Ruin By Design: The U.N. misses it, but Mugabe's regime is Zimbabwe's problem

To whatever extent the recent United Nations report on Zimbabwe calls attention to the brutalities of the country's tyrant, President Robert Mugabe, the U.N. has performed a service. But as far as the report translates into nothing more than a fresh bout of aid funneled via Mugabe's regime, this U.N. initiative will only compound the suffering in Zimbabwe--where the government's latest atrocity has been to "clean up" the cities by evicting hundreds of thousands of poor people, destroying their dwellings and leaving them jobless, homeless and hungry.

In describing this scene, the U.N. report provides a wealth of horrifying detail, but takes a detour around the basic cause, which is not, as the report concludes, such stuff as "improper advice" acted upon by "over-zealous officials." The real cause is the long and ruinous rule of Mugabe and his cronies.

With a delicacy over-zealously inappropriate in itself to dealings with the tyrant whose regime has been responsible for wreck of Zimbabwe, the report starts by thanking Mr. Mugabe for his "warm welcome" to the U.N. delegation, which visited the country from June 26 to July 8. The report, issued by the secretary-general's special envoy Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, then proceeds to the usual U.N. prescription that what Zimbabwe needs is more aid, and a framework--here comes the UN lingo--"to ensure the sustainability of humanitarian response." While the report also calls for the "culprits" to be called to justice under Zimbabwe laws, Mugabe himself is somehow excused from direct responsibility.

Hats off to both the UN and Mugabe for being total dicks. My biggest problem with the UN is their inability to a.) assign blame for ANYTHING, or b.) to pull the trigger on anything. Anytime you have a large international body, taking action is going to be slow. The same is true with any large governing body. Inefficiency is a natural part of their existence.

As for more international aid going to Zimbabwe and just about any country in Africa, great concept, but the reality of the situation is that the aid won't get to the people that need it. Just as this article points out, Mugabe diverted aid towards his cronies to gain favor and to line his own pockets. Africa is rife with corruption and it will not end anytime soon unfortunately. We went into somalia to try and prevent famine. We tried to ensure that food was delivered to those who needed it. We were prevented, and many died. A recent article in some newspaper recently claimed that the rulers in nigeria have stolen over 300 billion dollars in aid from its citizens, equal to over 300 years of british aid. Going along with this..the recent Live 8 concert plans on donating the proceeds to help aid poverty in Africa..bravo...but I ask, who will take delivery of this so called Aid? Will the truly desperate? Somehow I doubt it.

eFormer - News that Moves

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