PRESS RELEASE
U.S. Policy Shift on Zimbabwe
Would Isolate Empire
Feb. 4, 2009 (EIRNS)—This release was issued today by the Lyndon LaRouche Political Action Committee (LPAC).
On Jan. 30, the day that Morgan Tsvangirai of the Zimbabwe opposition party, MDC-T, announced that his party was ready to enter a government of national unity with President Robert Mugabe, and a third party which had split off from the MDC in 2005, U.S. State Dept. acting spokesman Robert A. Wood was quizzed specifically on whether it was still the U.S. view that President Mugabe must quit. Recall that the explicitly enunciated position of the Bush regime, was that the U.S. could never recognize a unity government in Zimbabwe in which Robert Mugabe was a participant.
Wood, on this occasion, did not call for the ouster of Mugabe as a condition, which was widely seen in Africa as a distinct initial shift. Wood said that "The key is always implementation. What Robert Mugabe needs to do is to do what's best for the people of Zimbabwe; and an effective power-sharing arrangement, one that is equitable, fair, and in line with the will of the Zimbabwean people, that's what needs to happen." Wood said that when the government is in place, "the Obama administration will be looking to see what more we can do with regard to giving a jump start, a boost to the economy."
This beginning of a shift on Zimbabwe policy, leaves the British Empire in the unenviable, isolated position of continuing to advocate policies designed to paralyze Zimbabwe on their own. Lord Malloch-Brown, who attended the African Union summit Feb. 1-3, got an ear full from the African delegates, who called for the sanctions to be lifted on the first day of the summit: "I think the one message I've got[ten] loud and clear from this summit ... is we've got to give this (unity government) a go, we've got to all do our best to support it, because the needs of Zimbabweans are so overwhelming."
He admitted what he was really thinking when he got back to London. Speaking to the parliament, he said he was skeptical that the unity government would succeed. He also complained that the sanctions against Zimbabwe were misrepresented, and were only meant to force the government to share power. "I think we need this lever for a while," he said. "We need to keep a squeeze on Mugabe."
