Zimbabwean Misery Continues

You have to give Robert Mugabe credit for being consistent. He consistently seeks to destroy the Zimbabwean people with his insane leftist agenda that has completely destroyed the economy and devastated the infrastructure of the country to the point that we're now seeing a major cholera epidemic taking hold not only in Zimbabwe, but in neighboring countries where Zimbabweans are seeking treatment. Nearly 600 are dead and tens of thousands are suffering from the effects of cholera, and the situation will only get worse unless and until Mugabe is sent packing:

Cholera, a water-borne disease, is on the increase in nine of Zimbabwe's 10 provinces, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned. It blamed "poor water and sanitation supply, a collapsed health system and limited government capacity to respond to the emergency."

Many of those afflicted with the disease have fled to neighboring countries to seek medical health -- which risks spreading the outbreak still further.

Brown called on the international community to tell Mugabe "enough is enough," and suggested that the United Nations Security Council meet to discuss the issue.

He added that the most pressing issue was to ensure that testing and rehydration equipment and packs reach the right people, as well as for aid agencies to set up a organizational structure in the state capital Harare to confront the disease.

"The people of Zimbabwe voted for a better future. It is our duty to support that aspiration," Brown added.

Brown's comments came one day after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the outbreak is the latest sign that Mugabe's rule over the country must end.

"It's well past time for Robert Mugabe to leave. I think that's now obvious," Rice said during a visit to Denmark.

It was obvious for years that Mugabe has destroyed the nation of Zimbabwe. We're reaching the point where Mugabe's destructive and corrosive policies are seriously affecting Zimbabwe's neighbors and Mugabe's insistence on holding on to power at all costs is costing Zimbabweans dearly.

His economic policies have led to hyperinflation - 231 million percent. The Zimbabwean central bank has fired several executives claiming that they were engaging in illicit currency trading.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has been unable to print money fast enough to keep up with soaring prices, which double every 24 hours, and has tried to stamp out a thriving black market for U.S. dollars and other foreign currencies.

This week it dismissed the chief executives and senior managers at four banks, state media reported, saying they diverted large sums of Zimbabwean dollars to the black market before the notes were introduced.

"This is criminal because the money was not yet legal tender when it was released," central bank Governor Gideon Gono was quoted as saying in the Herald newspaper, adding the executives faced prosecution.

Refering to past media reports that suggested the central bank itself had in the past purchased foreign currency from the black market, Gono said: "We are sick and tired of being labelled crooks."

The situation is such that it is probably better to consider that Zimbabwe doesn't have a functioning currency in place at all. It certainly doesn't have a functioning economy, thanks to Mugabe.

Monopoly money has more value than the Zimbabwean currency.

All the reports about talks between Mugabe's people and the opposition party led by Morgan Tsvangirai have led nowhere, and Mugabe continues push the country deeper into crisis.