Which country is next? My advice to those who did not denounce Zimbabwe election are missing out from thousands of dollars being handed out for saying so. In fact, it is a pity those African governments who pretend standing up for the well being of Zimbabwe people are doing business by shouting out and get the hand-out at the expense of Zimbabwean people. How sad!

So the government of a country=the populace of that country?

Maybe the reason why some countries are urging a rejection of the run-off is because they would dislike a neighboring incentive to return to their own violence-marred pasts.

Plus, no matter that they were ruled by chronic authoritarian kleptocrats or the more liberal minority of governors, they were getting hand-outs from the EU member states and the U.S. before this crisis occurred, so why would an outcry from countries like Kenya, Botswana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Zambia engender a spike in those hand-outs?

I could see conditions on foreign aid being placed by the EU and U.S. depending on how the African countries relate to illiberal governments of states such as Zimbabwe, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Togo, Guinea, Libya, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, etc., or even a withdrawal of foreign aid from countries which may do business with such countries. That would be reasonable to do, since dealing with authoritarian governments on a transnational basis always has some high degree of economic and social risk.

Plus, I don't think that the UK has actually implemented sanctions yet, since that would mean that British businesses would not be able to do business in Zimbabwe, which they do (look at Avient Aviation, which flew those Chinese weapons to Zimbabwe from Pointe-Noire in the Congo Republic).

I think President Sirleaf is right on this and the previously writer does not know what he/she is talking about. Despite milatary rule in the early 80s in Liberia, we were a very peaceful country. However, when African leaders remain silent in the face of gross election and human rights violation, the result is what happened in Liberia. Greater than 200,000 killed and scores of others displaced (Liberia's population in 1985 was 2.5Million). We in Africa should stop blaming the west for the ills brought on our people by rulers like Mugabe, Taylor, Doe, etc. I think it takes courage for people like President Johnson Sirleaf to speak out because she has experienced the wrath of leaders like Mugabe. We need to come to the realization in Africa that leadership of a nation is not a birth right or a position willed to us by our grand parents. It is a privellege to serve one country and not a birth right. I think when leaders work for an honest living before entering government or when they leave government, then and only then will they realize the devastating effect of their missguided policies. The West has got nothing to do with the looting of our treasury and the abuse of our people by likes of Mugabe, Taylor, Doe, etc.

I don't believe anyone is blaming the west for Africa's ills. But if any does they have a strong reason for doing so. Take for example Zimbabwe, These white settler came to this country and forcibly take the land of these africans and have them lead a very difficult life. If the president decides to right the wrong that were done to these people, is that not justics? But most african leaders like sirleaf are agents of the west. They will always do what the west ask of them. SHAME ON THEM ALL. LONG LIVE COMRAD MOGABE.

I am replying to a comment about how white settlers have ruined life for Africans. Africans should clearly realize that the truth of the matter is that there was ZERO development in sub-Saharan Africa before the white man came here. Secondly, when one witnesses how African people treat their own kind one is tempted to think that life was actually better under white rule! Isn't it ironic that the Nigerian government has welcomed white Zimbabwean farmers into Nigeria to farm the land. No prizes for guessing why! And NO, I don't support apartheid at all, but we all need to face the truth. If you think Mugabe is a wonderful human being then the Matabeles, who were massacred after Mugabe came to power, would surely not agree. I hope oneday that Mugabe stands trial for his evil doings! And don't blame the west for that either!

I strongly desagree with the idea that Mugabe did not win the election.and there is a reason for him to dislike the white.Sarlif is blaming Mugabe because is in the good box with America.Mugabe idea of taking the farm back was a good one, since it gives power to the black.Today the crisis in Zimbabwe does not mean Mugabe is unable to lead, but it is due to the presure of the outside.They want all the people to see that mugabe is the one behind the crisis while they are the one trying to detroy the economy.Mugabe is the only president in Africa dealing with imperialism.We love Mugabe with his ideology which non of the president in Africa can try to compete with.The African president are quiet about the election because they know Mugabe is right. Prsident Mugabe we congratulate you.

I am still waiting for the power Mugabe gave to the BLACKS after taking the land from the WHITES. We are so shortsighted that we can kill our own people for our own selfish interest and go ahead blaming others. If Mugabe was truly that Nationalistic, why did he give more than 70 percent of the land to his cronies- some of whom have never-ever-visisted the land. If this so much touted land is actually the basis of ZIMBABWE's crisis, why is Mugabe not feeding his own people today.

Have you ever sat down and asked yourself why Mugabe only started the land grabbing after 20 years in power? Have you asked yourself?

Come on, African is a sorry place to live. We are nothing less than beasts of burden. We always talk about colonialism as if other places were not colonized. Damned!

Agray, I was saying that I agree with Johnson-Sirleaf. I was pointing out what you mentioned concerning Liberia's history since 1980.

But what I was simply saying about hand-outs was that most African economies are shattered or barely sustainable because of either civil war or lack of viable natural resources within their own borders to market to international buyers, thus it makes sense to maintain favorable conditions for foreign aid.

However, I think that to make one's foreign aid donors a reason for why one speaks against another country's policies is a logical fallacy, similar to an ad hominem (or attacking the messenger). I tend to find this fallacy accentuated on forums such as this, since the common tendency is to "blame whitey" or "blame the West" for economic and social problems that could've been ameliorated if the government simply accommodated its minorities rather than pull an "Idi Amin" (referring to how Idi Amin had expelled the Asians from Uganda and sent the economy down the toilet). Even Nyerere in Tanzania left the presidency when he realized that Ujamaa was making things worse in his country, which was already strapped for the sort of natural resources that had given so much money to his richer neighbors, and had (and continues to) made life much more miserable for the citizens of that same neighbor (Zaire).

At least Nyerere made like a Taiwanese minister and took responsibility for the economic failure of Ujamaa when he resigned, saying "I failed. Let's admit it." When will Mugabe take responsibility for at least the bloody fast-tracking of land reform and redistribution?

When will he take responsibility for the economic conditions which have driven some 2-4 million Zimbabwean citizens out of the country? I mean, what has the West done in Zimbabwe since Mugabe took over, and why does he blame the West for the present woes of Zimbabwe when no sanctions have been applied against trade with the country?

I ask again, what has the "West" (i.e., the UK, the US, Australia) done in Zimbabwe that would make the Zimbabwean government blame it for the economic and social problems within Zimbabwe's borders?

Agrae doesn't understand the tactics and economics of a control freak. Do you have a control freak in your life? I am sure you do not eat with them on the same table. If you do, just constantly controlled??