Mugabe’s back - what a surprise

To paraphrase 18th Century Irish politician and writer Edmund Burke, the only thing needed to allow everything to go to rat crap is for decent folk to stay on their arses.

There is a situation about which no one can do much now.

Robert Mugabe swore himself in as president of Zimbabwe June 29 - for the sixth time.

Despite receiving the most electoral support in the March election, Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai wound up hounded out of the run-off vote by Mugabe's thugs - just as the world knew would happen.

One thing we have to give Mugabe, though: he didn’t do it behind anyone’s back. He and his thugs did it up front and in broad daylight.

In the mockery of a runoff vote, Mugabe received 2,150,269 votes against Tsvangirai's 233,000, which the opposition leader garnered despite being no longer in the process. Attacks on opposition supporters have left a reported 80 people dead and 1,300 wounded.

Meanwhile, Tsvangirai has had to hole up in the Dutch Embassy in Harare.

In Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper suggested there would be sanctions against the economic disaster of a country. Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson subsequently announced Canada condemns the Zimbabwe government's actions, and doesn't recognize the results. As well, Canada implemented measures on Zimbabwe, but steered clear from stopping any aid to that country’s suffering populace. Economic sanctions would only make things worse for those already hard-hit by the collapsed economy there.

In fact, there has been little Canada could do since unilateral declaration of independence by Ian Smith’s Rhodesian government in 1965.

It's all so needless.

Zimbabwe-Rhodesia had a transition government headed by Bishop Abel Muzorewa in 1979, the result of a hard-won internal agreement. It promised to work. It was the one time Smith’s prediction there would be no majority rule in that country in his lifetime could have been wrong.

Smith passed away last year.

Outsiders got involved in 1979 and forced the parties to include the terrorists, under Mugabe, in a new election process. The left and everyone else knew Mugabe would bully the Muzorewa supporters and anyone else.

He did.

His thugs took the 1980 election and every one since, including this year's.

Why is there such a hue and cry of surprise?

The time to do something was 1979-80, but no one raised a protest or lifted a finger.

It's another fine mess the western left has gotten someone into. Now some want western officials to talk to Afghan terrorists; with whom the host Afghan government speaks is up to itself.

Apparently, the fall of Saigon, the Cambodian killing fields and Mugabe's continuing reign of terror are not enough for some elements.