Slums
"It Doesn't Matter, It's Africa" File #3
The UN has finished the primary reports on Mugabe's aggressively shocking strategy to "clean up" the slums. In what was the most unbelievable and horrendous story thus far this year of anybody in power over-exerting that power in terrible ways, and then justifying it by the simple and single act of perverting the language used to describe it, Robert Mugabe bulldozed Zimbabwe's massive slums and called it "urban renewal." It is like something out of a cheap, kindergarten doublespeak dictionary.
Several people were killed in the bulldozings, literally trapped in their homes and bulldozed to death because they had nowhere else to go.
But really, Mugabe just wants the best for his people. He wants to solve the crime wave in the slums. He wants to solve the food crisis for his citizens. He wants to rope in Zimbabwe's AIDS epidemic.
Mugabe has rejected western aid to his country; and he has likewise been rejected from aid such as laid out by the G8 summit this year. Zimbabwe stands, today, as the leading example of why Live 8 is meaningful and why the Live 8 Model will work. It gives meaningful incentives for the people of African countries to be accountable, and discourages corrupt regimes. It helps Africa to take responsibility and act reasonably if they want western assistance to get out of the dark fog of poverty that they have been locked in for so long. Mugabe shows the world how much he despises that desire to help. He also demonstrates not his intolerance for poverty in his country, but his anti-humane intolerance for the impoverished.
The UN has finished the primary reports on Mugabe's aggressively shocking strategy to "clean up" the slums. In what was the most unbelievable and horrendous story thus far this year of anybody in power over-exerting that power in terrible ways, and then justifying it by the simple and single act of perverting the language used to describe it, Robert Mugabe bulldozed Zimbabwe's massive slums and called it "urban renewal." It is like something out of a cheap, kindergarten doublespeak dictionary.
Several people were killed in the bulldozings, literally trapped in their homes and bulldozed to death because they had nowhere else to go.
The toddler, a four-year-old boy, was killed by a police truck when Operation Restore Order reached the Porta Farm settlement west of the capital.But the tragedies do not stop with those killed. Over 700,000 have been permanently displaced, made homeless, left to rot.
"He panicked when he saw police destroying houses and tried to run away," a witness said. "He didn't see the oncoming truck, which struck him and killed him."
A bedridden pregnant woman and a one-year-old baby died in separate incidents in the same settlement.
Another witness said the woman's mother tried to pull her clear but the shack collapsed on her, killing her. The baby was killed when a police bulldozer razed a home before his mother could save him.
But really, Mugabe just wants the best for his people. He wants to solve the crime wave in the slums. He wants to solve the food crisis for his citizens. He wants to rope in Zimbabwe's AIDS epidemic.
Mugabe has rejected western aid to his country; and he has likewise been rejected from aid such as laid out by the G8 summit this year. Zimbabwe stands, today, as the leading example of why Live 8 is meaningful and why the Live 8 Model will work. It gives meaningful incentives for the people of African countries to be accountable, and discourages corrupt regimes. It helps Africa to take responsibility and act reasonably if they want western assistance to get out of the dark fog of poverty that they have been locked in for so long. Mugabe shows the world how much he despises that desire to help. He also demonstrates not his intolerance for poverty in his country, but his anti-humane intolerance for the impoverished.
posted by General Stan at 2:49 PM
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