Commentary: Zimbabwe is being destroyed by Mugabe | McClatchy Washington Bureau

This editorial appeared in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Here are samples of life in today’s Zimbabwe, a tragically collapsing nation once among the brighter stars in the African firmament.

The World Health Organization reported Friday that 792 people have died from an outbreak of cholera, with 16,700 cases reported. The epidemic has spread rapidly because of a crumbling health care system and lack of clean water.

For years, a majority of adults have been jobless. Specific numbers are sketchy, but the unemployment rate was pegged at 80 percent in 2005.

Hyperinflation has wrecked the national currency and the economy. With salaries rendered worthless, hospitals and public schools are shutting down as doctors, nurses and teachers cease coming to work, The New York Times reported Friday.

Potholed streets, rotting garbage and crumbling sewer systems symbolize a devastated public infrastructure.

While some people drop dead in the streets from cholera, others are "mixing cow dung with what’s left of their food to make it go further," an official with a Catholic aid agency told Bloomberg News.

To read the complete editorial, visit The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.