In an all-out effort to retain power in elections due in March, President Robert Mugabe declared a “real war” on his opponents, and given his recent history, he probably is not speaking figuratively. More than 30 people, most of them opposition supporters, were killed in violence provoked by Mugabe’s party in the last parliamentary election in June 2000. A “real war” may become just that as the country’s economy crumbles and Mugabe’s grip on power weakens.
