Huge Gamble

South Africa successfully worked the halls of the UN to obtain a veto of the proposed sanctions against senior members of the Mugabe regime. Russia wasn't helpful, either, as its president Medvedev apparently overturned an earlier decision not to oppose the sanctions. He made this decision while in Japan - apparently Putin wasn't too happy about his puppet's decision and set him back on the proper course once he returned to the puppet house.

South Africa provided Russia and China with a good excuse to veto the sanctions. After all, if Zimbabwe's neighbours opposed the sanctions, how could the rest of the world support the sanctions. This is actually a pretty good line of reasoning...EXCEPT for the fact that Mbeki has not been an honest broker thus far.

South Africa's most recent behaviour makes it essential for Mbeki to achieve something substantial in the most recent round of talks. If not, South Africa will have once again let Mugabe off the hook after so much pressure had grown against his regime. If these current talks fail to yield any positive results, South Africa will have only compounded the problem in Zimbabwe. It will also be even more complicit in the assault on human rights and democracy.