A Monday morning Zim headache

Oh my, oh my, oh my... Just when you think things in Zimbabwe can't possibly turn out any worse. they do.

I caught the news of MDC opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai's withdrawal from the Zimbabwe presidential race on my cell last night. How depressing, utterly depressing. Apparently the MDC is keeping open a back door - but I can't see anything happening that will allow them to use it. I don't believe this is brinkmanship, this is simply the end of the road.

While I understand the MDC's utter desperateness, considering the 'orgy of violence' (to quote Tsvangirai) that has been unleashed against them, I cannot help but think that withdrawing is a huge mistake. What about the scores of MDC activists and regular supporters who paid with their lives in the recent past, hoping that this was the death throes of the Mugabe regime? Were their deaths in vain? Why pull out now, less than a week before the runoff? Yes, the election would not be free and fair - there's no chance of it being, considering the events of the last month and Mugabe's tyrannical history. But what does this achieve? Does it not snuff out any hope for normal Zimbabweans to get rid of the tyrant?

This is probably it. Robert Mugabe gets a free ticket to continue his thievery and power abuse. Will the region stop him? Dream on. Oh my, oh my, how depressing, how utterly depressing...