ONLY GERMANS WOULD THUG FOR THOSE WAGES:

Thugs desert Mugabe forces (THE WASHINGTON TIMES, 4/11/05)

Enforcers who beat and tortured opponents of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe in past elections said in a series of clandestine interviews that hunger, lack of jobs and broken promises have persuaded them to switch sides.

Thugs hired to intimidate critics of the Mugabe government "never got the money or jobs" they were promised, only beer, one said.

The defections could prove critical if the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) decides to mount protests over recent parliamentary elections, in which the party accused the government of widespread fraud.

One youth, who asked to be identified only as Sikhumbuzo, said his disillusionment with the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) began in 2002 when Mr. Mugabe won a new term as president.

"ZANU used to get us to stay outside polling stations to frighten away the opposition. If the MDC came, we would chase them away," Sikhumbuzo said. "But we never got the money or jobs that they promised us; all we got was beer."

All it would take is one violent provocation to set Zimbabwe off, as even Mugabe seemed to recognize in this election.

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 13, 2005 12:16 PM