Is Military Intervention Needed In Zimbabwe?

» by GI Korea

With the withdrawal of Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai from elections scheduled this week, it looks like Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe will once again steal an election and remain in power. Mugabe was able to use tactics that would make his North Korean idol Kim Il-sung proud by torturing, kidnapping, and murdering his opposition to stay in power.

Robert Mugabe meeting with his North Korean idol Kim Il-sung.

However, he hasn’t been as successful as Kim Il-sung was over the years just by the sheer fact that an opposition even exists in Zimbabwe unlike in North Korea where they died long ago. With that I do find it interesting that there are now voices in the media advocating for an invasion of Zimbabwe to remove Mugabe from power:

Military intervention in Zimbabwe would be justified to stop the violence there deteriorating into mass slaughter, Paddy Ashdown told The Times last night.

Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon said: “The situation in Zimbabwe could deteriorate to a point where genocide could be a possible outcome - something that looks like [another] Rwanda.”

In that case, international military action, with Britain playing a “delicate role”, would have to be considered, said the former European Union High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Britain and the United States became the first countries to refuse to recognise Robert Mugabe as President of Zimbabwe yesterday after Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), sought refuge at the Dutch Embassy.

The Dutch Government said that Mr Tsvangirai had been granted sanctuary soon after announcing he was withdrawing from the run-off presidential election on Friday because of mounting violence that has killed more than 85 supporters, left hundreds wounded and tens of thousands displaced. Yesterday Zimbabwean police raided the MDC’s headquarters, seizing 60 of its supporters. [The Times Online]

More calls to invade Zimbabwe can be read here, here, here and here as well. I also love how these pundits believe how easy an intervention will be:

The Zimbabwe military is beatable; economic factors have severely weakened loyalties. Only the special forces are competent. With more than half the population now in support of Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC, many soldiers may refuse to fight to keep Zanu-PF in power.

Unlike Iraq, there’s little danger of sectarian splits. Before Mugabe decimated the Ndebele tribe on political grounds, there was little history of ethnic antagonism.

No tribalism in Africa? A military that is armed by China and trained by North Korea will not fight back? If you say so.

All these calls of military interventions in Zimbabwe seems very similar to recent calls for military intervention in Burma to overthrow the regime there. I do just find all these calls to remove dictators quite interesting considering all the bashing of the United States intervention in Iraq where Saddam had far more blood on his hands and was a far greater global security threat then Burma or Zimbabwe.

Then you have the North Korean regime which is even worse then the Saddam Hussein regime and is also helping to prop up Mugabe, which the international community appears to show little concern or care about.

You have to love the selective outrage.

I believe the UN should sort this out and write Mugabe a nasty letter as Zimbabweans continue to be tortured and murdered instead of launching a war of choice not authorized by the UN. Just think if the US goes in there to remove Mugabe civilians will die and Lancet and George Soros funded groups will release a study saying millions of civilians were killed by Bush’s War. Better to let them be tortured and killed instead by Mugabe thugs. Plus our military will commit all of these war crimes and our soldiers will return to America with PTSD, become alcoholics, and wander the streets killing helpless civilians.

This is all too much to bare. Instead I think we should all just buy “Free Zimbabwe” bumper stickers to put next to our “Free Tibet” stickers which is much easier and will make us all feel better.

DAMNED IF WE DO SOMETHING AND DAMED IF WE DO NOTHING. LOVE THE CATCH-22.