Mugabe is responsible for the ruin of one of the most civilized countries in Africa. The choice is this; he can go away in peace, or he can fight it out.
What would you choose?
I wouldn’t even be involved under an ideal foreign policy :^)
Who would we be, Mugabe the MDC or someone else?
A generic opposition party.
It’s terrible that he would be able to get away with all the horrible things he’s done to that country. But it’s better that one evil person gets to be free than all of the people who live in that country continue to suffer. So I’d grant him immunity if he agreed to stop down and a much less tyrannical leader took over. I say much less tyrannical because by nature all government is in some way tyrannical. But some are much more so than others. Also just because he’s granted immunity doens’t mean there won’t be a price on his head after he gets out of office. Maybe some mercenary or disgrunteled citizen will take a shot at him.
The question wasn’t whether the US govenment should get involved in the situation though. It was whether if you somehow magically had the power to make this decision would you.
Obviously there is no good decision on this issue. I would grant him immunity because doing so would save the lives of the soldiers who would fight and die on both sides if he was not given it. There would be no reason for people to have to die if he is volunteering to step down. However I agree with BFW89 that if he hesitated going underground, he would probably have an attempt on his life, and rightfully so.
The ideal solution is to grant him immunity, then revoke it later.
How exactly would that be lawful?
I disagree. That would not be right. However as it was posted earlier, once he is given immunity there will be a bounty on him, and there will be no need to revoke his immunity.
Clearly not, even if it would lead to bloodshed. This is what we learned in Hungary. We let the Commies go to avoid bloodshed and they sneaked back using their ill-gotten wealth and political connections and their experience in manipulation. Taking away all of his wealth is a minimum, not only as a punishment but most importantly to render him truly powerless. Anything more than that should be decided by the relatives of those who were murdered by his regime.
BTW he is responsible for much more than economic ruin. Rape camps etc. Evil is rarely one-dimensional.
Let market forces decide.
I see it as equivalent to negotiating with someone who has a gun pointed at you. Tell him whatever it takes to disarm him, then grab him.
Lawful? How is it lawful for the guy who lost the election to demand immunity before accepting the election result?
The Beeb was saying that it might not really be up to him anyway, his top lieutenants are all worried that if he were to leave office that they would be brought up on charges for past crimes.
Without a blanket immunity for his whole regime it doesn’t look too good for the opposition party.
But that just raises another question. If they all get immunity how can they be certain it will stick after they are out of power? There is no Saudi Arabia for commies where they can all go retire in safety like Idi Amin. I’ll bet what we hear next is that perhaps there should be some sort of “power sharing arrangement”.
The opposition should say whatever it takes to get Mugabe out, then seek justice after they are in power.
Why not? It was his private property, remember?
Grant immunity, then let the victims decide. I am sure one of the thousands of victims will want him dead.