Obama’s Mugabe Problem: Time to Bring Our Ambassador Home

Ray Walser / August 04, 2010

Like Presidents Clinton and Bush before him, Obama now has a Robert Mugabe problem. Foreign Policy Magazine recently awarded Mugabe, president of failed Zimbabwe, the dubious distinction of being the world’s second worst dictator, finishing just behind North Korea’s  Kim Jong-Il.

Robert Mugabe is a liberation ‘hero’ in the struggle for independence who has since transformed himself into a murderous despot, Mugabe has arrested and tortured the opposition, squeezed his economy into astounding negative growth and billion-percent inflation, and funneled off a juicy cut for himself using currency manipulation and offshore accounts.

The 2010 Index of Economic Freedom awards Zimbabwe next to last place in its ranking of nations. George Ayittey of the Free Africa Foundation hits the nail on the head when he describes Mugabe as a “crocodile liberator.” (more…)