The SADC are not the cavalry

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6948813.stm

'A senior Zambian official said Sadc had grown tired of the deepening political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe but he did not have a resolution, saying Mr Mbeki's progress report would determine a course of action...

Observers say there is a new mood of realism developing in the region, with Zimbabwe now seen as more than just a domestic problem.'

Its only taken seven years, millions of wasted lives, and the transformation of a pretty decent little country into one of the worlds worst basketcases for the intellectual giants of the SADC and the other utterly fraudulent trans-African bodies to wake up to Zimbabwe's tragedy. Still, they can't leave behind all the tired tropes about neo-colonialism and a plot by Britain and America to destroy Zimbabwe. These are so far past their sell-by that its surprising the media bothers to report them.

The unnamed senior Zambian official rightly points out that 'they did not have a resolution'. A resolution to Zimbabwe's problem, which is Robert Mugabe and the kleptocrats of ZANU PF, would implicate all the other Robert Mugabe's of southern Africa, and their equally kleptocratic cronies. The last thing a resident of a den of theives will do is bring the house crashing down on all their heads. The abysmal cynicism of these people is enough to make you gag- 'Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has called on the people of Zimbabwe to maintain peace at all costs.' Effectively, he is telling them to shut up, stay quiet and die without bothering the people in the air-conditioned Mercs and BMW's. So far, he has had his wish. For how much longer?