Byline: By John McCaslin, THE WASHINGTON TIMES   

Dog bites man

The continuing decline of Zimbabwe, where inflation is running at about 1,000 percent and unemployment as high as 80 percent a year because of the misrule of President Robert Mugabe, is a story that has grown all too familiar, except that now a respected international think tank fears the country could spark a "violent explosion" that would destabilize southern Africa.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) this month issued its 18th report on Zimbabwe in the past six years.

Like a dog-bites-man story, the report paints a "depressingly consistent" picture of a "potentially rich land sinking further into economic and political distress, and bringing ever closer the prospect of a violent explosion whose shock waves would rattle a region that has otherwise mostly demonstrated considerable stability and progress."

The ICG urges the battered and divided political opposition to unite against the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party and force nonviolent reforms that will force Mr. Mugabe to step down after his term ends in 2008.

"The political opposition and civil-society organizations have yet to tap effectively into the dissatisfaction based on declining living standards, but they could become the spark that finally sets Zimbabwe toward change," the report said.

The ICG notes that Zimbabwe is on its own because the "international community is fatigued and disillusioned at the lack of progress and shows no inclination to attempt new initiatives." Proposals by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania have shown little "sign of life," the report noted.

The ICG urged opposition leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara to create a "loose coalition" and "encourage as many as possible opposition parties, civil-society organizations and religious bodies to join and speak to the government with one voice."

The other story

Most diplomats and journalists focused on the destruction in Lebanon in the war between Israel and Hezbollah militants. However, a Washington-based policy institute is trying to tell another story.

The Israel Project this month released grim statistics to show that the Jewish state suffered vast casualties and property damage from Hezbollah, which provoked the Israeli assault when it killed eight Israeli soldiers and kidnapped two in a raid into Israel last month.

"Hezbollah's daily barrage of rocket attacks has taken a heavy toll on Israel's civilian population, including its economy and its environment," the lobby group said.

The statistics from news stories and government reports showed:

* Nearly 160 Israelis were killed, a number that included 116 soldiers, and more than 4,260 civilians were injured by Hezbollah rocket attacks.

* Up to 500,000 Israeli civilians fled their homes, and more than 1 million hid in shelters for most of the monthlong war.

* Hezbollah rockets hit 6,000 homes.

* The war cost an estimated $5.3 billion and caused $1.6 billion in damage to the Israeli economy.

* Tourism decreased by 20 percent.

* More than 6,000 acres of grazing land and 618 acres of forest burned because of Hezbollah rockets.

Geography test

From Morocco to Kyrgyzstan, countries from the western shores of North Africa to Central Asia are in the news every day. However, can you identify the nations on a blank map?

Thanks to a tip from Joseph J. Szlavik, a Washington lobbyist with international clients, Embassy Row took a geography test yesterday. The results remain confidential.

To test your own knowledge, go to the Web site www.rethinkingschools.org/just_fun/games/mapgame.html and see if you can match up the 35 countries and the Palestinian territory.

"It's amazing how little we truly know about the area that has been in the headlines for so long, .. keeping in mind the unmitigated growth of Islamic fanaticism in these nations," Mr. Szlavik said.

* Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297, fax 202/832-7278 or e-mail jmorrison@washingtontimes.com.