04/07/2008

Robert Mugabe rigged the Zimbabwean elections to remain in power, successfully stomping out all opposition to his effete rule that is pushing this once rich and productive country to the edge of a political and economic abyss. The inflation rate runs in the millions, and local money has no value. Poverty, hunger, misery and conflict, if allowed to continue, will turn the country into a failed state.

In an uproar, the developed world is contemplating imposing sanctions on the already politically and economically exhausted country, as if tough actions will force Mugabe to give up power. And this issue is more important for the developing countries of the African Union that have just held a Summit at Sharma Al-Sheik in Egypt.

The issue was so contentious that it threatened to tear the organization apart. The African Union leaders refused to condemn Mugabe and hence, according to the London Times, “cemented his hold on power.” Their solution was a unity government between Mugabe and the opposition. Ironically, this wonderful resolution emerged from an organization with over 95 percent of its membership dominated by dictators who refuse to contemplate sharing power as an alternative to bloodshed and misery. Of course, nothing will happen to change the dismal state of affairs in Zimbabwe.

Like African dictators, I dismiss what the developed countries say or do, because I am convinced that the majority of them are hypocrites. Hypocrisy has always played an integral part in their decisions towards the developing countries in Africa.

African Gold, diamonds, timber, oil and a slew of other crucial raw materials blind the developed world to the political and human atrocities committed on this dying continent. To claim, then, that Mugabe is a dictator and Col. Moammar Gadhafi is not is just plain criminal. By comparison, Mugabe is small fry.

Voting in Gadhafi is a crime. Asking for transparency, accountability and a legal order is a worse crime, and joining any organization not sanctioned by the regime is treasonous.

There is no difference between torture in Zimbabwe and Libya. Non-governmental human rights organizations are illegal in Libya. The only ones permitted to operate are those run by Gadhafi's children, and these seem more interested in securing loot than rights.

Mugabe is selfish and senile, but Gadhafi is vain and evil. Nothing seems to anger him more than seeing people happy, and to that end a cloak of misery and sadness descends upon anything he touches. Libya is wealthy, compared to Zimbabwe, yet no one dares to ask where the wealth has gone, and we are talking about billions, if not trillions, of dollars.

Inflation makes little difference when there is nothing to buy, and one does not make enough to survive in the first place. Libyan economic health is declining at a time when oil prices are at record highs. And, periodically, the dictator removes public support for one program or another.

Yet, Gadhafi has become the darling of the West, while Mugabe is the ogre. The developed countries need to cease this false indignation and keep their traps shut unless they are willing to condemn all dictators alike, not only those they dislike.

The Fourth of July should be a beacon of freedom, the American legacy to humanity. Americans enjoy their quality of life and freedoms because they were not willing to compromise on them. It is time to stop compromising on behalf of others whose freedoms are hostage to the worst humanity can offer.

melkikhia@satx.rr.com

Published  07/03/2008 (San Antonio Express-News)

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