Thought help: So we are all aware of the situation in Zimbabwe, Does anyone think its maybe time for some of the more powerfull nations to step in? - Help.com

If by more powerful nations, you mean the U.S… it will never happen. Africa does not have any resources that interest Mr Bush. If they had some oil, or something he could benefit from, he would have been in there years ago. Mugabe is just as corrupt as Sadam was. If not more so. His people have suffered for 30 years, while he feeds his big belly and him and his thugs live in luxury.

You’re right, Mezz, although I wish that at least we Canadians would. What happened to f***ing democracy?
And you know whats going to happen? Just what happened in Burma/Myanmar recently…. they’re in the news, everyone says “Oh, we should do something”, no one does anything, and we all forget. ARGH

Besides if Bush ever even thought of raising the idea of going into Zimbabwe, the other politicians would tell him to forget it. The American public would not want another war(even if it never came to that), after what has happened in Iraq. Americans already have a reputation for jumping into world affairs and end up being criticized for it.

simonthesorcerer wrote:
You’re right, Mezz, although I wish that at least we Canadians would. What happened to f***ing democracy?
And you know whats going to happen? Just what happened in Burma/Myanmar recently…. they’re in the news, everyone says “Oh, we should do something”, no one does anything, and we all forget. ARGH

What can Canada do? Say something mean to them? Stop importing their goods? History shows us that embargoes only hurt the little people and our military is tied up in Afghanistan, so we have our plate full.I think we as Canadians are doing pretty good, it’s the other powerful European nations that need to step up. You wouldn’t believe the econonmics influence and firepower that some of those nations have but don’t use.

Other countries look to the US, the UK and Canada to “do something” about humanitarian crises or brutal dictators or wars in general, and these other countries are unwilling to do more than hold our coats. The UN is impotent, and NATO is hamstrung by reluctant allies like Germany. If the USA were to be attacked by Mexico tomorrow, Germany would find some lame excuse for not coming to our aid, as they would be required to do under the NATO treaty. I would think that the other nations of Africa could do something about Mr. Mugabe and his goons if they really wanted to. They should do all in their power to unseat him and restore democracy to Zimbabwe before asking any other nations to step in.

Consider this… what if another “superpower” thinks we need intervention?

Good intentioned people seem to be stuck in this mindset that great good can only be done through government means. If you are so convinced that something needs to be done then take on the challenge of inspiring others to join you to help. Give of your own resources and stop beating the chest of “moral uprightness” while you coerce government officals to take from others for your supposed cause.

If you are not personally involved with your time, money, sweat and tears then it is not your cause.

Running to the “government solution” is mental sloth because it requires nothing of you but to intimidate a government official. Inspiring others requires your intellect, passion and devotion… that’s were most people get off the bus.

Its socially acceptable to sit at parties and poo-poo the problems in the world. Most if not at all will go home and forget about it until somenody embarasses them to join them in mob theft of their neighbors for their “uncommitted” cause.

Marshall Jed Cooper and others have made some very valid points. My own organization, the Sovereign Military Order of Christian Knights Templar (www.smockt.org) has been taking direct action in the Communist and Islamic countries to mitigate oppression and persecution of Christian minorities. I will tell you this: the governments of the West are doing almost nothing to stop human rights abuses, such as denying freedom of religion. Why? Because there’s money involved. We’re borrowing money from China and importing everything we use from that country–we’re almost like a vassal state to them. And when other countries want to negotiate aid or trade deals with us, human rights is completely off the table. Eventually we hope to become so powerful–worldwide–that we can lobby governments effectively to insist that human rights be a centerpiece of any aid or trade negotiation. I’ve been to Pakistan to work for the release of Christian prisoners, and our other knights are working in China and Haiti and other places. We do this because the governments of the West have become complacent and virtually irrelevant where human rights are concerned. I will tell you this: if on one day in the near future, the churches, synagogues and mosques in the West were to call upon their members to write members of Congress and the various parliaments to insist upon humane treatment for religious minorities, there would be a change in government policies almost overnight. You CANNOT leave it up to governments–you have to do something YOURSELF if you want to make this a better world!

ugh religon

Mr. Becket, there are people out there who would force their religion on you, so I would think that you would understand that “freedom of religion” means the right to worship as you choose or not to worship at all. The major religions of the world are Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Sikhism and atheism. That’s right: atheism. That’s a belief system, too, because you cannot empirically disprove God any more than you can prove His existence through “human logic” or experiment. The Communist and Islamic governments in this world are restricting freedom of religion, and in the United States Christians are seeing their freedom of expression restricted while no similar restrictions are put on members of other faiths. Once your freedom of religion is gone, your government is free to tell you what to think and what to believe, and then you are the same as a slave.

That’s rich.