Airstrip One

Zimwatch: Send for the Troops

Alasdair Palmer writes that British troops should be sent to Zim, we only need a few. Now this column has always accepted the view that first world armies can beat third world armies fairly fast, but this is not the problem. The problem is that while it would be nice to stop Mugabe undercutting the global diamond market with southern Zairean gems install democracy in Zim, how many troops do you need to stay there? Four hundred here, two hundred and fifty there, it all adds up.