Zimbabwe Update

On the theory that if it bleeds, it leads, the lead story here is the shooting of the commander of the Zimbabwe Air Force known to be a close ally of Mugabe, in an apparent assassination attempt.

I would be unsurprised if there were more of this.

I am also unsurprised at the African Union's decision to ratchet up measures against Mugabe and the ZANU-PF. There is a lot of, "There but for the grace of God, go I," in what has been going on there.

In any case, some things stay the same, like Thabo Mbeki still working for power sharing, and never once laying an ounce of blame on either Mugabe or the ZANU-PF.

I have no clue why anyone in their right mind would treat him with anything but contempt.

Mugabe is attempting to put forward his false "unity government", by publishing a the government law (it's a parliamentary thing), though the MDC majority in parliament has no intention of ever taking taking it to the floor.

The same can be said for Mugabe's "asking" Tsvangirai to allow himself to be sworn in as PM.

Under the current power sharing arrangement, both mean nothing.

In any case Mugabe is now suggesting that there be new elections, which would be even heavier on the violence than the prior ones no doubt.

Anyone who thinks that he will negotiate in good faith, need only look at the speech that he gave to the ZANU-PF annual conference, where he said, "Zimbabwe is mine."

The only way we will see reform from him is if the sanctions against him are severe enough to coerce his agreement.

One sign that Mugabe is looking to step up the violence is that he is now claiming that the opposition is sponsoring a guerrilla war against him.

The idea of the state security forces of Zimbabwe being unleashed with the fig leaf of a counter-insurgency campaign is appalling.

It is thus no surprise that the MDC is threatening to leave unity talks, which I think is an attempt to get Mugabe to stop disappearing opposition leaders.

Finally, it appears that the cholera epidemic is getting worse.