How does Mugabe sleep at night?

I wrote a couple of days ago about prominent figures in Zimbabwe going on a hunger strike in order to stop the food shortages in Zimbabwe. I would like to continue with Zimbabwes humanitarian crisis with the rough draft of my first editorial:

The United States may be in a flailing economy but Zimbabwe has it much worse. Inflation of 231 million per year (the highest in the world), a politically unstable environment and a breakout of cholera have Zimbabweans crying for help. This has left Zimbabwe in a humanitarian crisis that is only getting worse by bickering politicians and severe food shortages.

UNICEF and other organizations have attempted to help Zimbabwe but it simply is not enough. In 2009, President Obama and his administration must get involved in order to stop the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.

The main politician at the head of the crisis in Zimbabwe is President Robert Mugabe (pictured above). Mugabe refuses to give his power to anyone else and can not find it in his heart to share this power to see this country back on its feet. He blocked aid to Zimbabweans at the end of 2008 but let them back in shortly after. Meanwhile, Zimbabweans are left with little food, no shelter and an economy just short of total disaster.

The current humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe can be related to Saddam Hussein and his repression of the Iraqis before his death in 2006. Although Hussein’s sanctions against the Iraqis were much worse than Mugabe’s in Zimbabwe, who is to say that Mugabe could not go in that direction. If Zimbabwe moves in the governmental direction of old Iraq, Zimbabwe will become a dangerous threat to other countries.

Musina, South Africa has now become the town through which Zimbabweans are trying to escape. Many women with young children try to cross this border, but without the right permit from the Zimbabwean government, these women and children are beaten and abused by gangs who lure on the border. Only 300 permits are given out daily by the government, leaving women and children waiting for weeks to cross into a better life.

Although former President Mugabe is not forcing people to relocate, he is sure not making conditions in Zimbabwe favorable for staying. Hussein forced people to relocate to other villages outside Iraq by destroying their current village. Hussein did not make the living conditions favorable for the Iraqis, and Mugabe is surely not making them favorable in Zimbabwe.

Mugabe has been urged by critics around the world to step down off his ego platform and leave Zimbabwe alone before it slides into disaster. The critics believe it is Mugabe alone who is making this country so destitute for even the basic needs of survival. However, any military involvement would be disastrous to Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe needs help, not a war trying to rid of them of ego-ridden Mugabe.
In order to get Zimbabwe back on its feet, President Obama must aid Zimbabwe in a non-forceful way before it slides into ruins. The media does not put Zimbabwe in the forefront where it needs to be. Zimbabwe is in a humanitarian crisis bigger than our economic crisis. People are being starved, beaten and stricken with cholera on a daily basis. The new administration should take Zimbabwe into account when handing out aid in 2009.

Please visit Martin Fletchers blog to read his account of Zimbabweans crossing the border into South Africa. It is very interesting and worth your time.