Zimbabwe Update -- Mugabe Mobilizes His Base

As criticism mounts, Mad Bobby Mugabe is turning to his most reliable supporters.

The Scotsman reports:

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe is drafting his feared war veterans into a specially created army reserve as he steps up a clampdown on the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Former fighters in Zimbabwe's guerrilla war of the 1970s will be given military training and will be deployed for military duties, according to a special government gazette printed in Harare yesterday.

....

Mr Mugabe knows he can count on the loyalty of his war veterans. He used them to spearhead the violent invasions of hundreds of white-owned farms in 2000.

War veterans were also used to beat and intimidate rural voters ahead of parliamentary elections in 2000 and presidential elections in 2002.

Read the whole thing here.

If the old monster holds true to form this is all a prelude to a major wave of violence. Let us hope it can be avoided.