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THE HERALD (OPINION) — IT is one of the ironies of our time that people who are being hounded out of office on account of their ruinous domestic and foreign policies continue masquerading as bona fide international leaders with the moral high ground to lecture Zimbabwe on its internal politics.

In the United States, George W. Bush's regime is on its way out, clothed in shame, trailed by blood and reeking economic ruin with Bush holding the ignominy of being the most unpopular president in US history.

His ratings are far lower than Richard Nixon's at the time of his resignation over the Watergate scandal in 1974.

In Britain, the Labour Party faces the exit at the next polls with Gordon Brown's ratings plummeting faster than those of his predecessor, Tony Blair, who was forced into early retirement.

And these are the people who pretend they have the moral high ground to lecture Zimbabwe when no one in their own countries listens to them anymore.

Over the weekend, one of Bush's foot soldiers -- Jendayi Frazer -- was in South Africa, apparently on a last lap of shame, claiming she was acquainting regional leaders with the "latest US stance on Zimbabwe", saying Washington "was withdrawing support" for the inclusive Government. Frazer's statements were both comical and tragic.

Comical in the sense that not only does Zimbabwe not need US blessings to form a Government, but Frazer was not announcing anything new.

It's not a secret that the US wants regime change in Zimbabwe, which is why it imposed its illegal economic sanctions in addition to sponsoring opposition and quasi-opposition groups here.

From the time the broad-based agreement was signed on September 15, the US never made its opposition to the agreement a secret and has, in fact, kept MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai on a leash to prevent him from setting foot at Munhumutapa Building.

As such, Frazer's statement was akin to announcing sunrise on a dry Savannah day.

The statement was tragic in the sense that it only served to expose the hand behind Tsvangirai's flip-flops.

It is important to note that the US would never have publicly made such a statement unless they knew that Tsvangirai would echo it to give Frazer's voice a semblance of legitimacy.

This is the real tragedy we face, that at a time MDC-T has signed an agreement with Zanu-PF, part of which abhors foreign interference in our domestic affairs, Tsvangirai is happy to be used by the discredited Western regimes.

Right now, he remains holed up in Botswana dancing to the tune of outsiders, yet he was invited, several days ago, to come for swearing-in as premier.

Already many in the opposition have lost patience with him. For instance, yesterday we carried statements by former MDC spokesman Gabriel Chaibva likening Tsvangirai to Savimbi, with Independent House of Assembly Member for Tsholotsho North Professor Jonathan Moyo blasting him for puppetry.

We are sure many other Zimbabweans feel the same way. 

We, too, believe even if Tsvangirai were to join Government, he would be difficult to work with as long as he dances to the tune of outsiders.

To this end, we believe the nation, Government and region have been patient enough, it's high time we said enough is enough.

It may be worthwhile to engage Tsvangirai's principals directly, for the man will clearly never do anything without their blessing. SOURCE: The Herald (Zimbabwe State newspaper)

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