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Mugabe, the only leader this country has known since its break from white rule nearly three decades ago, agreed to remain in the race and rely on the army to ensure his victory. During an April 8 military planning meeting, according to written notes and the accounts of participants, the plan was given a code name: CIBD. The acronym, which proved apt in the fevered campaign that unfolded over the following weeks, stood for: Coercion. Intimidation. Beating. Displacement.
In the three months between the March 29 vote and the June 27 runoff election, ruling-party militias under the guidance of 200 senior army officers battered the Movement for Democratic Change, bringing the opposition party's network of activists to the verge of oblivion. By election day, more than 80 opposition supporters were dead, hundreds were missing, thousands were injured and hundreds of thousands were homeless. Morgan Tsvangirai, the party's leader, dropped out of the contest and took refuge in the Dutch Embassy.
In a story yesterday, the Guardian UK provided video evidence of voter manipulation and vote rigging by Mugabe supporters. The article noted as many as 130,000 ballots were spoiled by voters rather than be counted as votes for Mugabe.
The recent African Union meeting failed to reach a consensus on how best to deal with the situation in Zimbabwe. While President Bush has called for UN Security Council action imposing new sanctions against Zimbabwe, Mugabe remains defiant.
The worst thing that can happen now is Zimbabwe fade from the worlds view, settling into another five years of Robert Mugabe's reign of terror and neglect.


