Mugabe Accuses US of 'Biological War'

World | Sat, Dec 13, 2008 at 9:45:30 am PST

In the failed dictatorship of Zimbabwe (a dictatorship whose existence can be blamed largely on Jimmy Carter), Robert Mugabe is blaming the US for outbreaks of cholera.

HARARE, Zimbabwe – The Zimbabwean government on Saturday accused the West of deliberately starting the country’s cholera epidemic, stepping up a war of words with the regime’s critics as the humanitarian crisis deepened.

The state-run Herald newspaper said comments by the U.S. ambassador that the U.S. had been preparing for the outbreak raised suspicions the West had waged “serious biological chemical war.”

Zimbabwean officials often blame their country’s troubles on the West. Their stranglehold on most sources of news to which ordinary Zimbabweans have access makes such rhetoric an important tool for a regime struggling to hold onto power.