Mugabe is OUT. How many will die to remove him? Can Zimbabwe be saved by itself?

Mugabe is "Out."

But not down. The misery continues.

Without parliament -- all he has is the military?

Some have asked that the opposition be armed. I do not think that would help. In the long run.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080426/tts-zimbabwe-vote-parliament-c1b2fc3.htmlhttp://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080426/tts-zimbabwe-vote-parliament-c1b2fc3.html

Image: Wikipedia, Robert Mugabe, Dictator, second poorest nation in Africa.

I watched Mugabe do rhetoric again yesterday. His is 84. He is propped up by his surrounding thugs. He should be offered asylum in Saudi Arabia or Dubai. Maybe even Miami. Or NYC. Most of his lieutenants should be removed with him, and sent to other places for asylum. Or not. Some could be tried and punished. How well would they do in Haiti? He likely will never step down. But maybe he could be "rescued."

Otherwise.

As a writer on "Slate" almost put it: Mugabe won independence for his nation, overthrowing the white Rhodesian government nearly 30 years ago. We could have had the same thing In the American revolution. Instead of George Washington we could have had a George Bush.

We have instruments and critters to deal with this. The instrument (critter) I suggest is the Global Hawk. This bird, and possibly a small flock of them could provide adequate change. We and the people of Zimbabwe know Mugabe's thug's and we can use additional predatory birds to follow them and remove them. Certainly there would be cheaper mechanisms. It is amazing, isn't it?

I want to tell you, that would not solve the problem. What is the problem?

What is The Real Problem?

Analytically, we can suggest there are multiple problems.

It is not "politics." If we want to blame it on politics, that puts the problem external to Zimbabwe.

There are real problems, however. Food is going to be the major one ahead for Zimbabwe.

For example, few of you reading this are farmers. Few of you have the talent to run a farm, or to raise enough food to feed yourselves if we give you a plot of land. Could George W.Bush be a farmer? If he had to depend on his own efforts to feed Laura and the kids from farming -- he doesn't have it, couldn't do it. But that is what needs to be done in Zimbabwe. Someone has to do the farming. Bush couldn't even teach this to someone. Africa has a problem with raising enough food.

And it is not just Zimbabwe. On the north side of the equator there are several religious and ethnic problems.

Mugabe is only symptomatic of the real problem. It is not the inherent difficulties of determining equitable distribution of goods, property, or wealth. Mainly it is perspective and human limitations in a sub-equatorial regional where the very potential of the region is undermined by tribal culturalism -- and tribal attitudes. Perspective.

They are not the only problems -- but two of them are education, and agriculture.

If these are recognizable as problems is the solution of education and agricultural production achievable?

Can the populace become educated . . ?

I'm not 100% certain that education can overcome what is wired on the board. In fact, I'm sure it can't. So selection does occur, just like the spread of blue eyes. For one thing, smart women have to participate. Women, the vessel of life and the future, must do the selection.

For another thing -- there is virtually no time to accomplish what needs to be accomplished. Humanity can help? We have really big fish to fry and really big problems to address. Not that we couldn't make a difference in Africa, in Zimbabwe.

I watched Negroponte whom I used to think was a respectable person. He can't be truthful about his own ignorance. Charlie Rose should have taken him apart. I guess that is what makes Charlie a nice guy.

Mugabe needs to simply be removed. He will not surrender dictatorial power. Aiding the people militarily does not help the nation. Removing the Mugabe regime would -- and with the mentioned birds of prey, quite simple, quite cost effective. Of course, there is no oil. These poor can't render tribute to the Bush bunch. So it is probably a dead end, for them. Maybe a change in the US will help them in the country of Zimbabwe.

The real GDP growth rate is minus 6%.
GDP/capita <$500, in rank only the Congo is lower.

Here are some facts about Zimbabwe you might find interesting from our CIA!

Image: US Department of State. CIA.World fact book

Zimbabwe (a brief adulterated history)

"The UK annexed Southern Rhodesia from the [British] South Africa Company in 1923. A 1961 constitution was formulated that favored whites in power. In 1965 the government unilaterally declared its independence, but the UK did not recognize the act and demanded more complete voting rights for the black African majority in the country (then called Rhodesia). UN sanctions and a guerrilla uprising finally led to free elections in 1979 and independence (as Zimbabwe) in 1980."

"Robert MUGABE, the nation's first prime minister, has been the country's only ruler (as president since 1987) and has dominated the country's political system since independence. His chaotic land redistribution campaign, which began in 2000, caused an exodus of white farmers, crippled the economy, and ushered in widespread shortages of basic commodities."

"Ignoring international condemnation, MUGABE rigged the 2002 presidential election to ensure his reelection. The ruling ZANU-PF party used fraud and intimidation to win a two-thirds majority in the March 2005 parliamentary election, allowing it to amend the constitution at will and recreate the Senate, which had been abolished in the late 1980s.

"In April 2005, Harare (Mugabe) embarked on Operation Restore Order, ostensibly an urban rationalization program, which resulted in the destruction of the homes or businesses of 700,000 mostly poor supporters of the opposition, according to UN estimates.

"President MUGABE in June 2007 instituted price controls on all basic commodities causing panic buying and leaving store shelves empty for months. In October 2007, Constitutional Amendment 18 came into effect allowing for harmonized presidential and parliamentary elections, shortening the length of the presidential term to five years, and moving up the date for parliamentary elections. General elections are expected in March 2008.

---End of CIA History Article in the world fact book. ---

What happened in the election?

That is the problem. Robert Mugabe has reached the end of his time. A "bird" with the promise of everlasting paradise should be sent. When delivered, he at least would find paradise.

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CIA overview of economy. "The government of Zimbabwe faces a wide variety of difficult economic problems as it struggles with an unsustainable fiscal deficit, an overvalued official exchange rate, hyperinflation, and bare store shelves. Its 1998-2002 involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy.

"The government's land reform program, characterized by chaos and violence, has badly damaged the commercial farming sector, the traditional source of exports and foreign exchange and the provider of 400,000 jobs, turning Zimbabwe into a net importer of food products. The EU and the US provide food aid on humanitarian grounds. Badly needed support from the IMF has been suspended because of the government's arrears on past loans and the government's unwillingness to enact reforms that would stabilize the economy."

"The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe routinely prints money to fund the budget deficit, causing the official annual inflation rate to rise from 32% in 1998, to 133% in 2004, 585% in 2005, passed 1000% in 2006, and 26000% in November 2007. Private sector estimates of inflation in 2007 are well above 100,000%. Meanwhile, the official exchange rate fell from approximately 1 (revalued) Zimbabwean dollar per US dollar in 2003 to 30,000 per US dollar in 2007." (1 to 30,000)

The following are from the CIA and assorted sources.

Zimbabwe is larger than Montana 380,850 sq km, smaller than California.423,999 sq km.

Zimbabwe area = 390,580 sq km.
Zimbabwe Population: 12,384,000

Pennsylvania: 12,432,800

Zimbabwe:

AIDS? Yes. Population estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 24.6% (2001 est.)
People living with HIV-AIDS: 1.8 million (2001 estimate)

HIV-AIDS -- Deaths: 170,000 (2003 estimate)

Major infectious diseases:degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protouncesoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: malaria
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
animal contact disease: rabies (2008)

Natural resources: Zimbabwe produces coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin, platinum group metals -- the Platinum group metals come from the Great Dyke.

See The Great Dyke!

Zimbabwe produces some Platinum group metals in quantity from the Great Dyke. On the Google image below, the Great Dyke that stretches generally north - south across Zimbabwe is easily visible on this satellite image. It is the narrow dark line ~30 km east of Gweru and ~50 km west of Harare, and the major mining for Platinum, Palladium, Gold, and Rhodium occurs in the sulfides within this dike.

View Larger Map

Also see
http://www.mbendi.co.za/indy/ming/plat/af/zi/p0005.htm