The Mugabe two-step

Kudos to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for criticizing the inaction of African leaders in the face of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ongoing theft of elections in his benighted country. His fellow kleptocrats on the continent have been reluctant to criticize Mr. Mugabe because of his historical status as the "freedom fighter" who liberated his country from colonial rule. The truth is many of them share his dictatorial tendencies and don't want a world spotlight drawing attention to what they've been up to.

Mr. Mugabe has systematically taken his country, once one of the most prosperous in Africa, down to the level of Haiti, and much of the world has looked the other way. Now he's stealing another election.

Following Ms. Rice's strong comments yesterday, so-called mediator Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa, stepped down after doing virtually nothing. It will be interesting to see if any other African leader is willing to increase pressure on Mr. Mugabe to release election results that are sure to spell the end of his reign.

As Ms. Rice put it bluntly, "Where is the concern from the African Union and from Zimbabwe's neighbors about what is going on in Zimbabwe?" Indeed.

Pope Benedict XVI in remarks at the United Nations today called for more first-world aid to Africa, echoing similar comments by President Bush on his recent trip there. But unless African leaders show that they are interested in bettering the lot of their own people and not just their own bank accounts, it's ridiculous for taxpayers to throw more good money after bad.