A monster rules.
67 rallies canceled: Zimbabwe opposition members attacked, murdered*** For two years, Zimbabwe has been gripped by political violence as the increasingly unpopular President Robert Mugabe, 77, seeks to extend his 21-year control of the government.
White-owned farms have been seized, thousands of farm laborers have been chased from their homes and the independent media and judiciary have come under repeated attack from the government.
Violence has intensified ahead of elections scheduled for March 9-10, when Mugabe will face a stiff challenge from opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, a former trade unionist. Human rights groups say the chances of a free and fair election are remote.
Recently the government passed laws giving the authorities sweeping powers of search, seizure and arrest, with 20-year jail terms for anyone inciting Mugabe's overthrow.
"To date we have had 67 rallies canceled either by the police or by ZANU-PF violence since the (laws were) passed three weeks ago," said Jongwe. "We will contest this election under the most severe circumstances but we have been stretched to the limit."***
It was a civilized nation called Zimbabwe just a few years ago.
Mugabe was going crazy, but the people were working to elect Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change. More than half of the people who went to vote wanted to vote for the MDC, but Mugabe blatantly stole the election. Blacks who supported the MDC waited in lines for three days, demanding their right to vote at stations that had run out of ballots (because they were in heavily MDC areas, Mugabe didn't supply enough ballots). They knew they might be attacked by the police, and many were. They knew just how evil Mugabe was.
They love democracy as much as any American; there is a strong democratic tradition in Zimbabwe.
But the people were completely DISARMED and therefore at the mercy of a dictator. Disarmed citizens aren't citizens, they're subjects (no offense intended to British FReepers). It's not too late to save them. If someone--anyone--would invade and toss out Mugabe, the world would be a happier place.
Anti-war left-wingers talk about the importance of Zim's "national sovereignty" and how important it is to let the UN tell us what we can and cannot do in the same breath. Countries that are not democracies should not have sovereignty, we should not be afraid to go after dictators terrorizing their own people.
GUN RIGHTS MUST COME FIRST! Any compromise with gun confiscators is objectively pro-fascist, anti-individual, and anti-democratic. The people trying to disarm Africans are racists who believe Africans are incapable of taking care of their own affairs. Black Africans have less of a cultural block against democracy as white Germans did after WWII.
If America won't stand up for democracy against a mass-murdering Lenin-like terrorist, what do we stand for? We can't even make a few speeches at the UN, and have Colin Powell put a little pressure on SA? What the hell is wrong with this administration?