If you where to ask people to name a few modern day despots you would probably end up with a list of the following, while they all have had a hand some way or another being responsible for hardship and deaths in their respective countries one stands out as being a nutty as a fruitcake, he is in the news now and is using mercenaries to kill his citizens so that he can stay in total control of his country, But before we get to who that lunatic is, lets take a brief look at the other candidates.
- Pol Pot
- Adolf Hitler
- Idi Amin
- Augusto Pinochet
- Josef Stalin
- Robert Mugabe
- George Bush
- Fidel Castro
- Mao tse Tung
Pol Pot: He was the Prime Minister of Cambodia from 1976 – 1978 and while in power Cambodia was known as Democratic Kempuchea The romantic who had a dream of an agrarian society, so much so that he emptied all of the cities in Cambodia of its citizens and forced them into rural areas where multitudes died of starvation with as many or more being killed by the security forces, some of you may have seen the movie “The killing fields” The combined effects of forced labour, malnutrition, poor medical care and executions resulted in the deaths of approximately 21% of the Cambodian population.. Pol Pot died in 1998 while held under house arrest by the Ta Mok faction of the Khmer Rouge. Since his death, rumors that he was poisoned have persisted.
Adolf Hitler: Managed to get most of the world involved in a World War and then deliberately set about killing as many Jews, gypsies and other peoples that did not fit into his dream of a 3rd Reich. When Chamberlain came back from his meeting with old Adolph he declared “Peace in our time” ……………Yes Hitler wanted peace, a peace of Poland, a piece of France etc etc. Nazi forces under Hitler’s orders engaged in numerous violent acts during the war, including the systematic murder of as many as 17 million civilians, including an estimated six million Jews targeted in the Holocaust and between 500,000 and 1,500,000 added to the Poles, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, people with disabilities, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other political and religious opponents. In the final days of the war, during the Battle of Berlin in 1945, Hitler married his long-time mistress Eva Braun and, to avoid capture by Soviet forces, the two committed suicide less than two days later on 30 April 1945, and their corpses were burned
Idi Amin: “The last king of Scotland” A delusional psychopath that brought Uganda to its knees a man who kept the heads of his opposition (who he had either killed himself or had killed) in his fridge. He is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of his on countrymen. Min's rule was characterized by human rights abuse, political repression, ethnic persecution, extrajudicial killings, nepotism, corruption, and gross economic mismanagement. The number of people killed as a result of his regime is estimated by international observers and human rights groups to range from 100,000 to 500,000. Notable backers of Amin included Muammar Gaddafi's Libya, the Soviet Union and East Germany with early support for his regime coming from the United Kingdom, Israel, and Apartheid era South Africa On 20 July 2003, one of Amin's wives, Madina, reported that he was in a coma and near death at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from kidney failure. She pleaded with the current Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to allow him to return to Uganda for the remainder of his life. Museveni replied that Amin would have to "answer for his sins the moment he was brought back." Amin died at the hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 16 August 2003. He was buried in Ruwais Cemetery in Jeddah.
Augusto Pinochet: The man that most South American and African dictators can thanks for perfecting the death squads to get rid of opposition leaders or anyone else that perhaps did not agree with his ideas of running Chile. People would just vanish without a trace. From the beginning, the government implemented harsh measures against its political opponents. According to various reports and investigations 1,200–3,200 people were killed, up to 80,000 were interned, and up to 30,000 were tortured by his regime including women and children.
Mao Zedong: Also translated as Mao tse Tung: was a Chinese communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, author, political theorist, and leader of the Chinese revolution. Commonly referred to as Chairman Mao, he was the architect of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949, and held authoritarian control over the nation until his death in 1976. His theoretical contribution to Marxism -Leninism, along with his military strategies and brand of political policies, are now collectively known as Maoism. Nationwide political campaigns led by Mao, such as the Great leap forward and the Cultural revolution, are blamed for millions of deaths, causing severe famine and damage to the culture, society and economy of China. His rule from 1949 to 1976 is widely believed to have caused the deaths of 40 to 70 million people.
Fidel Castro: the man that has kept his country in a time warp, because he knows that if he tells people the truth and allows them to think for themselves, you go to Cuba today its like you have go back in time to the late 50’s/early 60’s. He supposedly gave up the leadership of the country in 2006 by handing over the reigns of power to his brother, “lets keep it in the family” how many deaths Fidel is responsible for is not known, but many have died trying to leave the island and cross the small stretch of sea between Cuba and the promised land Miami (United States)
Josef Stalin: The man who believed in the 1939 quote by Jean Rostand “Kill one man and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill them all, and you are a god”. He not only agreed with this view he also ensured he tried to live by it as he was responsible for the deaths of millions of Soviets in Gulags, state arranged famines and had hundreds of thousands executed, this is the man modern Russians have to thank for the way Russia turned out and was not until Gorbochov brought about reforms.
Robert “Rob Bob before he robs you” Mugabe: what can we say about this twat that just happens to live on our doorstep that has already not been said. Just turned 87 and seems no closer to relinquishing power than he was when he took over Zimbabwe in 1980. he is responsible for untold suffering of his fellow countrymen and women and has used brutal tactics to hold on to power. What is even more upsetting is that South Africa have done nothing to get rid of him.
George “Weapons of mass destruction” Bush: whose lies and thirst for war has led to the suffering misery and deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi’s as well as his own countrymen. Some believe that instead of the world getting better by getting rid of Saddam Hussein it has in fact got worse, not that those who have made Millions out of reconstructing Iraq , the Bush family amongst them actually care.
The winner however has to be Muammar Gaddafi, current leader of Lybia (for how long though no one is sure) As his loyal and really happy subjects are revolting against him and as I write this he is using mercenaries against his own people reports of citizens being bombed by the air force as well as having artillery used against them are rife.
So while the others have been brutal and at times fanatical in the pursuit of their distorted polices and visions of utopia , where they themselves don’t need to suffer and live in the lap of luxury none can hold a candles to Brother Gaddafi, who from an early age has shown signs of being a “legend in his own life” syndrome. In a normal society “brother leader” as he likes to be called would have ended up in a funny farm wearing a straight jacket, but as fate allowed he ended up running a oil rich country.
So why did World leaders and the citizens of Libya tolerate this nut job ? I mean heads of state have shared stages with this man, the United Nations even allowed him to address its members in 2009 , with the OAU and Arab League hanging onto every word that came rambling out of his mouth and don’t get me started on his plethora of weird outfits (I think he was a closet Michael Jackson fan)
Here is an extract of an article from the mail and guardian about Gaddafi’s speech at the UN. “ A short man, swathed in saffron robes and a black felt hat waving his arms around and shouting: "Terrorism! "Muammar Gaddafi - for it was he - grabbed his 15 minutes of fame at the UN building in New York today and ran with it. He ran with it so hard he stretched it to an hour and 40 minutes, six times longer than his allotted slot, to the dismay of UN organisers. On his first visit to the US, and in his maiden address to the UN general assembly, Gaddafi fully lived up to his reputation for eccentricity, bloody-mindedness and extreme verbiage.
He tore up a copy of the UN charter in front of startled delegates, accused the security council of being an al-Qaida like terrorist body, called for George Bush and Tony Blair to be put on trial for the Iraq war, demanded $7.7tn in compensation for the ravages of colonialism on Africa, and wondered whether swine flu was a biological weapon created in a military laboratory. At one point, he even demanded to know who was behind the killing of JFK. All in all, a pretty ordinary 100 minutes in the life of the colonel. To be fair, this was a man suffering from severe sleep deprivation. The US state department, New York city council and Donald Trump had prevented him from laying his weary head in an air-conditioned tent in New Jersey, Central Park and Bedford respectively, and the resulting strain was evident.
Gaddafi likes his tents at the NAM conference held in Zimbabwe 1986 he arrived with his own black tent that was erected in the garden of the villa that was allocated to him for the duration of the conference. His entourage had arrived in Zimbabwe in 3 identical planes for security reasons. He was also allocated 3 Shona servants to do his cooking, he fired the one immediately……..Why? Well his name was Israel and as Gaddafi explained “I can’t be seen to be having my food prepared by Israel”
In 2000 at the first Africa – Europe summit in Egypt Gaddafi took the stage and almost derailed the summit launching into a long diatribe against the West. Those who saw his performance say it was more like a comedy act than a speech from a supposed leader. Gaddafi has also dreamt about being the President of a United nations of Africa, a united continent wit one President, one Currency and tells anyone who will listen about his nutty plans.
So why is this sponsor of terrorism and crusher of human rights allowed to breath never mind stand up on world stages and espouse his nutty manifesto’s, because he has money and lots of it from oil revenues, he buys his loyalty and crushes any opposition with efficient ruthfullness, he does business with other crackpots such as mad Bob, he has many kings an presidents on his payroll, he has filled countries coffers and bankrolled election campaigns (just look close to home). This may also explain Africa’s lack of censure towards Gaddafi and his handling of his internal strife. A meek statement from our own major political party “the Libyan government and the people must seek a political solution” while he is slaughtering civilians is an indicator as to how far SA are in his pockets…………..We also never condemn mad Bob because of past history.
Gaddafi should never have been allowed to rule a county as rich as Libya for 40 years, his people are now standing up against him, two scenarios come to mind about his future, he could end up a political refugee in SA (I mean if the ex-Haitian president “who was also a crackpot” can do it, then why not him) this will mean that you and I as well as a few other selected taxpayers will be coughing up for tents and goats milk until he dies, or he is going to be hanging from a lamppost “ala Mussolini” . We can laugh at him, we can condemn him, but if truth be told we should never allow people like this to gain the power that they do.
It would seem that Colonel Gaddafi has business interests in SA but this has been denied by Legacy hotels spokesperson…….. “Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has no direct shareholding in either the luxury Michelangelo Hotel in Sandton or in Legacy Hotels, but the people of Libya do have, said Legacy chief executive Bart Dorrestein on Friday. “Oh I see the people of Libya own it, do they know ??..............What a load of KAK Mr. Dorrenstein.
Have a great week, just seen SA lose to the Poms so that has really screwd up my weekend.....dare i say it when the pressure is on "Chockers"
S.P.A.D