A week ago, Zimbabwean pro democracy activists, campaigners, political leaders and supporters tried to attend a rally in Harare, organised by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign. Their purpose was to come together and collectively, peacefully, protest against the terrible conditions in Zimbabwe. The government's forces were lying in wait for them.
Riot police surrounded the venue and many of those trying to attend were arrested en masse. Gift Tandare, a young NCA and MDC activist was killed, shot by the police, whilst running to escape. Those taken to Machipisa were viciously tortured and many suffered serious injuries. In fact, the attacks were so brutal and callous, that those being beaten struggled to comprehend the enormity of what was actually taking place. Tendai Biti, who witnessed the attack on Morgan Tsvangirai, described the experience as 'like being in an old bad violent movie, surreal, but where you find that you are one of the actors'.
International audiences learned of all these atrocities within a relatively short space of time, the news spreading like wildfire through the international media; images and interviews prompting analyses, comment and endless interpretation. By the time the news - our news - filtered through Zimbabwe, it was already 'old news' in neighbouring countries and abroad. Zimbabweans held hostage by Robert Mugabe's repressive AIPPA laws (Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act) struggled for information and updates.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I think the "nonviolent revolution" option is out, guys...better start arming up
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/24/2007 7:33 Comments ||
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#2
Too bad the CIA and MI-6 aren't as magical as they are made out to be in the movies. One shot, 50 calibre sniper rifle. Zimbabwe's problems could be fixed. Even if one of his lacky's became dictator it would be an improvement. Instead we watch the entire country go down with this nutbag at the helm. Africa is a sad continent.
#3
And in the end it will make no difference. It will still be a socialist kleptocracy. Perhaps not quite as bad as under Maximum Bob, but still a hellhole.
#4
Now hold on here. In 1980 these same black folks didn't want Ian or Muzorewa, they wanted Bad Bob. At Lancaster House they threatened that, bad as the war had been, things would get worse unless they did get him. And then they got him, just exactly as they wanted. And guess what? Things got worse. Moral of the story? Be careful what you ask for--you just might get it.
Posted by: Mac ||
03/24/2007 10:23 Comments ||
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#5
CNN finally decided this week to broadcast stories about conditions in Zimbob. Of course the first thirty seconds was about CNN suffering the indignity of reporting them from South Africa...
#6
#5 CNN finally decided this week to broadcast stories about conditions in Zimbob. Of course the first thirty seconds was about CNN suffering the indignity of reporting them from South Africa... Posted by: Pappy 2007-03-24 13:02
"Suffering" I suppose, broadcasting from Cape Harbor on a balcony suite at the V&A. They'll be braodcasting from offshore in a few more years.
Sorry, rjschartz, I don't believe topping the mo-fo will work just like that, it needs a J-DAM or two, (or three) to take out Zanu-PF heirachy. Then we can start again.
Bearing in mind the armory explosion in Maputo, Mocambique, the other day, maybe things are staring to cook down there. That was Bob's base during the 2nd (alleged) Chimurenga, and should get all Shonas crapping in their stolen assets.
However, with Paki fliers and Angolan ninjas being imported, (see Rantburg passim) against unarmed MDC, internal struggle is a real non-starter, even if the top man takes a bullet.
As any intervention (apart from Chinese/Paki/Angolan) would be called Neo-Colonist, (and how we in the PC West hate that) the Zimbabwe opposition is on its' own.
#8
However, with Paki fliers and Angolan ninjas being imported, (see Rantburg passim) against unarmed MDC, internal struggle is a real non-starter, even if the top man takes a bullet.
[from my armchair then] The West has got to get off it's PC flacid ass and start activley protecting it's interests everywhere but in particular Rhodesia. Firstly for our national interest and secondly for the people of Zimland and the ex-pats.
I would think that pro West black and white ex-pats could build a strong coalition with at least some of remaining people who aren't either corrupt, communists or socialists.
#1
I don't think Rove was in charge of this for the primary reason that it was not well planned, nor was everyone working off the same sheet of music, and their was considerable hesitation in the execution.
To me, this sounds like some lower level individual who is not an expert in planning, thought that he could do it as well as Rove.
I got this in the text of an e-mail today and found the original. I don't think it's been here before, but is was originally written January 31. From the Telegraph.
Only a few days have passed since Hillary Clinton announced she is running for president, but already it is clear that much forbearance will be required from us all in the long months ahead. This is not just because Mrs Clinton has started wearing ominous pastels and smiling a lot, or appeared to enjoy a joke apparently about her husband's sexcapades in the White House although these things do, of course, matter. No, what is so lowering about Hillary and her rush for power is the merciless, unapologetic, chisel-eyed way she has pursued her presidential ambitions over the past few years, and her blatant attempt to make over her naturally acrid persona into something that American voters might find palatable.
Even from an ocean away it makes painful viewing, like watching someone trying to fold a balloon into a matchbox, or form a rounded human being out of leftover ectoplasm and a Martha Stewart wig. Yet the New York senator seems unstoppable in her aspirations, attempting a soft-focus rebrand on herself as a homemaker of meek views and kindly disposition, ready to whisk around with the duster, cook Bill a nice, eggy supper and sort out world problems at the same time.
In her new pearls and heart-shaped lockets, those telling little trinkets she hopes will send out the subliminal message that she is a biddable soubrette at heart, Mrs Clinton has become shameless in her pursuit of high office and the Hillary-lite ideal. Her official website reveals that the woman who once sneered at Tammy Wynette wives who baked cookies now talks of the inner calm that she finds in housework and gardening, and of how cleaning out her closets brings relief from worrying about North Korea and Iran. "I can't get my arms around that," she says, modestly acknowledging that there are bigger global problems that she can contend with, although folding sweaters and chucking out old tights, alongside the occasional skeleton, is an enjoyable breeze in comparison.
What happened to the forbidding woman who first stepped into the public arena 15 years ago, the militant feminist who was not afraid to air her difficult views on stay-at-home mothers and abortion on demand? Sister, she has long gone, dissolved in an acid bath of burning ambition, alongside the First Lady Hillary who had an agenda of her own in trying to push through healthcare reforms that appalled many Americans, but fitted with her own bossy, liberal views. With the voting landscape now dominated by moral values and faith-based groups who wield enormous power and are easily affronted, Senator Clinton's route march to the White House must remain free of controversy, and if that means shaping herself into a vanilla vision of impeccably centrist views and somehow distancing herself from her own initial support of the Iraq war and other pesky matters such as gun control and gay marriages, then so be it. Not that any of this is going to be easy.
Mrs Clinton reminds too many Americans of the international embarrassment and sexual psychodrama of her husband's administration, an experience many would rather forget. Naturally, the far Right doesn't like her much, but even among Democrat supporters, she polarises opinion as if she was political Marmite: people either absolutely love her or utterly loathe her, although all are agreed that a little Hillary goes a long way.
There is even a thriving Hate Hillary industry that sells "I Hate Hillary" T-shirts, mouse mats and car bumper stickers, and feeds on the foaming bile of Hillary-hating blogs. Many of Mrs Clinton's detractors find it particularly annoying that she has made gender the focal point of her campaign, perhaps in an attempt to neuter the enthusiasm being whipped up around Barack Obama's bid to become the first black US president. "I'm a woman and I'm a mom," croons Hillary-lite, while complaining about the double standards she must endure regarding comments on her clothes and her hair. Yet none of this is trivial. Everything Mrs Clinton now does and says is a deliberate political statement, from the honey streaks in her hairdo to the girly pinks she chooses to camouflage herself in, although the effect of the latter is unconvincing: think killer shark prowling the shallows in a party frock.
Of course, all politicians are guilty of a little repositioning and shaving of principles when the occasion suits, but until Hillary Rodham Clinton came along, no one has ever dared to politically morph themselves to quite such an astounding degree. Will it work? Let's hope not.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/24/2007 11:25 ||
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think killer shark prowling the shallows in a party frock.
#2
Hillary will be meeting one foe she, or her handlers can't control...Hi Definition TV.
On her best days she looks like she's been ridden hard and hung up wet. And if they pan the camera back, everyone gets to see the pants suits hiding her kankles.
She would be better off letting a computer generated character speak on her behalf.
The way she already has fooled herself so completely clearly indicates there is no upper limit to the number of others that she seeks to fool as well.
... she polarises opinion as if she was political Marmite: people either absolutely love her or utterly loathe her, although all are agreed that a little Hillary goes a long way.
The security situation in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province continues to deteriorate. Once again, Western pressure on the government of President Pervez Musharraf has failed to prevent Pakistan from handing over territory to the Taliban, this time to a group called the Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Laws. On March 17, a Pakistani "peace" committee struck a verbal agreement with the Mohmand tribe, under which the government promised to cease military activity in Bajaur in exchange for the tribe's promise not to shelter "foreigners" or allow cross-border attacks into Afghanistan.
A look at the players shows this agreement to be another pact with the devil. The tribal militants are led by Faqir Muhammad, government sources told Dawn, an English-language Pakistani newspaper, the day the agreement was made. Faqir Muhammad is a senior leader of the Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Laws, which provided the ideological inspiration to the Afghan Taliban in the 1990s. Faqir's group sent over 10,000 fighters into Afghanistan to fight U.S. forces during Operation Enduring Freedom in October 2001. His two sons and two cousins were arrested by Pakistani authorities after returning from Afghanistan.
The Jamestown Foundation refers to Faqir Muhammad as "al-Zawahiri's Pakistani ally." His home in the village of Damadola was targeted by a joint U.S.-Pakistani airstrike in January 2006 after al Qaeda senior leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was believed to have been there. Zawahiri and Faqir escaped death, but Abu Khabab al-Masri, the chief of al Qaeda's WMD program, and several other senior al Qaeda leaders
were killed in the attack.
In a new video posted March 22 on the Internet, al Qaeda leader Abu Yahia al-Libi called for an end to the schisms between Iraqi Sunni Islamist insurgents and jihadists in Iraq, and for Iraq's Sunnis to reject any Saudi involvement in the conflict. The release is a clear effort by the jihadist network to mend fences with the Sunni insurgents. Significantly, it also demonstrates an al Qaeda attempt to raise al-Libi's public profile in preparation for him to assume a greater role among the network's next generation of leaders.
This release, by al Qaeda's As-Sahab media branch, marks the ninth time al-Libi has appeared in an al Qaeda video statement since February 2006. Only al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri has appeared in more new videos, with a total of 12 over the same time period. The charismatic al-Libi, who has strong jihadist credentials, would indeed be a good choice to take on a more prominent role in al Qaeda. As an accomplished preacher, he has eulogized fallen jihadist leaders and called on jihadists to attack such prominent targets as the White House. In addition, he is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, and was one of four prominent al Qaeda fighters who escaped U.S. custody while imprisoned at Bagram Air Base in July 2005.
In his latest statement, al-Libi specifically called on militant groups Ansar al-Sunnah Army, the Islamic Army in Iraq and the Army of the Mujahideen to put aside their differences with the other Sunni insurgent groups in the country. This call for unity comes amid open conflict between Sunni tribes and al Qaeda in Iraq, as demonstrated by the March 23 attack against the Sunni deputy prime minister in Baghdad and the attacks against civilians involving chlorine gas in predominantly Sunni Anbar province.
This article starring:
ABU YAHIA AL LIBI
al-Qaeda
AIMAN AL ZAWAHIRI
al-Qaeda
Ansar al-Sunnah Army
Army of the Mujahideen
Islamic Army in Iraq
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2007 00:00 ||
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Assumptions implicit to the Iranian game plan are that the mullahs can control the pace of the game and that the US and Brits are paralysed and unable to act while the mullahs stomp internal dissent.
Changing the tempo of the game politically at the UN and militarily with a naval blockade while doing everything we can in the way of stirring domestic unrest and sabotage cancels those assumptions.
Nice oil export business ya got there, Mohamed. Be a shame if something happened to it. And what's with those rioters?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A week ago, Zimbabwean pro democracy activists, campaigners, political leaders and supporters tried to attend a rally in Harare, organised by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign. Their purpose was to come together and collectively, peacefully, protest against the terrible conditions in Zimbabwe. The government's forces were lying in wait for them.
Only a few days have passed since Hillary Clinton announced she is running for president, but already it is clear that much forbearance will be required from us all in the long months ahead. This is not just because Mrs Clinton has started wearing ominous pastels and smiling a lot, or appeared to enjoy a joke apparently about her husband's sexcapades in the White House although these things do, of course, matter. No, what is so lowering about Hillary and her rush for power is the merciless, unapologetic, chisel-eyed way she has pursued her presidential ambitions over the past few years, and her blatant attempt to make over her naturally acrid persona into something that American voters might find palatable.
What happened to the forbidding woman who first stepped into the public arena 15 years ago, the militant feminist who was not afraid to air her difficult views on stay-at-home mothers and abortion on demand? Sister, she has long gone, dissolved in an acid bath of burning ambition, alongside the First Lady Hillary who had an agenda of her own in trying to push through healthcare reforms that appalled many Americans, but fitted with her own bossy, liberal views. With the voting landscape now dominated by moral values and faith-based groups who wield enormous power and are easily affronted, Senator Clinton's route march to the White House must remain free of controversy, and if that means shaping herself into a vanilla vision of impeccably centrist views and somehow distancing herself from her own initial support of the Iraq war and other pesky matters such as gun control and gay marriages, then so be it. Not that any of this is going to be easy.
