A story coming from Zimbabwe caught my eye, I think because its being widely ignored due to the high focus on the war on Iraq. I think it bears some mention though, as we should always pay attention to a world leader who declares themselves comparable to the likes of Adolf Hitler.

'Hitler' Mugabe launches revenge terror attacks--DailyTelegraph.co.uk

I noticed at the bottom of the article that President Bush has frozen the assets of Mugabe and other government officials, saying that they are undermining democracy in Zimbabwe.

This brings me to the questions for debate:
Do you feel that the US should involve itself in the situation there to ensure that democracy is upheld?

Also, if you do feel we should get involved, please explain to what extent we should, and why.

The plights of the third world have always been largely ignored, even as thousands or hundreds of thousands are slaughtered around Africa.

At least the US has done something about it.

I don't really feel that the US should police the world, though. Democracy is a tool that can be easily abused (especially in the third world). I don't think American foreign policy should be centered around creating democracies.

As far as the undermining of democracy, the administration's recent actions would indicate that we should send troops immediately to enforce a democratic government. That seems to be part of our reasoning for interaction in the Middle East -- promoting and establishing democracy for regional stability. Africa is an unstable region as well, so why shouldn't the administration work to protect and encourage democratic rule in an African nation?

I don't agree with that idea anymore than I agree with our current actions, though.

We are not the world police. If there are ways we can cease to do any business we may do with Mugabe, I think we should do so. Freezing assets seems one appropriate step.

Outside of that I don't think our military should get involved, but perhaps we could send ambassadors to discuss the actions being taken by Mugabe and his forces. If it comes about that military action should be considered, I think the issue should be taken to the United Nations for the international community to address.

Unfortunately, whatever course this Mugabe fellow chooses to follow in the future, I forsee it unlikely that we'll get involved. I can't think of any valuable resources we might covet from Zimbabwe and it wouldn't appear that he is a threat to American interests either.

Political structure shouldn't have anything to do with our intervention or not.

Genocide is a good example. Barbaric dictators another.

I could care less about Democracy in Africa, so long as people are happy, healthy, and well fed.

Problem is... The black people are slaughtering white people. It's not very PC to intervene.

--cheers

The famine which is a result of the violence is killing more blacks than whites. We can't invade every bad place in the world.