Death in a Time of Cholera and Economic Disaster

Cholera is a disease that is entirely preventable if good sanitation practices are used. It requires proper sanitation and a sound infrastructure.

Both are completely and utterly lacking in Zimbabwe as a result of Robert Mugabe's disastrous and ruinous economic policies. The country simply is disintegrating as a result of his socialist and redistributionist racist policies that have turned the breadbasket of Africa into a basket case.

550 people are dead, and thousands more are ill from the disease.

Authorities in Zimbabwe have declared a cholera outbreak that has killed more than 550 people to be a national emergency, state media reports.

Health Minister David Parirenyatwa said hospitals were in urgent need of medicine, food and equipment and were suffering a critical staff shortage.

Zimbabwe is appealing for international help urgently to tackle the outbreak, which they had said was under control.

At the same time, Mugabe's policies are finally hitting his last bastion of support; the military.

Meanwhile 16 soldiers have been held over disorder in Harare, say reports.

The Zimbabwean police told the state-owned Herald newspaper that 10 of the soldiers were detained over a looting spree on Monday which broke out after the central bank said it did not have the money to pay defence force members queuing for wages.

The other six were part of a group that reportedly looted shops and battled riot police last week.

Zimbabwe's defence minister has blamed the disturbances on an unruly minority in the army, and promised to punish the culprits.

Of course, that same military decided to attack a bunch of doctors protesting the vile conditions within the country and pressed for more assistance from the government.

And the current economic woes have absolutely nothing to do with the credit crunch in the US. This is a wholly self-inflicted disaster of epic proportions with hyperinflation now reaching 231 million percent. Prior attempts to measure the inflation found a rate of 1-2 million percent, but this takes it to a whole new level. Zimbabweans simply can't print money fast enough between the time they walk out the door and they want to buy a piece of bread (if they can find it).

Something has to give here, and I suspect that the Mugabe government will find itself in a whole world of hurt before long. Of course, Zimbabweans will be suffering for years attempting to recover from Mugabe's disastrous reign of power.