Rober Mugabe, the thuggish dictator who has ruined Zimbabwe's formerly robust agricultural sector by seizing white—owned land and handing it out to supporters, driving the country formerly known as Rhodesia into financial ruin and near—starvation, is "buying" six military jets from China. They will double the number of Chinese military jets acquired by the country to 12.

Zimbabwe's apparent inability to pay for the first six jets is no obstacle to the new "purchase". Reuters reports:

[Zimbabwe's defense minister]  said the government was in arrears with three Chinese firms that supplied the jets and other military equipment, including trucks, but indicated that the central bank had plans to pay off the debts.

This is a sign of trouble ahead. Mugabe's brutal behavior has made him a pariah among free countries, and China is stepping into what it perceives as a power vacuum. East Africa has long held a fascination for China. The TanZam Railway, connecting Zambia's copper mines to Tanzania's port was the largest foreign aid project China ever undertook, sending a reported hundred thousand Chinese workers to build it. Today, it is virtually unusuable, having been allowed to fall into severe disrepair.

May a similar fate quickly await dictator Mugabe's military jets.

Hat tip: Bryan Demko

Thomas Lifson   8 24 06