[Mugabe is also giving farms to his Army officers. There is method to his madness. Mugabe is using the carrot and the stick. He is smashing the homes of those who voted against him while rewarding those keeping him in power. He has always been very generous to the Military and to those in public office.

He has been purchasing arms regularly, especially from China, but also from Russia too – since 2000. The bugger is always ensuring that he is ready for war.

I still think, one day, he should get the war he wants … and get it GOOD…

These bulletins are from TheBeardedMan. Jan]

* Mugabe Pledges To Buy More Weapons From China – President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday said his government would buy more weapons from China and other Asian allies despite a crippling economic crisis threatening Zimbabwe with total collapse. Addressing thousands of mostly supporters of his ruling ZANU PF party during celebrations honouring the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), Mugabe – who says Western powers want to recolonise Zimbabwe – said it was critical to buy more guns to protect the country’s sovereignty despite pressing economic difficulties.

* Zim Defence Forces Given Land And Housing – Members of Zimbabwe’s armed forces have been given farm land and housing plots in a government effort to boost morale among troops, President Robert Mugabe said on Tuesday at an address to mark Defence Forces’ Day. In a colourful ceremony at a football stadium in Harare, Mugabe – who is commander-in-chief of his country’s armed forces – said his government has made “tremendous efforts to ensure that morale remains high among the defence forces”. Mugabe told the packed stadium that members of the defence forces have benefited from the controversial land-reform programme launched five years ago and said they have been given plots of land to build new houses following this year’s urban clean-up campaign.

* Embattled Mugabe Snubs SA Rescue Package, Boasting He Can Rely On China – President Robert Mugabe has snubbed South Africa’s financial rescue package and said the economy would be revived by assistance from China. Speaking at a ceremony to mark the heroes of Zimbabwe’s liberation war, Mugabe did not mention any SA deal, other than an oblique reference to “shrill” calls. These came, he said, from “many quarters including those we expect to know better, for so-called talks with the Movement for Democratic Change. Some of these calls are motivated by the MDC which wrongly thinks it can compel us to talk to it”. Mugabe, with his usual round of Tony Blair bashing, said China remained Zimbabwe’s most steadfast ally.

* Mandela ‘Must Speak Out On Zim’ – A United Nations human rights expert on Monday sharply criticised major African leaders, saying their failure to condemn President Robert Mugabe’s housing demolition campaign in Zimbabwe was tantamount to a “cover-up”. The UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Miloon Kothari, said Zimbabwe was heading towards a disaster if the government failed to change course on the forcible eviction of about 700 000 people from shantytowns. Kothari said: “The silence of major governments in Africa continues to be shocking.”

* Zimbabwe: The Nightmare Continues – Ronald Matsito has been unable to pick up the pieces since his home of 15 years and his small hardware shop were bulldozed two months ago during the Zimbabwe government’s clean up campaign. “I can’t see a way forward,” says Matsito (55) a father of five who lives in Mufakose, a working-class district in southwest Harare. “I’ve lost everything. I have no relatives, no one to ask for help. The people are all in the same predicament.”

* A Meaningful Encounter – A few weeks ago, Jennifer Peterson stood paralyzed in the boxed cereal aisle at the supermarket. Bombarded by the splashy packaging of Froot Loops, Cheerios, corn flakes and the like, she found herself overwhelmed by the choices, not because she couldn’t decide, but because she’s seen firsthand a lack of choice. Peterson recently returned from a visit to Zambia and Zimbabwe, two neighboring African countries, one on its way to democracy, the other struggling under corrupt leadership. The experience, she says, changed her. Peterson, an engineer who works for HKM Engineering in Helena, was chosen by Rotary International for a Group Study Exchange – a program that provides professionals the opportunity to visit other countries to learn more about International Rotary programs and meet Rotarians in other countries who share the same profession.

No worries.
‘debvhu

Source: The Bearded Man
URL: http://thebeardedman.blogspot.com/2005/08/wed…br>[Posted by: Mandebvhu of: The Bearded Man
URL: http://thebeardedman.blogspot.com]/p>