Zimbabwe's Opposition Leader in Intensive Care

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Robert Mugabe and Hastings Kamuzo Banda

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Apparently, Robert Mugabe's police did more damage than first suspected when they arrested and then assaulted opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai over the weekend. Tsvangirai was arrested for attending a meeting, and thus contravening a country-wide ban on any public assemblies. The outrage prompted condemnation from the United States, and a more measured response from the usually reticent officials of South Africa, Zimbabwe's nearest neighbor and the most powerful country in the region.

Tsvangirai was able to give interviews from his hospital bed, and claimed that the beatings started soon after his arrest.

So Mugabe's police have a Keystone cops quality.How foolish is it to arrest an opposition leader, subject him to savage and illegal beatings, and then release him to hold a press conference from his intensive care bed?

Not only are Mugabe's police brutal- they appear to be stupid as well.

Related Link:U.S. State Department's call for Tsvangirai's release

Related Link : Washington Post on the tepid South African Response