A Quiet Genocide

What is happening in Zimbabwe is a failure of international diplomacy. It defies reason that African leaders have traditionally tried to speak as a block, defending each others' shortcomings when these shortcomings include brutal murders and oppression. These leaders become complicit in each others' misdeeds and should answer for them. With all the time spent on AIDS and malaria, I wonder sometimes if the leading killer of the people of Africa isn't corrupt and genocidal governments.

I do wonder how those who support Chavez reconcile his support for Mugabe. Here's an article from The New Republic that requires a subscription, but it's worth reading the whole thing:

It all began with Mugabe's land seizures in 2000, in which he booted white farmers from the property they owned and replaced them with political hacks who have no interest in agriculture. The results were disastrous. Zimbabwe annually requires 1.8 million metric tons of maize. Yet, in 2006, for instance, it faced an 850,000 metric ton deficit -- of which planned imports would cover just 60 percent, with only 28 percent of that delivered by December. The country also requires 400,000 tons of wheat annually, yet, last year, it produced only 218,000 tons by the government's count -- meaning the true total was likely far less. As early as 2002, the BBC was reporting that people in Matabeleland, the southern region of the country where the minority Ndebele tribe lives, were starving. That same year, on the eve of a massive drought, the Minister of Zimbabwean State Security said, "We would be better off with only six million people--with our own who support the liberation struggle. We don't want all these extra people." Today, according to the World Food Program, 38 percent of Zimbabweans are malnourished.

Hat Tip: Instapundit.