The New York Times has made up in part for the bad (Michael) Wine(s) article it was intoxicating public opinion with last week in the form of analysis that discussed only in passing the epidemic of politically motivated violence, abductions and torture sweeping Zimbabwe since March 11th, while buying into Mugabe's false narrative (perpetuated by Welshman Ncube in that article) that the "split" of the oppostion MDC and the opposition's supposed "disarray" and their supposed predilection for violence is the real problem in Zimbabwe--and not the Mugabe regime's reign of terror. We blogged on the bad Wines here.
Today's editorial gets back on the real story and that is the Mugabe reign of terror. Thank you, New York Times, for regaining your senses and refocussing on the crisis in Zimbabwe:
Waiting For Thabo Mbeki (NYT)
Thursday, May 17, 2007
The New York Times
Will Robert Mugabe’s outrages never stop? For months he has been jailing and brutalizing opposition leaders and trampling the rule of law in order to guarantee himself another rigged victory in next year’s presidential elections.
If Zimbabwe is to brake its headlong descent into tyranny, famine and some of the world’s lowest life-expectancy figures, the leaders of neighboring African countries will have to bring strong political and economic pressure on Mr. Mugabe, and they will have to move quickly. So far they have done the opposite. In the midst of Mr. Mugabe’s reign of terror, his fellow African leaders appallingly selected the continent’s prime example of economic free fall as the chair of the United Nations’ Commission on Sustainable Development.
The leader with the most potential leverage is Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa, which is the region’s political powerhouse, as well as the supplier of 40 percent of Zimbabwe’s electricity and one of its largest investors. A group of southern African nations have asked Mr. Mbeki to mediate between Mr. Mugabe and his opponents. So far, Mr. Mbeki hasn’t done much more than write a few letters.
If his mediation is to succeed, substantive negotiations will have to start quickly and be concluded well in advance of next year’s election. And, to assure that the opposition can freely campaign, Mr. Mbeki must insist that Zimbabwe repeal its legal restrictions on free assembly and that Mr. Mugabe stop terrorizing opposition leaders.
If the human tragedy of Zimbabwe cannot move Mr. Mbeki, he might at least consider his own country’s narrow self-interest. Potential investors in South Africa can only be put off by the growing tide of misery and upheaval just over the border.
