LIMA, Peru, Nov. 22, 2008
Bush Calls For End To Mugabe's Repression
Carter, Kannan Refused Entry To Zimbabwe To Study Country's Humanitarian Crisis
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Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe at his inauguration ceremony in Harare, June, 29, 2008, following the run-off election in which he was the sole candidate. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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"Nearly eight months have passed since the Zimbabwean people voted for a new president, yet they still are governed by an illegitimate regime that continues to suppress democratic voices and basic human rights," he said in a statement.
"In addition to its disastrous economic policies which have forced half the population to rely on food assistance, the Mugabe regime is now assaulting doctors and nurses, denying citizens access to basic medical services, and stealing donor funds intended for HIV/AIDS patients."
CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller reports that Mr. Bush, citing approximately 1,300 independently-documented incidents of politically-motivated violence and harassment by the government, called for an end to the Mugabe regime's "brutal repression of basic freedoms and for the formation of a legitimate government that represents the will of the people as expressed in the March 2008 elections."
Mr. Bush said the United States would honor its commitment of emergency humanitarian assistance, and would provide other forms of assistance "pending the formation of a legitimate government that represents the will of the Zimbabwean people."
Carter, Annan, Others Refused Entry To Zimbabwe
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe has refused to let Kofi Annan and two eminent colleagues visit the impoverished African country for a humanitarian mission, the three said Saturday.
The former U.N. secretary-general, ex-U.S. President Jimmy Carter and rights advocate Graca Machel had planned to assess the country's needs. They are members of The Elders, formed by former South African President Nelson Mandela to foster peace and tackle world conflicts.
Zimbabweans are suffering from disease and hunger while political crisis over a power-sharing government occupies its politicians. A current cholera outbreak has killed nearly 300 people in Zimbabwe, the United Nations said.
But the three were told Friday night by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is mediating the political crisis, that efforts to secure travel visas for the a two-day trip had failed.
"We are very disappointed that the government of Zimbabwe would not permit us to come in, would not cooperate," former U.S. President Carter said at a news conference in Johannesburg.
It was the first time the 2002 Nobel Peace laureate has been denied permission to carry out a mission in any country, he said.
Machel, a rights advocate for women and children who is married to Mandela, said she was denied a visa to visit Zimbabwe in July when she had planned to lead a women's delegation.
Annan said no official reason had been given for the refusal.
Zimbabwe's state-run Herald newspaper reported Thursday that the group had been asked to "come at a later date" to accommodate the crop planting season. It quoted an unnamed source as saying the group was seen as antagonistic toward Zimbabwe's government.
Government officials in Harare could not immediately be reached for comment Saturday.
The Elders had said the trip was entirely separate from regional attempts to get Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and his rivals to implement a power-sharing agreement stalled since September.
Later Saturday, Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai met the group at a hotel in Johannesburg, saying he was disappointed they could not meet under "better circumstances."
He said, Zimbabwe's humanitarian crisis had reached "catastrophic levels."
Tsvangirai accuses Mugabe - who had been in power since Zimbabwe's 1980 independence from Britain - of trying to hold onto powerful Cabinet posts.
The political impasse has left the country without leadership as its economy collapses, with deadly consequences. Lack of cash to maintain water and sewer systems, for example, has led to the cholera outbreak.
"It seems obvious to me that the leaders of the government are immune to reaching out for help for their own people," Carter said.
Zimbabweans face daily shortages of food, fuel and other basic goods. In the countryside, failed harvests mean that starving villagers compete with jackals, baboons and goats for roots and wild fruits.
As the country suffers from the world's worst inflation, health care has collapsed. Hospitals unable to afford drugs, equipment or staff salaries have been forced to shut down.
There is growing regional concern about Zimbabwe's crisis, as millions have left for neighboring countries in search of jobs and security.
"Any crisis that creates millions of refugees is regional, and everyone should be interested in resolving it," Annan said.
Annan and the group of Elders were determined to continue efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe, and planned to meet various leaders and organizations in South Africa.
The Elders - including 12 former world leaders and prominent rights activists - have mediated in a number of other international crises, such as Sudan and Kenya. The group was launched last year to celebrate Mandela's 89th birthday.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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I have despised Mugabee and his evil tactics to his people! Since W invaded Iraq premptively and unilaterally, I have often wondered why he ''took out'' Hussain in Iraq, but dared not ''take out'' Mugabee and his thugs in that same preemptive and unilateral way in Africa along with the other tryants of that region. What stopped him in Africa? Could it be that he couldn''t think of an excuse [like WMDs] to cover his a@@ in Africa?
Posted by hazelknows at 10:10 AM : Nov 22, 2008
hazelknows ? just in case you didn''t know
Abe Lincoin was a republican
Posted by downsteamjim at 10:40 AM : Nov 22, 2008
And the sacking of conservative, Republican federal attorneys by order of Top Cop Gonzales on strictly partisan principles and without justifiable cause was not?!
Furthermore, I''m not so sure the background checks on "Joe" were illegal or even all that detailed. Most of the dirt on him came from public records anyone, including you and I, could access for free or nearly to it.
Anyway, back to Mugabe. No doubt he is one cruddy piece of work. Perhaps when everyone in Zimbabwe has either left, died or gone underground and Mugabe is the only one left; then he and his pan-African collegues will realize what a mess he has made of his country.
Abe Lincoin was a republican
Posted by twomtns at 10:42 AM : Nov 22, 2008
You are right od course, but the key difference here is Lincoln was a leader, and the Shrub is an idiot.
Lincoln tried and succeeded to save Democracy and the Union.
Shrub has only tried to destroy it...
Lincoln rated as one of the Top 5 Presidents ever.
Shrub will be in a "5 group" but I''m betting it will be the "Worst 5", not the "Top 5"!!
Posted by hazelknows at 10:10 AM : Nov 22, 2008
hazelknows ? just in case you didn''t know
Abe Lincoin was a republican" Posted by twomtns at 10:42 AM : Nov 22, 2008
Yes, indeed he was. And that faint grinding noise you hear on still nights is himself spinning in his coffin.
Posted by hazelknows at 10:10 AM : Nov 22, 2008
hazelknows ? just in case you didn''''t know
Abe Lincoin was a republican
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Posted by twomtns at 10:42 AM : Nov 22, 2008
Thanks for the history, but that was 143 years ago, and the sad thing is you had to go that far back in history. Lincoln was a great man, but you know what they say, one in every bunch. Take care
Mugabe calls for an end to Bush''s repression.
Catfight!!!!!!!!!
I bet you were like the most of us when the towers got hit and wanted something done did''t you?A monday morning quaterback is pretty much useless.
"Wanted something done" ... what a neoCON moron!
Talking about a moron,so you think its ok to fly a plane inside of a building,blow up ships,embassies,and kill innocent people?You would be the first one to cry when you had no fuel to put in your car.I bet you would say"we should have done something".
Posted by specialty8
Wow, are you suggesting the United Stated stop doing these things? That''s be quite a change for out foreign policy which is composed almost entirely of terrorist acts committed against other nations and innocent civilians.
Waddle
Quack
Waddle
Lame duck president - anyone listening?
Of course, there are many in the USSA who would also call for an end to the REPRESSIVE and totally IRRESPONSIBLE government of the Great Emperor Bush II as well!
Secretly, however, it is believed that the Great Emperor Bush II is highly envious of the work Mugabe has done in repressing his people and creating an economy with 1,000,000% inflation together with a totally worthless currency!!!
These are the same goals that the Great Emperor Bush II together with his neocon Fascist Nazi Republican allies have been working towards in the USSA, and which the Great Emperor Bush hopes to achieve in the 2 months he has left in office.
Even after he leaves office, he is sure that those stupidly-loyal neocon Fascist Nazi Republican congressmen still around will continue his work of making the rich richer, the poor poorer, and getting a "slice of the pie" for themselves like Ted Stevens and John McBush have done!!!
SIG HEIL, I''LL CREATE A 4TH REICH YET!!!, BUSH!!!
P.S. Send Rev. White my regards.
even The American Conservative magazine lists Bush''s failures. Please George, just take a long Christmas vacation, take a long run, and sit back and be quiet until Jan. 20th.
If Al Gore had more spine, he could have truthfully said the same about Bush, except that eight months would become eight years.
Sounds a lot like Stalinism doesn''t it? Ideology rules, at the expense of reality.....
But this time it is the great Leader himself who is telling us what to think, so he must be right.....
Bush has visited the Rwandan president Kagame, and ever since, Rwandan troops have freely roamed eastern Congo, in search of exportable goods. The people felt betrayed, as they were being sold out to the equivalents of "blood diamond" or coltan traders. Not that anyone cares.
Mugabe knows *** well why and how he''ll get away with this.
When will the west (not only the clown) apply some real pressure????? The mugabe regime is a shame to all of us.
And your boy "helicopter Ben" is printing more money then the private central bank of Zimbabwe.
Why does the private Federal Reserve System print all of this worthless ''paper-butt-money'' and yet the private central bank of Zimbabwe can''t?
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Take out the reference to Zimbabwean and I swear he as talking about the year 2000 and the U.S.
Kremlin has already established hide islamic regime with mimicry of democracy and freedoms.
So called "ellected" new President of Russia Mr.Medvedev cares about this for nobody would understand the transformation of country with slow long term genocide of russian nation.
I think situation in United States is the same.
In Moscow moslems already show for russians that they are "third sort race",organizing sabotage in shops,drugstores etc. with insults till fight.
*By some reason all american Media avoid the theme.
Mr.G.W.Bush now looks like very near to Mr.Gorbatchev - only words.
The same way the American public called for an end to republican repression.....
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Posted by whitemale08 at 11:33 PM : Nov 22, 2008
Do a little research%u2026These Derivatives have been a thorn in our side for decades. We started getting warnings back in 1974 that this would turn around and bite us in the @$$, but we ignored it%u2026
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by lloydbest1
November 24, 2008 8:48 AM PST
- Posted by michaelt3032 at 01:23 PM, 10:22 AM and 10:17 AM : Nov 23, 2008
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Reply to this comment
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See all 38 CommentsNot disputing any of that. You were in Africa, I wasn''t........
But the fact so many do compare Bush to Mugabe (even favorably as you have) does not speak well for Bush. No president should have so shoddy a reputation that he and a monster like "Mugs" could even be mentioned in the same breath; or that one of the few things to be said in his favor is that "He''s better than Mugabe." And even being ABLE to compare our country to Zimbabwe is a stark reminder of how far we have fallen.
I believe we can do better than that. A significant majority of eligible voters tapped Obama because they shared that belief. Whether "O" turns out to be merely "Bush Lite", as one poster on another thread suggested, remains to be seen. But even if the newly elected president falls short of expectations, my belief is that he can, at least, start the long process of elevating our country back to the high status it took more than 200 years to attain.