Mugabe set to be sworn in Tomorrow

Denis Irwin

Robert Mugabe is expected to be sworn in as president of Zimbabwe tomorrow after run-off elections in which he was the only candidate, Reuters' sources say.

The claims come just hours after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the charade of the country's poll a "new low" for Mugabe's regime.
And as the atmosphere in the country remained menacing, the United Nations said it deeply regrets the call to ballot boxes since conditions "for a free and fair poll did not exist".
Mr Brown urged African countries to help ensure the "sickening chapter", in which Mugabe is effectively the sole presidential candidate, was closed.
Yet despite worldwide condemnation and a note of disapproval from the Security Council, the UN has fallen short of saying the election does not count, due to opposition from South Africa.

Sky News' Africa correspondent Emma Hurd said: "This has left the UN Security Council powerless - it can't even declare the run-off illegitimate."
Western diplomats have said the statement was disappointing.
The US has been rallying members to consider sanctions against Zimbabwe - an option that is likely to be revisited more carefully next week.
Meanwhile, the first results from the election are expected to be announced from around lunchtime today. The final outcome will not be confirmed until tonight or even tomorrow.
Turnout was said to be low, despite reports of widespread violent intimidation across the country as Mugabe attempted to reinforce his position.

Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai said the ballot had become "an exercise in mass intimidation" and advised backers to vote Mugabe rather than risk further violence.
Hurd added: "The atmosphere inside the country is menacing."
Foreign Secretary David Miliband joined the protests against a campaign of "systematic violence, obstruction and intimidation" by the Mugabe regime.
Mugabe defied international pressure to call off or delay the vote, despite the withdrawal of opposition leader Mr Tsvangirai, who won the first round of the election on March 29.
Campaigners in the UK marked the election by carrying a ballot box in the shape of a coffin, symbolising the death of democracy in Zimbabwe, through central London.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1320326,00.html

Funny how the results haven't taken weeks to be announced this time round. :rolleyes:

Sherifu

A one horse race is fairly boring.

turgon

Mbeki's hands are stained in the innocent blood of Zimbabweans.

irish_bob

turgon wrote: »

Mbeki's hands are stained in the innocent blood of Zimbabweans.

that mbeki is at best a fool and at worst a villian

did you see the muppett at the presentation of the world cup to south africa last yr
the guy was baschially doing a mandella from the 1995 world cup , the whole thing was cheap

Latchy

just amazed Mugabe has lasted as long as he has and hasn't being assasssinated yet ......

wait ...breaking news.........reports are coming in now of an attempted assassination of Robert Mugabe ............;)

irish_bob

latchyco wrote: »

just amazed Mugabe has lasted as long as he has and hasn't being assasssinated yet ......

wait ...breaking news.........reports are coming in now of an attempted assassination of Robert Mugabe ............;)

whats so amazing about it , sadamm husein was never assinated , kim jong ill of north korea , the same with countless other despots the world over
theese people are protected by a shield of people who have an interest in the despot remaining in power

Latchy

irish_bob wrote: »

whats so amazing about it , sadamm husein was never assinated , kim jong ill of north korea , the same with countless other despots the world over
theese people are protected by a shield of people who have an interest in the despot remaining in power

Yeah but perhaps some in the the world are waiting and hoping for the black equvilent of Lee Harvey Osawld to pop up and take him out , lone mad guman scenario and all that ,or machete carrying Obo maybe .Mugabe is on borrowed time either way methinks

irish_bob

latchyco wrote: »

Yeah but perhaps some in the the world are waiting and hoping for the black equvilent of Lee Harvey Osawld to pop up and take him out , lone mad guman scenario and all that ,or machete carrying Obo maybe .Mugabe is on borrowed time either way methinks

at least someone believes lee harvey oswald was a lone gun man

Latchy

irish_bob wrote: »

at least someone believes lee harvey oswald was a lone gun man

Along with millions of others i did spend many years in my spare time analyzing Kennedys assaination and have to admit i am not 100% sure it was oswald acting alone .It's the bad marksman getting off 3,4 shots , hitting his target with a dodgy old rifle that gets me , even if limo was moving slow ,not to mention his mental state .Can somebody deemed lone nut be that cool in his moement of history ? Head shot to the front of jfk's head aside, He may have being the lone gunman but was he part of the bigger conspiriscy ,the patsy ?

SeanW

Disappointing, but not surprising.

Dave!

latchyco wrote: »

It's the bad marksman getting off 3,4 shots , hitting his target with a dodgy old rifle that gets me

I would say that as compared to other Marines receiving the same type of training, that Oswald was a good shot, somewhat better than or equal to--better than the average let us say. As compared to a civilian who had not received this intensive training, he would be considered as a good to excellent shot.
--Major Anderson

I would say in the Marine Corps he is a good shot, slightly above average, and as compared to the average male of his age throughout the civilian, throughout the United States, that he is an excellent shot.
--Sergeant Zahm

http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-4.html#marine

latchyco wrote: »

not to mention his mental state .Can somebody deemed lone nut be that cool in his moement of history ?

So cool that he shot a policeman in front of 2 witnesses........

latchyco wrote: »

Head shot to the front of jfk's head aside

This one?

Anywho............

Firetrap

It brings to mind this old chestnut...

Latchy

Dave! wrote: »

I would say that as compared to other Marines receiving the same type of training, that Oswald was a good shot, somewhat better than or equal to--better than the average let us say. As compared to a civilian who had not received this intensive training, he would be considered as a good to excellent shot.
--Major Anderson

I would say in the Marine Corps he is a good shot, slightly above average, and as compared to the average male of his age throughout the civilian, throughout the United States, that he is an excellent shot.
--Sergeant Zahm

Yeah , but how many jfk Assassination books have being released since then ,is it 4 or 5 thousend or more ? ,some as quoting above in favour of oswald being a good/average shot and a tv documentry saying the complete opposite but also , why did he use the cheap italian rifle ? was he not worried about accurcy ? obiously not ?

So cool that he shot a policeman in front of 2 witnesses........

I was refering to the Kennedy hit , he must have being mr cool lying in wait for the motorcade otherwise how could any average person stop their hands from shaking if they were mentally unstable ? Oswald was mr cool at the police staion after .

This one?

QUOTE]

Thats the back of head shot i think , but if shot from front your head will lob backwards as kennedys did . trejectory ? picket fence turkey shoot ?

Thirdfox

BBC wrote:

US President George W Bush has called for strong international action against what he called the "illegitimate" government of Zimbabwe.

In a statement, Mr Bush said his secretaries of state and the treasury were working on the penalties. He added he would press for international action, including an arms embargo.

He said the move was in response to "the Mugabe regime's blatant disregard for the Zimbabwean people's democratic will and human rights".

Reading this passage I thought it was ironic that Bush was talking about legitimacy when the 2000 US election was so controversial and he had to get (according to Michael Moore) his daddy's friends in the supreme court to approve him as president. If the supreme court of Zimbabwe approves Mugabe would the world respect that? Or should we have brought in sanctions against the US for its dodgy elections too?

But, that's a side issue about Bush... Mugabe seems like quite the despot (from the news sources I've seen anyway).

humanji

latchyco wrote: »

why did he use the cheap italian rifle ?

Because it was all he could get?

latchyco wrote: »

I was refering to the Kennedy hit , he must have being mr cool lying in wait for the motorcade otherwise how could any average person stop their hands from shaking if they were mentally unstable ? Oswald was mr cool at the police staion after .

He was trained to use a gun and he was trained to kill. It's not that hard to assume he was a little more relaxed doing it that you or I would be.

latchyco wrote: »

Thats the back of head shot i think , but if shot from front your head will lob backwards as kennedys did . trejectory ? picket fence turkey shoot ?

If you're shot in the back of the head, you're head flies forward and then bounces back. Just like Kennedys did. There's actually a computer game out that lets you recreate it. It sounds more controversial than it is, but it does go through the trajectories of all the shots. It's pretty interesting.

Capt'n Midnight

re Oswald , the ammo would be more important if he had practised and adjusted the rifle.

few of the really bad have been assisanated unless they were very mentally unstable
and if you look at the list of those who have survived attempts , esp. Castro, it's not a sureproof way of implimenting regieme change

RugbyFanatic

Well at least this time theres a clear winner.

Dave!

latchyco wrote: »

Yeah , but how many jfk Assassination books have being released since then ,is it 4 or 5 thousend or more ? ,some as quoting above in favour of oswald being a good/average shot and a tv documentry saying the complete opposite but also , why did he use the cheap italian rifle ? was he not worried about accurcy ? obiously not ?

His military records are readily available online, in books, etc., and based on those he was an above average shot. Not an expert, but surely capable of hitting a slow moving target with 3 shots.

latchyco wrote: »

why did he use the cheap italian rifle ? was he not worried about accurcy ? obiously not ?

He was familiar with it? Confident? Poor? Stupid? Nuts? Take your pick

latchyco wrote: »

I was refering to the Kennedy hit , he must have being mr cool lying in wait for the motorcade otherwise how could any average person stop their hands from shaking if they were mentally unstable ? Oswald was mr cool at the police staion after .

Shaky hands is not a symptom of any relevent mental instability that I can think of.

He had military firearms training, so he wasn't an 'average person'.

Maybe his hands did shake though, maybe that's why he didn't kill him first time?

latchyco wrote: »

Thats the back of head shot i think , but if shot from front your head will lob backwards as kennedys did . trejectory ? picket fence turkey shoot ?

Not so

Read up

Dudess

The Sunday Times led with a rather Mail/red tops-type human interest story today from Zimbabwe. A bit salacious for page 1, but nevertheless, extremely upsetting.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article4232386.ece

Latchy

humanji wrote: »

He was trained to use a gun and he was trained to kill. It's not that hard to assume he was a little more relaxed doing it that you or I would be.

I was trained to use rifles and wepons to kill but having never killed anybody could not say i would find it relaxing ,but take your point

If you're shot in the back of the head, you're head flies forward and then bounces back. Just like Kennedys did. There's actually a computer game out that lets you recreate it. It sounds more controversial than it is, but it does go through the trajectories of all the shots. It's pretty interesting.[/QUOTE

That i think was the one that caused so much controversy due to it's bad taste

Dave! wrote: »

His military records are readily available online, in books, etc., and based on those he was an above average shot. Not an expert, but surely capable of hitting a slow moving target with 3 shots.

That was in his favour

He was familiar with it? Confident? Poor? Stupid? Nuts? Take your pick

By all accounts He a loner and a failure of sorts with obioulsy a big chip on his shoulders so what better way to achieve instant fame for ever than shooting the president of united states. He achieved that much but was assassinated himself 2 days later ...the Tool .

Shaky hands is not a symptom of any relevent mental instability that I can think of.

So he was cold calm and calculated . Most Normal people dont want to go out and shoot anybody unless you have some genuine grievance so we assume it was instant fame that motivated him .He must have hated kennedy so much or was just the patsy for a bigger picture involving rouge elements .Oswalds links with Cuba Russia and mexico link him to suspision but that might just be concidence

He had military firearms training, so he wasn't an 'average person'.

Same here

Maybe his hands did shake though, maybe that's why he didn't kill him first time?

Perhaps they did ? . My thoughts on the JFK assassination is when a crime such as murder is commited anywere ,the crime scene is cordened off and evidence is protected . The body is usualy left to be examined were the event took place ,but kennedys body was removed that very evening before any further detailed examination could be done .The actual crime scene of the jfk murder was like a photocopy, of a photocopy, of a photocopy,and all or any real evidence is tampered with and witness discriptions so distorted by the daze of publicity that even people who werent there said they witnessed the assassination .That suited whoever was in charge of investigation ,confusion confusion and more confusion so that nobody was sure what actually happened,even to this day in 08 . Even photgraphs and artist drawing of the head shot in morgue are not all consistant with balistic reports .

Any ordinary murder ,this would be considered unlawful goings on but this was no ordinary murder, this was the murder of the president of the united states.

oscarBravo

Take the JFK stuff to the Conspiracy Theories forum. This thread is about Mugabe.

Latchy

Tis indeed and i am the guilty person .

Kevster

I shall take it upon myself to just jump into this thread and say this:

Isn't it terribly hypocritical of Mugabe to condemn the British, through thr use of the English language? If he was truly disgusted by them (the British), wouldn't he have chosen to have a different language as Zimbabwe's official one?

He is insane - there's nothing more to be said. The day he dies, millions will clap with happiness.

Kevin.

ejmaztec

There was a Zimbabwean rap-star on the BBC This Week programme last week. It was his opinion that, due to Mugabe's support over the years, many African leaders think that they owe him for getting them where they are now, including Mandela, Mbeki and co. Because of this historical anti-colonial assistance they can't bring themselves to denounce him outright, no matter what he's guilty of. I think that when he dies and is burning in hell, this "appreciation" will vanish, and they might actually do something constructive.

It would be ironic, should it happen that Tsvangirai take his rightful place, were he to get his nose in the trough of corruption and become as bad as Mugabe (and most of other African leaders).

Unfortunately, the former colonial masters were better at teaching corruption than they were the workings of democracy.

turgon

I was in Dublin today (for the first time in years) and I was waiting outside a shop and noticed an oval plaque on the ground. It was placed by Mbeki im sure as a celebration of the contribution of a (irish) woman towards ending apartheid, put down on International Womens Day about 4 months ago.

Im glad he can lay plaques.

Im not so glad he wont stand by the morals these plaques profess.

Dudess

That was Mary Manning: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0618/breaking10.htm

BBC news last night had an interview with a white farmer who was beaten by about 50 Mugabe thugs. Amazing he survived it really. His elderly father-in-law was beaten too and he survived but he was unable to talk. There was just a shot of him lying in a hospital bed. The poor man looked so traumatised. The bruising was just horrific.

Latchy

Kevster wrote: »

I shall take it upon myself to just jump into this thread and say this:

Isn't it terribly hypocritical of Mugabe to condemn the British, through thr use of the English language? If he was truly disgusted by them (the British), wouldn't he have chosen to have a different language as Zimbabwe's official one?

He is insane - there's nothing more to be said. The day he dies, millions will clap with happiness.

Kevin.

He is indeed insane , a selfish horrible disgusting human being who when he is ousted and seeks political asylum in another despots country ,will only be remembered in a slightly less role than others ,who's only contribution to history and mankind is misery