Wow. I know I was wondering which way the cards would fall on this one. Robert Mugabe wins the election.
Let’s see… he takes the last election where he lost, recounts it until… until… essentially until all hope of a valid election dissipates like smoke and then has a new election.
Luckily he was able to intimidate his nasty for-the-people opposition by threatening the lives of him and everyone around him.
The margin was narrow – he won by one vote.
Just hours after electoral officials said Mugabe won Friday’s presidential runoff, which observers said was marred by violence and intimidation, the 84-year-old leader sounded a conciliatory note.
“Sooner or later, as diverse political parties, we shall start serious talks,” he said in a speech following his swearing-in. He also had promised talks on the eve of the vote.
Translation: We shall start serious talks (on how to kill everybody with even an ounce of fight in them).
Wonder why the rest of the world doesn’t sem to care?
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Oh, I know why it doesn’t care! Oh, I know!
Because, there is discrimination in schools… something smells in Sweden. (thanks BlueCrab Boulevard!)
And, lots of people don’t care because their rights are being trampled. TRAMPLED, I tell you. (thanks Brea Canyon Monument!)
I mean, really, thanks. Where else could I have learned that some guy actually had a name like “Snaphappy Fishsuit Mokiligon”? That’s just beautiful.
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Because I’ve had my head up my arse, I have failed to catch this thingy discovered by Ace of Spades regarding polar ice-cap thicknesses. Until now.
Watch your vegetation. It is marching.
hmmm.. the rest of the world does care.
England has put sanctions on the country. Mugabe has been stripped of his knighthood and there has been harsh words from the UN (although – not sure what that will do… ).
Mugabe has attacked the West (mostly the US) and said some incredulous things against the West. But I haven’t heard much coming from this side of the world… speaking out against him.
Wonder when the world will interfere… or perhaps we are too busy taking over oil fields of the Middle East…. hmmm – which one is more profitable?
Yeah, I know, the world does care – but – you wouldn’t think so when all that happens as a result of their “action” is that the man laughs it off. Taking away his knighthood? Ouchie. The US was supposedly involved in efforts to topple his regime. He’s sweating, perhaps we shouldn’t hit him again.
I do think that you’re hitting closer to the truth. Sure, money has something to do with it, but that can’t be the whole picture, because Kosovo doesn’t have any huge oil fields. Yet we were there.
Rwanda doesn’t have oil fields, and no one was there besides Tutsis and Hutus.
It comes down to this – if you are going attempt to get someone to stop doing something you have to be able to reason with them. If they are the type of people that round people up in the middle of the night and kill them, reason doesn’t work. The world has to concede that if they want it to stop then they must actually DO something because that is all this type of person understands -or- do nothing. The UN doesn’t understand that – they would rather bicker and argue and take vacations … errr… meetings in the tropics… while they discuss world issues to think about for their next discussion.
I mean, think about it. This is the guy that gives rise to newspaper headlines like: “Robert Mugabe’s militia burn opponent’s wife alive”
Why is the world not doing anything?
I’m making the point that the UN has little or no value to anyone. It is a body that has no will to back it up and precious little in the way of guiding principles.
Oh but I do have to tell you that Kosovo is VERY rich in minerals and gems… so there is definately money… and very much worth doing something about all those years.
The problem right now is that the world is sooo involved with the ME that it can’t do anything much about anything in Africa and Mugabe knows it. All of the powerful nations – are in ME fighting for oil fields. Who are they going to send to Africa?
Ah… now that is interesting…
Your second point is correct, but (and not trying to short circuit your argument)… how the heck do you prioritize things on a global scale?
I think the UN fails for the same reasons the US succeeds (I mean internally in both cases). The US has been strengthened by the wide diversity. You would think that the UN should be far more cohesive than it is. But it’s not since it does not possess “the glue that binds”. That glue can be God, patriotism, or common goals of any kind.
My point is that I don’t see an international consensus on much of anything on a timescale that is meaningful. Darfur is a cesspit and no one has done anything truly useful at this point that gets the situation any closer to resolution.
(I’m wrapping this up, trust me…) I just can’t picture anyone doing anything about Mugabe or Darfur even if the ME weren’t such a disaster area. This sort of global apathy existed before Iraq and Iran (and Pakistan, and Israel, and Syria, and India, and Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, and Lebanon, and Turkey, and Yemen, and Somalia, and the Palestinians, and Afghanistan, and… ad nauseum)
Sadly, these two parts of the world are pretty intent on killing each other even w/o outside help. It’s almost an easier list to say “Where shouldn’t we start?”