Africa in Turmoil

Robert Mugabe is a tyrant and must be removed from power in Zimbabwe as soon as possible, along with his party apparatus of terror. Liberty and democracy are bleeding in Africa.

The Daily Mail reports on the latest atrocity carried out by the dictator and his thugs:

Dadirai Chipiro, wife of Patson Chipiro who heads the Zimbabwean opposition party in Mhondoro district, had a hand cut off as well as both of her feet before a petrol bomb was thrown through her window.

It gets worse...

Her body was so badly burnt that she was not able to be properly placed in a coffin as her arm was burnt rigid.

Lamentably, she is not the only innocent victim of this politically-inspired mayhem:

Pamela Pasvani, the 21-year-old pregnant wife of a local councillor in Harare was killed in a similar attack, which also claimed the life of the councillor six-year-old son.

Shocking? Absolutely. This is what happens when the Free World turns a blind eye to dictators and fails to support legitimate opposition movements for decades. This is what happens when people are not free.

To be fair, militias linked to the opposition parties have committed horrible crimes, but, at least now, without the support or consent of the party leaders, who seem to be searching for a peaceful solution to removing Mugabe after the recent likely-rigged presidential elections.

As usual, Ballista does not expect the UN to do anything productive to stem the violence or bring about positive change in Zimbabwe.

Oh, by the way, the carnage in Zimbabwe has, not surprisingly, created scores of refugees. They are flooding into South Africa as quickly as possible, leading to rising tensions there, as native South Africans are blaming high unemployment and worsening economic conditions on immigrants and refugees. Mugabe isn't a Zimbabwean problem, or just an African problem, he and his cronies are a global problem.

Update (6/23/08): The opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has withdrawn from the run-off election. He cited life-threatening violence to his supporters and the "impossible" likelihood of a fair vote. This leaves the path clear for a Mugabe victory. A sad day for liberty and democracy, but a pragmatic decision from a leader who seems to genuinely care more about his country and people than power. Ballista hopes that Mugabe finds himself replaced as president by Tsvangirai very soon.