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Tony Blair came into power like a hero on a galloping stallion, young and zealous to change the Labour Party and the world. He was a man shedding his youthful socialist ideals and coming to grips with Thatcherite economic realities. He clicked with his equally media savvy and more politically suave counterpart in the White House, Bill Clinton.
The minute the victory of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) was declared, Turkey's stock market jumped to a record high. The local business community welcomed the AKP victory as a choice of stability and continued economic prosperity over instability and chaos, while foreign investors hailed the AKP government's handling of the economy even before the elections were held.
The Question: The U.S. starts to choose a president this week. If you could send the candidates one message, what would it be?
My message would be simple and clear: Use the great American values of liberty, equality, and human dignity for all that are enshrined in the American Constitution. This is what attracts the world to America. It is the illusion of realizing this dream that appeals to people all over the world and makes America the land of opportunity. America defeated the Communist world not by force but by propagating these ideals through its powerful media, through its corporate culture and its liberal trade.
Intervention is a must. The world cannot afford to stand by and allow another Rwanda to unfold in Zimbabwe. It will be an insult to entertain future generations of Zimbabweans with another Hollywood blockbuster of an African buffoon who ruined his country while the civilized world remained unconcerned.
President Robert Mugabe has shown his contempt for democracy and his hatred for his people. He is one of those dictators who cannot see beyond the cheering cronies around him. He wears suits, lives in palaces and is welcomed by dancing and drum beating crowds. He is not the first African leader to live in fantasy while the world collapses around him. We have seen how such crazy men have squandered the meager resources of their countries and reduced their citizens to abject poverty and humiliation. The world has witnessed the genocides they committed when their people dared to stand against them. Siyad Barre of Somalia, Mubuto Sese Seko of Zaire, Idi Amin Dada of Uganda, and Jean-Bédel Bokassa of the Central African Republic and Omar El Beshir of Sudan are but only a few of the tyrants that the world let to dehumanize their citizens.
It is therefore the duty of African leaders to act before it is too late. They should freeze Zimbabe’s membership in the African Union until Mugabe accepts to bow to the will of the people. They should send a clear message to him that they will not allow him to rob the elections and hold the Zimbabweans hostage.
The Bush Administration should use its political and economic influence to urge neighboring African leaders to stop apologizing for Mugabe and treating him as an equal. Mugabe should be isolated and the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, should be accepted as the elected leader and the legitimate voice of the Zimbabean people.
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