US diplomats said 20 tonnes of American food aid heading to Zimbabwean children had been seized by authorities last week and given to Mugabe supporters at a rally.

"This is a government that is taking tremendous and, frankly, awful strides to maintain its power, that is increasingly abusing its own citizens and has raised, or should I say lowered, the bar to a level that we rarely see," the US state department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said in Washington yesterday.

The White House press secretary, Dana Perino, urged the UN security council "to prevent further deterioration of the region's humanitarian and security situation".

The council is divided over what to do and whether to hold an open debate, said the US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who holds the council's rotating presidency this month.

The UN is sending Haile Menkerios, a diplomat and former Eritrean ambassador, to Zimbabwe next week to discuss the political situation and elections.

Mugabe is like a bad drink, he gotta get thown down a drain a some stage... Man, that guy is

__________________
"Barrel High, Powder Dry!"

"Illic est haud effrego ex Veneratio"

Have you heard the latest.......Mugabe said yesterday

"Only God who appointed me will remove me, not the MDC, not the British."

"The MDC will never run this country,never"

Maybe we should club together and bulldoze his *** off the face of the earth, leave an Interim force there and get a interim government to take the reigns.... Man, hes like Saddam, daring the Int Community cos he thinks whey wont boot him out..

__________________
"Barrel High, Powder Dry!"

"Illic est haud effrego ex Veneratio"

I say call his bluff and sit some carriers in the Indian Ocean.....completely smash his goverment to bits.....they send troops in through mozembiqe

No doubt the Allies cough and his military is in ruins.. however the follow up policing, peacekeeping and humatarian mission would be huge.. that takes real planning and logistics prior to any military strikes and should be part of the exit strategy in any military planning for Zimbabwe..

__________________
"Barrel High, Powder Dry!"

"Illic est haud effrego ex Veneratio"

Yeah....look at Iraq...thats a prime example of what happens when an exit strategy is that planned down to the finer points....and they are saying on the news.....the people are being ruled with a noose around their necks....and even hes surporters surport through fear.....once again where have we heard that before???....the old theyd welcome us with open arms thing....strikes again

IMO...if Zimbabwe had anything to offer the world...we would have been in there years ago.....and thats a shame morels cant be diceided by "whats in it for us"..doing the right bloody thing should be enough....can we really sit back and let this happen on our watch...or will it have to turn into genocide before the IC pulls their fingers out??

Interfering could be a mistake....but...mistakes can be forgiven.....sitting back and doing jack **** while people die...IMO cant

Actually Iraq is an example of when an exit strategy is grossely mishandled in the planning stages... Its a real issue that folks are being persecuted in Zimbabwe, but going in all guns blazing (like Iraq) will only lead to the same screw ups again. "Fail to plan, Plan to fail!"... Planning, Preparation, Logistics, Training, Deployment, Follow up and Exit are all equally important in the planning process. The secondary force deployment is where the real job will be done in peacekeeping and restoration of law and order, local government, public services, health services, water and sanatation... and in a manner that minimises corruption.. which would be a new thing for that country...

__________________
"Barrel High, Powder Dry!"

"Illic est haud effrego ex Veneratio"

Yeah it would be a total re-fit of a country from the ground up.....im not saying go in all guns blazing...no way...lessions have been learned from Iraq....and any military action taken against mugabe...would need to be internationaly back.....witch was my opinion about Iraq in the first place.....as a solider you dont get to chose....who/why you fight....you just do your job...and leave the politics up to the politicans....and hope they havent sold you down a river

What i was saying was sanctions are not going to make any difference...hes countries on its arse anyway....and that dosnt seem to bother him....7 times out of ten sanctions that are designed to hurt the goverment dont .....they hurt the people....and im not sure if the people of Zimbabwe can take anymore....if the heads of the IC put their brains together...im sure the problem can be resolved.....or mugabe can be disolved more like it...we would need other countries in the continent to get on board.....but most of them have got their own problems....me and my brother had a talk about it last night....and he said its nothing to do with us let them get on with it......hes view was its not our problem....and why do we always think its our place to step in......

i said its not our place its the ICs place to club together...and do whats right

anyway ?Exo....rant over.....well almost.....i dont know who said it but......all it takes for evil to provail...is for good people to do nothing

Indeed, you were referring to the quote from Edmund Burke "all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing!"....

That country should have experienced insurrection at this stage of his brutal oppression, but the damn Chinese keep on selling him weapons for his goons to go on the rampage... anyway, Im all on for doing something as long as its planned properly from cradle to grave (hopefully Mugabes one will be somewhere in between)....

__________________
"Barrel High, Powder Dry!"

"Illic est haud effrego ex Veneratio"