Tragedy In Zimbabwe

The country of Zimbabwe used to be one of the bright spots in Africa. That is, until Robert Mugabe took over. It's been sliding downhill ever since, and is currently one of the poorest countries on the African continent.

Mugabe destroyed an efficient and productive farming system, by taking the land away from the farmers -- supposedly for the good of the people of Zimbabwe. But instead of giving the land to poor farmers who would work the land, he rewarded his supporters and family with it. These people either had no interest in farming or no skills. Now Zimbabwe doesn't produce even a fraction of what it needs to survive.

Then he destroyed even the appearance of democracy in the country. He has rigged elections, thrown out the results of any elections that didn't go his way, and sent gangs of thugs to intimidate voters. But he not even a very good tyrant, and his government has been reduced to little more than "thug rule".

His incompetence and thug rule has destroyed the economy of Zimbabwe. Last week, his treasury started printing a $250,000,000 dollar bill (which is not worth even one U.S. dollar). The country's inflation is staggering, and is driving the few corporations and businesses left into bankruptcy. Poverty is rampant and jobs are disappearing quickly. Even the lucky few with a job find the raging inflation makes their salaries worth less with each passing day.

As if all this wasn't bad enough, the country's medical system has cratered along with the rest of the economy just as an outbreak of cholera has hit the country. There are estimates that over 16,000 people have contracted the disease, and nearly 800 have died from it. But Save The Children (STC) says this is an gross underestimate of the epidemic, and they believe the epidemic of cholera is growing and could soon have over 60,000 victims.

STC spokesmen say that with only the most basic healthcare, normally cholera would kill 1-2% of those stricken. But in some areas of Zimbabwe, a third of those stricken are dying. The epidemic is so bad that it has now spread into a Northern district of South Africa.

What is Mugabe's response? He has declared the epidemic is over. He seems to think if he just denies Zimbabwe's problems, the world will believe him and let him hang on to power. Several African and European countries have recently called for Mugabe's removal from power -- especially after the last stolen election and the outbreak of cholera.

I believe that is exactly what needs to happen. Someone somewhere needs to step in and remove Mugabe from power and stop the unnecessary deaths of the Zimbabwean people. Removing him from power would truly be a humanitarian act.

Many nations have put some serious sanctions on trade with Zimbabwe, but Mugabe doesn't seem to care about the suffering of his people as long as he can hang on to power by thug rule or any other means.

Wars have been fought for land, oil, money and a host of other ridiculous reasons. Maybe it's time to wage one to end this humanitarian crises. The world ignored Rwanda and Darfur. Is it also going to ignore Zimbabwe?