Finally the U.S. has jumped on the bandwagon, late once again. President Bush signed an executive order expanding sanctions against Mugabe's regime. It targets companies that are puppets of the Mugabe regime used to siphon off money.
CNN has reported that: "Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer told members of Congress last week that more than 100 people have been murdered, more than 3,000 have been injured by beatings or torture and more than 30,000 have been driven from their homes because of violence that broke out after the general election."
Hitting them financially is a good start. On to other good news, our president is finally doing some good things to end his presidency on a positive note. Here is what CNN is reporting:
"Bush said Friday the United States is ready to provide a "substantial assistance package, development aid and normalization with international financial institutions" should those talks result in a new government "that reflects the will of the Zimbabwean people."
In the meantime, the president said he is authorizing the use of up to $2.5 million from the U.S. Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund to assist Zimbabwean refugees and those displaced by the violence. In addition, he said the United States will continue efforts to provide food and medical care to Zimbabweans."
CNN consistenly covers this situation better than almost anyone else. This aid is a first step in rebuilding the people of Zimbabwe. Now if we can just get working on that new constitution and a fair election....
1 comment:
Slightly off topic from Zimbabwe, but Bush's presidency will be viewed differently in 50 years. I've always been convinced Iraq will be a net positive (although brought to conclusion, ironically, by the depressing parcel of political calculation that is Obama); however, W will also get plenty of blame for doing nothing to stop his party's spending and earmark addiction (and in fact encouraging it) -- an ongoing abandonment of core principles that might very well destroy the GOP. At least the Dems *admit* they get off on big government.
But Bush *will* get credit for his administration's work fighting AIDS in Africa, which -- thanks partly to media non-coverage (doesn't fit the script; he doesn't like black people, right?) and partly to his own legendarily awful marketing and persuasion skills -- remains the most under-recognized facet of his presidency, and certainly miles better than Clinton's ineffectual posturing. We always seem to be late when needed (Rwanda, anyone?), but I'll give the guy some credit where it's due.
Nice work on the blog, Mike.
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