Fine, then Leigh I apologise for implying that you were being racist. But to say "Africans are simply not capable of running their own countries" implies that there is something inherently different about Africans that leads to this result. Now you're saying with the right conditions and education they can prosper - so is that not admitting that they *are* potentially capable of running their own countries?

The people of Zimbabwe, the Shona, are the kindest and friendliest that I have ever met. Their placid nature has been abused by one of the cruelest most avaricious men in history.

That Mugabe is still in power is due to four things:

His ruthless crushing of any dissent,

His extreme paranoid level of security,

The backing of other african leaders who are all too glad to have their own misdeeds overshadowed by this monster,

The apathy of a world focused on Iraq, Afghanistan, and other hot spots.

The same type of dictatorships existed in the dark ages of Europe, so is not the sole preserve of the black man, however, this does not make it any less dispicable.

I would recommend punishing not only those responsible, but those that enable him to remain in power such as Thabo Mbeki and the other dictators of the AU.

If Zimbabwe had oil, Mugabe wouldn't last 5 minutes.

my dad's better than your dad

*If Zimbabwe had oil, Mugabe wouldn't last 5 minutes.*

Exactly. The problem however, is that with these sorts
of dictators, the West is dammed if it does and dammed if
it doesent. A single gps targeted missile could solve
the Mugable problem tomorrow, but it seems its not
acceptable, better to just let the people suffer. Makes
no sense to me.

The thing is, in both Africa and the ME, tribalism still
dominates and rules and whilst that is the case, its hard
to progress to any kind of fair democracy.