The current crisis in Zimbabwe, and the reaction of African leaders to it, suggests that democracy itself is in danger on this poor but important continent. Why? you ask, isn’t that an exaggeration? Well, no, it’s not. (more…)
PoliGazette’s Vicki No-Veil reports that the situation at the Horn of Africa is running out of hand; pirates have taken over. (more…)
And no, they weren’t even sarcastic: ‘Robert Mugabe was hailed a “hero” by Africa’s longest-serving head of state as he joined his fellow leaders at an African Union summit.’ (more…)
‘What we see in Zimbabwe today is naked political terror, orchestrated solely to extend the reign of a once legitimate but now illegitimate ruler who has led his people to a hell on earth. Destitution, murder, rape and mass beatings are the order of the day, and a so-called election this Friday which is now the barest sham,’ Timothy Garton Ash writes. (more…)
A good article about the mess in Zimbabwe: ‘It’s a shame that the Iraq war has made it impossible to advocate regime change, because Zimbabwe’s strongman, President Robert Mugabe, is such a deserving candidate. While the CIA has been dutifully keeping its powder dry, Mugabe, a despot who lacks oil or nuclear weapons, has become an increasingly lethal menace to his own people.’ (more…)
Changes are coming to Zimbabwe, the New York Times reports. Sadly they aren’t the change most of us were hoping for. ‘Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Zimbabweans — orphans and old people, the sick and the down and out — have lost access to food and other basic humanitarian assistance as their government has clamped down on international aid groups it says are backing the political opposition, relief agencies say.’ (more…)
CNN reports that “[r]iots from Haiti to Bangladesh to Egypt over the soaring costs of basic foods have brought the issue to a boiling point and catapulted it to the forefront of the world’s attention.” Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute said: “This is the world’s big story.” On “Good Morning America” Sachs explained: “The finance ministers were in shock, almost in panic this weekend. There are riots all over the world in the poor countries … and, of course, our own poor are feeling it in the United States.” (more…)
Zimbabwe is preparing for what may be the closest election yet for ruling party leader Robert Mugabe. The elections take place in the midst of a crippling economic crisis, with food and other essentials scarce and the Zimbabwean dollar nearly worthless.
Mugabe has systematically decimated what used to be a vibrant and productive agricultural sector in Zimbabwe. He has also ruthlessly repressed political rivals, with politically motivated violence and other forms of thuggery rampant in the country. Increasingly, Zimbabwe is beginning to resemble the sad state of Uganda under Idi Amin. Only the hope of heightened international attention holds some slight promise to force his government to allow fair elections and honor the results.
The German newspaper the Spiegel has a fascinating article up called “Africa’s Plight: How Europe Lost Africa.” Please head on over there to read it. Below some excerpts and my own thoughts on this matter: (more…)
The grinding genocidal conflict in Darfur appears to be spreading to neighboring Chad. But why should we in the West care? Don’t we have problems of our own that take precedence? And isn’t this horse race of an election far more exciting than yet another trip through the dreary, no-win environs of international ethnic politics? (more…)
In the aftermath of a possibly stolen presidential election, Kenya is teetering on the brink of open ethnic conflict, potentially approaching genocide of the same type and scale as in 1994 Rwanda. Undermining a key U.S. ally and symbol of ethnic cosmopolitanism, Kenya’s growing instability has the potential to further inflame an already devastated Africa.
US President George W. Bush has been criticized by liberals and Europeans for being cold, and egotistical… But he’s done more to fight AIDS than any other President. (more…)
The situation is deteriorating in Kenya:
Nairobi degenerated deeper into violence on Thursday as riot police used tear gas, batons and water cannons to turn back thousands of opposition supporters who tried to rally in the Kenyan capital.
Protesters burned tires, smashed store windows and fought with the police across the city. (more…)
The situation in Kenya continues to deteriorate: yesterday, dozens of people who were hiding from the violence in a church were burnt to death by an angry mob.
All in all, some 50 people died in that individual incident alone.
According to the New York Times it was a true group effort: “According to witnesses and Red Cross officials, up to 50 people died inside the church in a small village in western Kenya after a furious crowd doused it with gasoline and set it on fire.” (more…)
Kenya is one of the most developed, prosperous, stable and democratic countries in Africa. It’s one of those countries that are a good example to other countries in the region. Well, until recently that is: after the recent elections, riots have broken out. The opposition leader (Raila Odinga) says that the current president (Mwai Kibaki), who won the elections, cheated.
The result? Massive riots. (more…)
NY Times blogger John Tierney wonders:
Should African women be allowed to engage in the practice sometimes called female circumcision? Are critics of this practice, who call it female genital mutilation, justified in trying to outlaw it, or are they guilty of ignorance and cultural imperialism?
The topic is to be debated at the American Anthropological Association’s annual meeting. What could there possibly be to debate?
With regards to the schoolteacher who was recently sentenced to 15 days in jail for insulting the prophet of Islam, Whoopi Goldberg had the following to say: “Yeah, because you’d think if you’re going overseas, I mean, we had this discussion yesterday about people coming to America and learning the customs and knowing what is cool, and what isn’t cool. But I find that maybe we are not- and I say we just as European and American, we’re not as anxious to learn the customs before we go places. It’s just one of the reasons we’re called the ugly Americans.”
Yeah. She should’ve known better than that. It’s all her fault. Same for the woman who was raped in Saudi Arabia and then punished because she spoke publicly about it.
They should’ve known better…
P.S.: the teacher was British. So that should be “ugly Brits” Whoopi.
The British schoolteacher who was arrested and convicted in Sudan recently - her students named a stuffed animal “Mohammed” - has been released. The Sudanese president pardoned her earlier today.
President Omar al-Bahir’s pardon of Gillian Gibbons allowed her to leave prison before the end of her 15-day sentence, and ended a diplomatic tangle with what British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called a victory for “common sense.” (more…)
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