Gordon Brown Talks Tough, But Not True
One of the problems with relying on the international community is that by the time someone says “enough is enough” to a “blood-stained regime”, the blood has pretty much dried.
Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of Great Britain has finally discovered the ruination that Robert Mugabe made of Zimbabwe and has had enough. Of course, “enough” doesn’t include actually suggesting that said regime be brought down. But why not? According to Brown, there is sufficient rage to warrant a good tyrant-toppling.
“The whole world is angry because they see avoidable deaths — of children, mothers, and families affected by a disease that could have been avoided,” he said. “This is a humanitarian catastrophe. This is a breakdown in civil society. It is a blood-stained regime that is letting down its own people.”
Those are fine words, but they’re not true. The whole world is not angry. Gordon Brown isn’t even really angry. If he were, British troops would be on their way to wherever Mugabe is right now to enforce some of that international law he and those like him keep flapping their gums about. If he were angry, he’d be in Parliament right now demanding that they do something meaningful to end Mugabe’s reign.
The truth is some of the world is rather happy. That chunk includes tyrants like Mugabe and the folks who get rich and powerful as apologists for tyranny. It also includes the realpolitik crowd who see in Mugabe a man who can be bought if we only apply the right amount of money and keep the yap-dogs like Brown from saying too many mean things about them. This group isn’t hard to find. We see them in the UN all the time and on our televisions talking about how vitally important it is that we “improve our image abroad” and how important international institutions really are.
Mostly, though, the world is apathetic, including most of the people who could actually do something about Mugabe. That’s the simple reality of our world. Tyranny exists not because a lot of people are monsters, but because a lot of people are willing to live with monsters.
Other Posts of Interest:
- Here’s a Job for Carter
- The Tyrant Mugabe Smacktalks the The Whole Civilized World
- No, Sir. Liberty is Our Business.
Category: No More Tyrants, The World At Large
