Zimbabwe [EM]

[Narins, Josh]

>>>> However, I really don't know who the MPDC (the opposition)
>>>> was.

>> MDC.  Movement for Democratic Change.

I knew that much. What I don't know is what they stand for, or, what sort of
backgrounds their leaders have. Who funds them? Are they just another band
of thugs, who happen to the illegal victims of political suppression?

None of these questions have even been approached in the articles I have
read in the Economist, Bloomberg.com, or in any media I've seen.

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's opposition leader, under house arrest for many
years now, earned the Nobel Peace Prize. Could her MDC counterpart come
close?

The advantages of trading one band of thugs for another is limited.

For the record, there was a lot more violence in the 1982 Guatemala election
than in Zimbabwe in 2002, and the entire US establishment couldn't crow
enough how wonderful things had become with election in Central America.

This time, the winner is not the rest of the world's choice, and 33 dead and
a very large margin of victory (56 to 42) is insufficient.

Historically, we complain about elections where we don't like the result,
and ignore election irregularities where we do.



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