‘Betrayed our legacy’

It appears that the sorry situation in Zimbabwe is becoming too much for even the country's African apologists to tolerate.

The nation -- formerly known as Rhodesia -- has been run by dictator Robert Mugabe since gaining its independence form Great Britain in 1980. It was the breadbasket of the continent, but Mugabe's policy of nationalizing white-owned farms, under the guise of righting wrongs previously done to native blacks, has led the country's agriculture production to collapse.

Food and fuel shortages are common. A recent cholera outbreak has killed thousands. Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans have fled the country, creating a refugee issue.

Meanwhile, Mugabe blames the weather or other bogeymen for his nation's turmoil, refusing to acknowledge that his dictatorial "land reform" policies and hostility to markets and property rights have created the calamity.

For years, however, other African leaders have looked the other way, sympathizing with Mugabe's anti-Western rhetoric and preference for dictatorship over democracy.

The state of his country has become such, though, that some former supporters can no longer close their eyes. South African President Thabo Mbeki stepped in to mediate a power sharing deal after Mugabe lost the first round of a presidential election last March and then did his best to rig the next balloting. But that deal is essentially a sham and Mugabe remains in power.

Meantime, Desmond Tutu last week acknowledged that some sort of African military action -- or certainly the "threat of it" -- may be needed to move beyond Mugabe. "We have betrayed our legacy, how much more suffering is going to make us say, 'No, we have given Mr. Mugabe enough time,' " Mr. Tutu told the BBC.

Perhaps such comments from a man of Mr. Tutu's moral standing will go a long way toward helping convince the leaders of other African nations to do the right thing for the people of Zimbabwe.