Zimbabwe to be an "example"

I was very happy when Paul Wolfowitz was elected head of the World Bank and I am glad I was right:

The World Bank may withhold further aid to Zimbabwe to "set an example" over the situation under President Robert Mugabe, its chief Paul Wolfowitz said on Tuesday.

The World Bank would be allocating its funds "very, very carefully, and in the case of Zimbabwe perhaps not at all," he told reporters here on the first stop of a regional tour.

"My Africa experts say that with the kind of misgovernment that is taking place in Zimbabwe, it is not clear that development is possible at all.

"For several reasons we have to be very careful about corruption and its effects. We need to set an example. It is a terrible waste of funds if it is diverted into corruption."

In a report published last week, the World Bank's sister institution, the International Monetary Fund, expressed "deep concern" at the situation in Zimbabwe, with growth crashing, inflation rampant and poverty soaring.

The more I see what Wolfowitz is trying to do, the more I like him.

Zimbabwe, Mugabe, World Bank, Wolfowitz

Close your day with a bitter laugh

Mark Steyn insightful but extremely funny weekly piece. Excerpts:

Of all the total non-stories reported by the British media since 9/11 - the brutal Afghan winter, the non-existent Jenin massacre - has there ever been a bigger waste of space than the column inches devoted to "Bush: God Told Me to Invade Iraq"? That was the Independent's headline.

The source for this story was essentially a BBC press release for a forthcoming documentary. Nabil Shaath, the so-called Palestinian "foreign minister", told them (the BBC) that Bush told him (Shaath) that God told him (Bush) to invade Iraq and Afghanistan.

The prohibition of England's flag in England's prisons was put in place by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owers, who is concerned about the "lack of cultural understanding" at Wakefield jail. As far as I can tell, specific examples of "lack of cultural understanding" were confined to an insufficient range of hair products for black prisoners and the display of the offensive national emblem: "We were concerned to see a number of staff wearing a flag of St George tiepin," she wrote in a report on Wakefield jail. "While we were told that these had been bought in support of a cancer charity, there was clear scope for misinterpretation."There always is, isn't there? The other day, a state-funded imam at Werribee Islamic College in Australia told his students that the Jews were putting poison in bananas and that Muslims shouldn't eat them. Allowing Aussie greengrocers to continue to display bananas offers "clear scope for misinterpretation", too. But misinterpretation is in the eye of the misinterpreter, and pandering to it ensures there will be a lot more.

Thus, Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, already feels Ms Owers's ban is insufficient. The cross of St George, he explains, is offensive to Muslims because it was carried by English crusaders in the 11th century. Hmm. Would that be the 11th century that ended nine and a bit centuries ago? When a fellow's got hang-ups about things that happened a millennium ago, there's no point trying to assuage them; he'll only unearth some earlier grievance, demanding the Natural History Museum be dismantled because some stegosaurus was disrespectful to Muslims back in the Jurassic era.

No doubt the bien pensants will still be hooting at born-again Texans on the day the House of Lords gives a second reading to the Sharia Bill.

Poor Europe.

Europe, Britain, Islam, Sharia

Flat Tax (again)

I have received a constructive comment from mr Barak Moore with reference to my earlier post on Australia’s economic reforms and the suggestion of a Flat Tax.

He points out that the numbers stated in my link are conservative and the reality is in fact even more encouraging for those countries who have introduced the Flat Tax. He also highlights the fact that Greece has not yet implemented it. Go and see his blog, it is quite interesting.

Flat Tax, Greece

Ozzies get tough

Australia doesn’t want to become “another Germany”. The new measures to be introduced aim to make Australia more competitive on the world market and reduce unemployment.

Strikes may be considered illegal if they damage the economy, small business may fire employees more easily and big business will be able to sue Unions.

Kim Beasley, leader of the opposition, has vowed to fight to the end to protect the “rights of the Australian workers”. On the other hand, Peter Hendy, chairman of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, finds the reforms “not courageous enough”.

Howard has demonstrated over and over again to be a tough cookie and the debate over these measures from now to the 2007 elections will be something worth watching.

In light of the wreckage caused by Unions in Europe, the lack of job mobility, the increased unemployment, the stifling of business innovation, I can only say: go fer it, mate!

PS: How about introducing a Flat Tax, John?

Source: Il Corriere

Australia, Howard

Reverse land grab

A very confused and confusing (perhaps understandably so) article reports “whites invade farms in Zimbabwe”:

Several of Zimbabwe's new farmers, resettled on at least four farms in the Chegutu area, have been sent packing by some former white commercial farmers who "invaded" their land. They cited a recent High Court ruling that nullified land offer letters issued by the government under the land reform programme.

As much as I sympathize with the “invaders”, who at least know what to do with the land and pay their workers punctually, I miss the point of the whole exercise and I am afraid it will trigger Mugabe’s blind and cruel retribution.

The High Court last week nullified offer letters issued before the promulgation of the Constitution Amendment (No. 17) Act 2005, creating a new wave of uncertainty among scores of new farmers whose land is being contested.

Judge Bharat Patel ruled that the new farmers' offer letters were invalid since they were issued before the promulgation of the new law which makes all land acquired under the land reform programme state land.

Mugabe as usual is creating chaos and unlawfulness where before was wealth, law and order.

A survey by Beeld in Chegutu revealed that some new farmers were being evicted after former white owners were granted eviction orders by lower courts on the grounds that the offer letters were invalid as ruled by the High Court.

Their former workers were reportedly assisting them resettle on their original farms.

"Whites were much better than our balck brothers as we have now gone for more than three months without being paid at this farm," said Gibson Menje, a "foreman" at Ardlui Farm.

At Hallingbury Farm, the new farmers said the white commercial farmer had returned and was busy with his own operations.

He said 16 farmers were allocated plots on the farm.

One of the farmers, Obert Kudyarawanza, said the white farmer started tilling land allocated to the new farmers while workers on the farm were allegedly ordered not to work for the new farmers.

"We are in serious trouble here.

"He (the white farmer)says he is seeking eviction orders so that he can return to his farm."

Puzzling.

Zimbabwe, Mugabe

Schroeder’s out

As easily forecast earlier, Schroeder has given in; Angela Merkel will become Germany’s next chancellor. I hope she doesn’t have to pay to high a price for it. Clearly she will have to give up some ministries to the SPD, but I would hate to see Schroeder as Foreign Minister or some such arrangement.

Germany, Schroeder, Merkel

Eiffel Tower

Apart from the easy jokes “will Paris withdraw its troops from Iraq now?” that have become a bit tired (although they should still be hammered into the thick brains of many journalists), this, coming one day after the French Special Police force exercise in the same location, is puzzling:

The Eiffel Tower has been evacuated following an anonymous bomb threat, according to reports. Authorities cleared visitors and workers from the area after a Paris police station received a threatening telephone call.

France, Terrorism, Paris, Eiffel Tower

Iran’s little problems

These days when one reads stuff like this, one tends to suspect sabotage. The fact that the fire started in the guard room and spread to the pipeline sounds very improbable.

A blaze broke out on the Mahshahr Abadan oil and gas route in the south of Iran.

The Iranian News Agency quoted Mujtabi Khani, the chief Executive of the oil and gas pipelines in Iran's southwestern province of Khuzestan as saying that fire broke out in the guards room and spread in the gas and oil pipelines.

That fire was sparked by an explosion that killed one guard and injured two people.

Iran, Sabotage

Making diamonds

The company doing this is Apollo Diamond, a tiny outfit started by a former Bell Labs scientist. Peer inside Apollo's stainless steel-and-glass machines, and you can see single-crystal diamonds literally growing amid hot pink gases.

The whole concept turns the fundamental idea of a diamond on its head. The ability to manufacture diamonds could change business, products and daily life as much as the arrival of the steel age in the 1850s or the invention of the transistor in the 1940s.

In technology, the diamond is a dream material. It can make computers run at speeds that would melt the innards of today's computers. Manufactured diamonds could help make lasers of extreme power. The material could allow a cellphone to fit into a watch and iPods to store 10,000 movies, not just 10,000 songs. Diamonds could mean frictionless medical replacement joints. Or coatings — perhaps for cars — that never scratch or wear out.

This is great news. And perhaps, by denying a source of income to terrorists and arms merchants, it will be the end of blood diamonds, which bankroll so many conflicts all over the world.

Diamonds, Terrorism, War

Useful artists vs. “useful idiots”

In response to Laskar Jihad's atrocities, and to discredit the appeal of fundamentalist ideology, Dhani composed the best-selling album "Laskar Cinta" ("Warriors of Love"). Released in November 2004, it quickly rose to the top of the charts as millions of young Indonesians embraced its message of love, peace and tolerance.

Dhani and the other members of Dewa have presented Indonesia's youth with a stark choice, and one easy for the vast majority to answer: Do they want to join the army of jihad, or the army of love? In response, numerous radical Muslim groups have accused Dhani -- who is a devout Sufi, or mystically inclined Muslim -- of being an infidel, an apostate (code words inciting violence) and a Zionist agent.

Dhani and his group are on the front lines of a global conflict, defending Islam from its fanatical hijackers. In a world all too often marred by hatred and violence committed in the name of religion, they seek to rescue an entire generation from Wahhabi-financed extremists whose goal is to transform Muslim youth into holy warriors and suicide bombers.

For as they listen to Dewa's music, the hearts of millions of young Indonesians have been inspired to declare: "No to the warriors of jihad! Yes to the warriors of love!"

Do compare these young people to our paid puppets, marching in our squares and avenues, carrying silly signs they do not understand, burning flags by proxy, supporting and encouraging (thence “useful idiots” as Lenin called them) mass murderers and genocidal despots, ignoring what is at stake, followers, sheep, trash.

(Via Publiuspundit)

Indonesia, Terrorism, Anti-war

Syria: coming up roses

A delegation of Pentagon and US National Security Council officials visited Damascus last week for talks with Syrian government members, a United Arab Emirates newspaper reported on Friday. The al-Khalij daily, citing an unidentified US State Department official, said the visit was part of an attempt to re-establish a dialogue between Damascus and Washington after relations were greatly soured following allegations of Syrian involvement in the February assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri.

After the broadside to Syria and Iran given by Bush in his yesterday’s excellent speech, this visit – if confirmed – could signal an important shift in Syria–US relations that has been long maturing and might have benefited by the recent mediation of Egypt and Jordan. Even if Assad wanted to pull a “Qaddafi” however, the problem lies in having him survive it at home; convincing Assad to change his spots and having him killed the next day is not very constructive.

Assad, Syria, Qaddafi, Bush

Protection money

The U.N. employees union has criticized Secretary-General Kofi Annan for retaining his former chief-of-staff as an adviser despite accusations the aide authorized shredding three years of files on the corrupt oil-for-food program for Iraq.

A resolution adopted by the Staff Council, the union's executive, and obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, said keeping Riza as a personal adviser "is inconsistent with the requirement that all those working for the United Nations organization shall be of the highest integrity." The resolution was passed on Tuesday.

In a report in September, Volcker said Riza "played a greater role than he was willing to state" in the oil-for-food program. He was "the primary point of access to the secretary-general, routinely received copies of significant documents," and reviewed a March 7, 2001 memorandum on allegations of kickbacks and surcharges which he forwarded to the secretary-general.

They say oil money breeds corruption. It would seem that Annan has to keep Riza on board to prevent him from spilling the beans.

Annan, Oil for Food, UN, Volcker

Don’t call it soccer, call it jihad

The Saudi daily Al-Watan reported recently that Islamic extremists were inciting Saudi soccer players to quit their teams and wage jihad in Iraq. According to these reports, the young athletes were influenced by fatwas forbidding the game of soccer except when played under certain conditions and with the express intention of using the game as physical training for jihad. Saudi sheikhs and intellectuals have criticized the fatwas and the religious authorities that issued them (you don’t have to be a sheikh or an intellectual to criticize someone who makes a laughing stock of your faith).

"1. Don't play soccer with four lines [surrounding the field], since this is the way of the non-believers

"2. One should not use the terminology established by the non-believers and the polytheists, like: 'foul,' 'penalty kick,' 'corner kick,' 'goal,' and 'out of bounds.' Whoever pronounces these terms should be punished, reprimanded, kicked out of the game

"3. If one of you falls during the game and breaks his hand or his foot, or if the ball hits his hand, he shall not say 'foul' and shall not stop playing because of his injury.

"4. Do not set the number [of players] according to the number of players used by the non-believers, the Jews, the Christians, and especially the vile America. In other words, 11 players shall not play together. Make it a larger or a smaller number.

"5. Play in your normal clothing, or in pajamas, or something like that, but not in colorful pants and numbered jerseys

"6. Once you have fulfilled [these] conditions and rules, you must play the entire game with the intention of improving your physical fitness for the purpose of fighting Jihad for Allah's sake and preparing for the time when jihad is needed.

"7. Do not play for 45 minutes, as is the practice among the Jews, the Christians, and in all of the countries of non-belief and atheism.

"8. Do not play in two parts [i.e. halves], but rather in one part or in three parts, so as to be different than the sinful and rebellious, the non-believers and the polytheists.

"9. If neither side has defeated the other and neither side has inserted the ball between the posts, do not waste further time [in an extension] or in 'penalty kicks' until someone has won, but rather leave [the field] immediately

"10. Do not appoint someone who follows the players around and is called 'a referee',

"11. In the course of the game it is forbidden for groups of youth to gather and watch, since if you are gathering for the sake of sports activity and physical fitness, as you claim, why should they be looking at you

"12. When you finish playing, be careful not to talk about the game, and not to say 'we play better than the opponent,' or 'so-and-so is a good player,' etc. Moreover, you should speak about your body, its strength and its muscles, and about the fact that you are playing as [a means of] training to run, attack, and retreat in preparation for [waging] jihad for Allah's sake.

"13. If one of you inserts the ball between the posts and then starts to run so that his companions will run after him and hug him, like the players in America and France do, you should spit in his face, punish him, and reprimand him, for what do joy, hugging, and kissing have to do with sports?

"14. You must take the three posts or iron rods which you use to construct [the goal], and into which the ball is kicked, and replace them with just two instead of three. In other words, take out the cross-post or rod… so that [the goal] will not be similar to what is customary among the non-believers

Read it all (I have reduced it a bit), especially if you like soccer!

Saudi Arabia, Fatwa, Soccer

Nobel Peace Prize

The U.N. nuclear watchdog and its head, Mohamed ElBaradei, win the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to limit the spread of atomic weapons. The Norwegian Nobel Committee picked the International Atomic Energy Agency and ElBaradei from a record field of candidates.

Before you dismiss this as a bad joke, take a look at some of the previous winners:

2002 Jimmy Carter

2001 United Nations, Kofi Annan

1994 Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres

1988 United Nations Peacekeeping Forces

You cannot accuse the Norwegians of being inconsistent.

Nobel, Peace Prize, 2005

UN tsunami relief operations

THE United Nations failed to adequately co-ordinate the relief effort in the wake of the Boxing Day tsunami, according to a report commissioned by the International Federation of the Red Cross.

It highlighted poor information sharing, agencies competing to spend vast sums of donated cash, the money itself, and duplication of effort among charities as hampering the relief operation.

One example given in the World's Disaster Report details how there was an oversupply of surgeons at the end of January in Banda Aceh, leading to "20 surgeons competing for a single patient". In another, a charity worker arrived at a village with WHO and UNICEF measles vaccinations, only to find that some of the children had been vaccinated by an unknown agency, which left no records.

Move along, nothing new here.

UN, Tsunami, Red Cross

Mugabe in deeper and deeper mud

And the more he moves the more he goes down. Following my recent post on the appalling conditions of the Army in Zimbabwe, an even more worrying (for Mugabe) report has come out:

The Zimbabwean army and air force have been hit by protests over the government’s failure to increase their salaries as well as chronic food shortages at their barracks. Military sources said this week soldiers were increasingly unsettled by government’s refusal to increase their salaries and provide adequate food supplies to the 40000-strong army. Disgruntled armed forces pose a serious threat to President Robert Mugabe’s regime, which depends on the state security apparatus - the army, the air force and the intelligence service - for its survival.

If the foot soldiers, who, after all, have suffering families and starving relatives, start complaining about life under Mugabe, even the generals will have to change tack.

In fact, life is not getting easier, potatoes or no potatoes. Sokwanele reports that prices of basic commodities have increased on average 35% these past 5 weeks. This article gives an even worse picture:

Prices are shooting up in supermarkets daily. One major Harare supermarket said prices on incoming stock over the last two weeks were up by 200%.

Zimbabwe, Mugabe

Annan should at least shut up

Annan calls…

Annan regrets…

Annan is deeply concerned…

Annan has chosen to remain in place - for the time being - rejecting the results of the Independent Inquiry Committee lead (and whitewashed) by Volcker on the Oil for Food scandal. Anyone with a shred of dignity would have resigned long ago; by not doing so, Annan has lost any authority he might have had. I would therefore strongly recommend that he abstains from commenting on world affairs or on anything else until either he resigns or his mandate expires.

Annan, UN

Iraq

Two important developments; both were expected:

National Assembly voted on Wednesday to reverse last-minute changes it had made to rules for next week's referendum on a new constitution following criticism by the United Nations [and the US – ed. Note] and a boycott threat by the Sunni minority.

Britain has accused Iran of responsibility for explosions which have caused the deaths of all eight UK soldiers killed in Iraq this year.
A senior British official, briefing correspondents in London, blamed Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
He said they provided the technology to a Shia group in southern Iraq.

Iraq, UK

Mugabe is scared

AN AFRICAN journalist who has made several personal visits to President Robert Mugabe has revealed that the urban blitz codenamed ‘Operation Murambatsvina’ was the “brainchild” of Zimbabwe’s intelligence community designed to “nip in the bud a Ukrainian-style revolution.”

“After the success in Ukraine, the same metropolitan powers that paid the Ukrainian students to start the street protests in Kiev were paying for a similar thing in Harare,” Ankomah wrote in an article carried by the state-run Herald newspaper.

“They had in fact hoped that Zimbabweans would do it by themselves in the aftermath of the March 31 parliamentary elections that saw the MDC beaten out of sight.”

Zanu PF sources last night described Ankomah revelations as unhelpful, with one official saying they were a “public relations disaster”. The Herald, which published the article, also came in for criticism.

A couple of things of note here: 1) the CIO panicked and must have thought that the revolution was really coming to Zimbabwe 2) Tibaijuka’s UN report is fully vindicated 3) the fact that The Herald published the article could mean that someone wanted people to know how scared Mugabe is of an impending revolt.

Good news from Zimbabwe

Soldiers in Zimbabwe have spoken of being sent on forced leave, as the army was unable to provide them with food.

"Sometimes we are forced to buy our own food for lunch because of shortages," said one of the soldiers from Imbizo Barracks, 20 km from Bulawayo.
Imbizo Barracks produced some of the best infantry soldiers and fighting units of the Rhodesian army during Zimbabwe's independence war.
"Some of our colleagues have been told to commute to work everyday because of food and transport problems facing the army," said another soldier from Imbizo.
A large number of soldiers have also been affected at Braddy Barracks, which trained soldiers who fought for Britain in World War II.

This is indeed good news; if the Army becomes disaffected with the regime, an “Ukrainian-style revolution” is more than a possibility. Zimbabwe has an Army of 30.000, but if Mugabe for lack of funds disregards their grievances relying only on his trusted personal thugs (ZANU PF has a militia of 5000), he could come to regret it very soon.

Mugabe will not and cannot step down. Like every other dictator, he has committed too many atrocities to stay in power and would be hanged and quartered in a second if he did. Moreover, he cannot change his policies as this would be tantamount to admit that he has wasted his life to pursue ridiculous chimeras. The fact that he is still considered a liberator by many Africans – as Mbeki’s “quiet diplomacy” in fear of the ANC demonstrates - is an indicator both of his success as a liar and of African political irresponsibility.

Africa has been a mere pawn in the cold war and, as many realize, no amount of Beijing or Moscow educated, panga yielding, screaming, bloodshot eyed “freedom fighters” would ever have put an end to the colonies in such an untimely manner. Nevertheless, most African politicians continue to resort to this easy rhetoric, fomenting racism and resentment, and knowingly delaying African maturity and development.

Today one US dollar is worth 100.000 Zimbabwe dollars.

While even baboons are getting hungry, Zimbabwe government promises to feed Zimbabwe and Zambia as well (Zimbabwe population is 12m):

Zimbabwe, Mugabe

Team America II

North Korea could announce this month an eventual successor to leader Kim Jong-il, Russian news agency Itar-Tass said on Tuesday, quoting a diplomatic source in Pyongyang.

Very interesting.

North Korea, Kim Jong-Il