Fear in Zimbabwe. I have heard a lot say western media led by CNN, BBC and others exaggerate about the situation in Zimbabwe. On the contrary I now am convinced that western media understate the gravity of the situation in Zimbabwe. — A Beautiful Gift

Talks about talks. Even forgetting the rapaciousness of Robert Mugabe’s regime and the politics he has created, the immediate concerns that my friends have for their families and friends do not involve roaming bands of ZANU-PF thugs, but rather fears of famine, the mind-boggling inflation that continues to skyrocket — it is at an incomprehensible 2.2% with no signs of abating — despite (because of?) the introduction of laughable bank notes, such as the new Z$100 billion bill that is worth about $1 US and can buy approximately four oranges, or could as of yesterday, if one could find oranges to buy, and the fact that a loaf of bread now costs approximately a third of a teacher’s monthly salary. — Africa – Foreign Policy blogs

Should the west intervene? There are discussion on African business sites about investors waiting in the wings until things stablize and then they plan to start shops and businesses. In other words, throwing out Mugabe is the easy part. Making a stable government to allow economic recovery is the hard part. And the danger is the chaos and even civil war that could happen if Mugabe was thrown out by outsiders, or by a poorly trained Army that lacks discipline and quickly descends to looting and pushing people around. So until South Africa, or Botswana, or Mozambique, is willing to allow a professionals to train a Zimbawean liberation Army on their soils to start their country’s liberation, I say: let Mugabe stay. He can’t live forever… Better a stupid dictator than chaos and civil war. — Mugabe Makaipa

Economic sanctions? Proposals from abroad are claiming that economic sanctions must be imposed to ensure that foreign-owned companies do not support the Mugabe regime. Though well intentioned, they may easily fail to have the effect intended and would more likely become threats to any susceptible company’s financial survival. In fact, Mugabe may even respond by imposing on them even more controls, or possibly by nationalizing those companies of more strategic importance. — Kubatana.net