel lonely. There are others who think as I do, whose ideals I share. But what one notices is lack of courage ... a kind of surrender to European authority, I suppose it's because of poverty."
Mugabe said although African states had declared Zimbabwe's disputed elections in the past five years legitimate, they had generally shied away from taking on Western powers, including Britain and the US who maintain the polls were rigged.
"None of them will stand up and say to them 'go to hell'.
"We shrink in asserting our rights. We need much more courage in the African Union," he said.
The veteran African leader said Zimbabwe had a democratic system but his Western opponents wanted a "puppet" opposition MDC in power.
In what appeared like an direct message to African countries, including South Africa, which has been quietly trying to broker a political settlement between the MDC and his Zanu PF party, Mugabe said there was no room for any foreign intervention in Zimbabwe's affairs.
"As for outsiders they should keep away," he said.
"We have entertained them because we did not want to offend, some of them are our friends but really there have nothing to intervene here about, nothing at all. We have a democratic environment, a democratic constitution," Mugabe said, raising the tempo of his voice.
Mugabe said Zimbabwe's economic crisis required unorthodox solutions, including printing money despite galloping inflation, which the International Monetary Fund says at 613 per cent is the highest in the world.
"Those who say printing money will cause inflation are suggesting that you just fold your hands and say 'aah, let the situation continue and let the people starve'.
"The Good Lord up there has given you a brain and the brain must function, not in a stereotyped manner but in a flexible manner ... so I will print money today so that people can survive." - Reuters
Print more money? Yeah, that always works.
This is an African problem. It was created by Africans and should be solved by Africans. For Britain or the US or any western nation to try to help would be racism...
What a sad state of affairs- Ayn Rand had it right many years ago in Atlas Shrugged....
He keeps them buried in the backyard.
Your buddy again
You beat me to it...
They tried that before. The North Koreans were advisors to the Zimbabwean army in the early 80s, but they proved to be too brutal and Mugabe got rid of them and brought in British Army Military Training Teams (BMATT) IIRC.
(will print more money to combat 613% inflation rate)
will it come in rolls?
At this stage we wouldn't take it as a gift.
Mugabe was always a marxist thug. It's just that at first he inherited an economy that was one of the most productive in Africa, and for a decade or so, he tried to protect that, for his own good if not for the peoples.
However, a thug is always a thug. Eventually the temptation to start stealing and passing on to cronies became to great. Moreover, the mishandling of the econmy outside of the privately owned white farms (marxists mishandling an economy? go figure...) created the incentives to start stealing even more from the farmers to buy political support
Eventually, as the economy got worse, not only were the white farms great targets for theft, but the white farmers became more and more useful as scapegoats.
The country is in a death spiral now. Very sad...
Of course not. And I'm sure that printing money will stop the problem right in its tracks...but why not save yourself the cost of printing and just buy it from Miton Bradley?
Better yet, buy Scott toilet paper - 1000 sheets per roll - and some Sharpie markers, and disburse them to the general population. Then tell them to write whatever denomination they need on the TP. That way, your fulfilling two needs - and its probably more useful to the farmer or baker than the old money, too.
(The poor brothers at Kutama College have got to be thoroughly embarassed!)
so I will print money today so that people can survive." - Reuters (And I thought that was vintage Jimmy Carter.)
I don't feel lonely. There are others who think as I do, whose ideals I share.
Yeah, Castro, who has bankrupted his country, and Hugo Chavez, who is managing to do the same with his in record time. That's one heck of a pair to draw to.
The classic example of high demand for low supply. Zimbabawawa is destined for famine.
I had lunch with a member of the Carter Administration a couple months back and he was part of the committee that helped put Mugabe in power. I figured it was the most opportune time to ask about Mugabe. His comment was that they didn't think Mugabe was an incredible leader, but they felt he was just the best at the time. He agreed that Mugabe is a crackpot. Mostly, they never expected him to last this long. Their hope was that he would last 2-4 years and then be replaced by someone else. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way.
Oh wow, I do not think even the Onion could of come up with a more bizzaro story. This one is even true! Well done!
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