This is a list of the most evil currently reigning dictators in the world. It is amazing that these people continue to rule while we busy ourselves fighting in places that are ruled by far less dangerous men.
1. Kim Jong Il, North Korea (in power since 1994)
The amount of debate over the recent nuclear weapons development in North Korea has managed to deflect people from the fact that Kim’s government represses its people more completely than any other living dictator. North Korea has, for the last 31 years, been at the bottom of the Freedom House ranking for political rights and civil liberties. It is also ranks last in the Reporters without Borders ranking of press freedom. The US committee for Human Rights estimates that there are approximately 150,000 Koreans performing forced labour in prison camps for political dissenters and their families.
Contrary to popular belief, Kim Jong Il is actually a very clever and efficient manipulator of his people. He is also the author of the books On the Art of the Cinema, and On the Art of Opera.
2. Than Shwe, Burma (in power since 1992)
General Than Shwe has survived a power struggle to emerge as the sole leader of Burma’s military dictatorship. Because of his hard-line views, he has taken an already bad human rights situation to an even worse level. Burma has more child soldiers than any country in the world and the Burmese regime continues to kidnap citizens to force them to serve as porters for the military in conflicts against non-Burmese ethnic groups.
In 1990 the party of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi won 80% of the vote in an open election. The military cancelled the results. Suu Kyi has spent most of the years since then under house arrest. On May 31, 2003 hired thugs attacked Suu Kyi’s motorcade, killing several of her supporters and arresting dozens of others including Suu Kyi herself.
Shwe is a very private figure, preferring to work behind the scenes. Consequently, even the Burmese people know very little about him.
3. Hu Jintao, China (in power since 2002)
Trained as a hydrolic engineer, Hu Jintao joined the Communist Party in 1964 and spent the next 38 years working his way up the hierarchy. While serving as Party Secretary of Tibet, he did not hesitate to administer martial law and to oversee the killing of unarmed demonstrators. Now that he is General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Hu, although not all-powerful, is the leader of an unusually repressive regime. The communist party still controls all media, and uses 40,000 internet security agents to monitor online use. More than 200,000 Chinese are serving re-education sentences in labour camps and China performs more than 4,000 executions every year, more than all of the other nations of the world combined, and many of them are for non-violent crimes.
4. Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe (in power since 1980)
Mugabe began his reign with widespread international and national support. After leading a successful anti-colonial war of liberation, he was elected independent Zimbabwe’s first president. But over the years he has displayed increasingly dictatorial tendencies. According to Amnesty International, in 2002 alone, Mugabe’s government killed or tortured 70,000 people. Unemployment is above 70% and inflation 500%.
Mugabe has been accused of blocking the delivery of food aid to groups and areas that support the main opposition party. He has continued to hold elections, but has restricted the opposition’s ability to campaign and has shut down media that do not support him. When opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won 42% of the vote, Mugabe had him arrested and charged with treason. Mugabe has also confiscated farms owned by white people and turned them over to his supporters.
5. Crown Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia (in power since 1995)
Crown Prince Abdullah has been the acting leader of Saudi Arabia since his half-brother, King Fahd, suffered a stroke in 1995. Saudi Arabia is one of the only nations that holds no elections whatsoever. The royal family has promised municipal elections soon but has not announced whether women will be allowed to vote. In fact, it is forbidden for unrelated Saudis of the opposite sex to appear in public together, even inside a taxi. Women are not allowed to testify on their own behalf in divorce proceedings and, in all court cases, the testimony of a man is equal to that of two women.
According to the US State Department, Saudi Arabia continues to engage in arbitrary arrest and torture. During a human rights conference in 1995, Saudi authorities arrested non-violent protesters who were calling for freedom of expression. Some were later flogged, the usual punishment for alleged political and religious offenses.
In a very unusual show of power, the religious forbade children from playing with Barbie dolls, which they dubbed ‘Jewish dolls’ that are ‘symbols of decadence of the perverted West’.
6. Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Equatorial Guinea (in power since 1979)
This small West African nation (population 500,000) was a forgotten dictatorship until major reserves of oil were found in 1995. Since then, US oil companies have poured billions of dollars into the country. Although the per capital annual income is $4,472, 60% of Equatoguineans live on less than $1 a day. The bulk of the oil income goes directly to President Obiang, who has declared that there is no poverty in Guinea, rather that the people are used to living in a different way. In July, state radio announced that Obiang is “in permanent contact with the Almighty,” and that “He can decide to kill without anyone calling him to account and without going to Hell.”
There is no public transport, no newspapers, and only 1% of government spending goes to health care. When asked why so much of his nation’s oil money is deposited into his personal account at the Riggs Bank in Washington, DC, Obiang explained that he keeps total control of the money in order to ‘avoid corruption’.
7. Omar Al-Bashir, Sudan (in power since 1989)
Sudan, the largest country in Africa, is in the midst of a complex 20 year civil war that has claimed the lives of 2 million and uprooted another 4 million. Al-Bashir seized power in a military coup and immediately suspended the constitution, abolished the legislature, and banned political parties and unions. He has tried to negotiate a peace agreement with the main rebel group, but he insists that the nation be ruled according to Islamic Shari’a law, even in southern Sudan, where the people are Christian and animist.
His army has routinely bombed civilians and tortured and massacred non-Arabs, particularly in the oil-producing areas in the south. He has a long history of providing sanctuary for a wide range of terrorists, only to turn against them. He turned over the notorious Carlos the Jackal to France in exchange for financial and military aid and, in 1996, he tried unsuccessfully to sell Osama bin Laden to the US government.
8. Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan (in power since 1990)
Since taking charge of this former Soviet republic in central Asia, Niyazov has developed the world’s most extreme personality cult, challenged only by that of Kim Jong Il. Niyazov’s picture appears on all Turkmen money, there are statues of him everywhere, and he renamed the month of January after himself. His book, Book of the Soul, is required reading in all schools at all levels, and all government employees must memorize sections of it in order to keep their jobs.
Niyazov rules without opposition. As he put it, ‘There are no opposition parties, so how can we grant them freedom?’. In recent years Niyazov has cracked down on religious and ethnic minorities, including Russians, and has refused to grant exit visas for families for women under the age of 35. He has imprisoned political dissidents and subjected them to Stalinist-style show trials and public confessions.
The Turkmen constitution requires retirement at the age of 70, but Niyazov has ensured his own rule by creating a 2,507-member People’s Council which unanimously elected him Lifetime Chairman.
9. Fidel Castro, Cuba (in power since 1959)
The longest reigning dictator, Castro took advantage of the world’s preoccupation with the Iraq war in March and April of 2003 to carry out his biggest round-up of non-violent dissidents in more than a decade. He arrested 75 human rights activists, journalists, and academics, and sent them to jail for an average of 19 years.
Cuba remains a one party state with all of the power in the hands of Castro. The courts are controlled by the executive branch (in other words, Castro). He traditionally blames all of his country’s problems on the USA.
10. King Mswati III, Swaziland (in power since 1986)
Swaziland (population 1.2 million) is the last remaining absolute monarchy in Africa. Mswati III ascended to the throne when he turned 18, four years after the death of his father. Because he had been educated in England it was thought that he would modernize his kingdom. However, he has shown a liking for certain Swazi traditions. On September 15, 2002, he watched thousands of girls and young women dance bare-breasted in the annual Reed Dance and then chose one of be his tenth wife (his father had 100 wives). The girl’s mother filed a lawsuit against the king, charging him with abducting her daughter. Mswati, who rules by decree, then announced that the Swazi courts were forbidden from issuing rulings that limited the king’s power.
In an attempt to appease international opinion, Mswati approved the drafting of a new constitution to replace the one that his father had suspended 30 years earlier. However the new constitution bans political parties, allows the death penalty for any criminal offense, and provides for the reintroduction of debtors’ prisons.
Technorati Tags: Dictators, Politics, Top 10 list
Where is George w Bush on this, he has centralized power in the most dominant country in the world to a level never seen before, taken away basic rights of freedom and privacy, militarized the police force, has tampered with elections twice, Invaded 2 countries. He has also arrested an unknown number of people without trail and had them systematically tortured, and killed more people worldwide through his imperialistic agenda more then anyone listed here. Dictators are not just limited to lesser developed countries, He is the worst dictator ever known
Enter your comment here.
He wasn’t a dictator. Dictators are leaders of COMMUNIST countries. DERP!
So only communist leaders are dictators??? you havnt read your history then or this list properly.
Hitler not a communist but a dictator
Mussolini not a communist but a Dictator.
General Batista who ruled Cuba before Castro lead his coup not a communist but a dictator and during that time Cuba was a favourite holiday resort for the rich and famous of the US, and the US government loved Batista becasue he WASNT a communist and then Castro took cuba back for Cubans.
Also King Mswati III is a monarch so not a communist yet dictator.
Get your facts right also 5. Crown Prince Abdullah a PRINCE not a communist, communism is about social and economic equality those countries like china are not true communism Soviet Russia was not true Communism.
why not read Karl Marx’s Das Kapital.
“The proletarians of the world have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workers of all countries: Unite!” – Karl Marx
Don’t be ridiculous Chris. Whatever wrongs Bush has done doesn’t make him a dictator. And such hyperbole only weakens the fight against the neocons.
Is it really hyperbole, Michael? Whereas many or most of the above listed do not have international support, the United States has enough economic and military power to easily be considered a dictatorial oligarchy that has free, oppressive reign over the rest of the Earth. Bush’s country (through none of his own doing, assuredly) may have many more basic human rights than the other countries listed above. However, U.S. policy allows for American military and international business to subjugate entire countries, sending them into civil war, eternal debt, lawlessness and general despair. Would that more people see this for what it is.
Even though I'm a republican, I gotta say…You're an idiot. No U.S. pres has been as backwater and draconian as 1/2 of these clownshoes.
I don’t agree that Bush is a dictator – he is going to be out of power at the next elections and it would take a Communist style election rigging to prevent that.
It certainly was…how are people liking the socialist "change"?
I detest your use of the word ‘communist’. It’s easily the most misunderstood word of the last 120 years.
Yes, socialism, communism, and anarchism are probably the most misunderstood words in the English language. What do people think CPUSA has on their platform? Banning elections and opposition parties?
People could do themselves a big favor by taking 5 minutes to read about what communism is On wikipedia. Really guys, it’s not that hard.
I would like to thank Erik Marcus who emailed me to point out that dictator number 8, Saparmurat Niyazov, died last year. He has been replaced by Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow, elected (apparently falsely) by an 89% majority. He was previously the Minister of Health and it was during his time as Minister of Health that the country’s hospitals outside of the capital City were all closed.
Chris – Lets define dictator. Dictator – refers to an absolutist or autocratic ruler who assumes sole power over the state. Bush was elected BY OUR ELCTORIAL PROCESS twice (if you don’t like it then vote to change it) and please spare me your fixed voting conspiracy theory. Your elected CONGRESS gave him the authority to take us to war against two countries. As far as the imprisonment and torture goes why not defend the right of our American workers and countrymen who are captured an beheaded? After the first WTC bombing and attack on USS Cole we did nothing. So 9/11 happened and did you expect us to do nothing again? Hardly! Still more terrorist plot to bomb major metropolitan cities like the bombing attempts in London but what we should sit back and do nothing? Take no action? Instead of placing blame or pointing out what you think is the obvious be part of the SOLUTION!
Bush aside, great list jfrater.
I guest invading a country, which had nothing to do with 9/11, and causing the death of over 100,000 of its citizen seems like the logical thing to do.
you are dumber than a box of rocks. how many americans have to be murdered by muslims before we are allowed to fight back. maybe if your son was murdered you would care about defending our culture more.
LORDS WILL, one word…..’MOVE’, …..JON
dj41326. You sir are an idiot! IF there was any logic to your argument it would be incorrect. As it is you seem to be saying that the US was attacked so lets go out and ***** up some other countries. George Bush didn’t like Iraq so he invaded. Did Iraq have anything to do with 9/11? No. Did that matter? No. Why not? Because there are enough dumb***** morons in this country who will believe any lie told to them by the fascist right wing *****stains that are currently in charge in this country. Why is Bush’s approval rating in the toilet? Because the people finally realized how stuped they were to listen to him and his sycophants. He may not be a dictator, but he sure is a dick. By the way nutjob, who said anything about “take no action”? You seem to be the only one saying that. I say we take action against the Taliban and al qaida but currently our military heros are diverted and dying in Iraq so osama goes free. Smart plan. Way to think it through. If you supported this bull***** and voted for Bush (especially the second time) then I blame you personally for every unneccessary death that has occurred (that includes the Iraqi’s that have died).
you are really the stupid one. with citizens like you our country won't last long. that's if your side don't bankrupt the country first.
Very well said, thank you I couldn't have said better!
George Bush wasn’t really elected the 2nd time. He called to his father for help and the Supreme Court was pressured by the “powers that really be” to stop the re-count. Typical dictator behavior. Bush has also broken multitudinous US laws, lied in a pathological manner, has enriched his friends (and their friends) through a devastating, illegal war, …. sheesh, the list goes on and on. Yes, Bush is the worst living dictator since Hitler. If we aren’t careful, he’ll declare martial law in the US and take power for good.
He and Cheney need to be impeached, tried, and then executed for their crimes. Lesser members of the Bush regime should be incarcerated.
Here is a free clue:
Dictators murder and imprison dissidents. I do not see any BDS sufferers being shipped off to the camps. If Bush really was a dictator, you would not be able to whine about him on the internet without getting hauled off to the gulag.
If Bush and Cheney were as evil as Steve seems to think, Steve would have vanished mysteriously after his last post.
Dictators are not removed from power by being “careful”. They generally require violent revolutions to be deposed. If Bush really is a dictator, then I am afraid it is too late for Steve … he had best flee to Canada now while he still can.
I am an european..I like a lot american people… but sometime is so light mind.
Bush made too many trouble to the world, I hope war stopping and America became more friendly and no so close.
Otherwise America will lose, step by step, all the power she produced in 60 years..
I mean: so short time of empire relatives Rome, London, Babilonia.. (now IRAQ!!!!) So learn History, know other people and don’t worry..
In 30Years you will became the past.
INDIA, CINA and EUROPE need to became the leader for hundred of years.
Goo bless, America.
Will, let me personally thank you for your kind words. In reference to those who posted before me about Bush, you guys need to stop going off-topic. First and foremost, Bush is not, and will not, be a Dictator. This country runs on a system of checks and balances that ensures that no branch overpowers another, that includes the executive branch, which is the “Presidential” branch. Yes I agree that electing Bush twice wasn’t the best of decisions, but we DID pick him indirectly so if you want to complain, send a letter to your congressman or senator. In order for Bush to pull of a fixed election, he would have to manipulate the entire system, which hasn’t been done, and certainly won’t be done with today’s technology. I don’t want to provide excuses for invading Iraq and sending our men there, but it’s better than nothing, and it has worked so far since we haven’t had any terrorist attacks after 9/11 have we? Anyways, I’m already veering off-topic so let me tell you guys that you need to stop bringing up Bush in this list, because he is not a dictator, no matter what he has done. Also if you hate your country so much or its system, you are free to move to whichever country you’d like, a freedom not enjoyed by many people of the world. Maybe you guys should start stepping back a little bit and take a look at the world around you.
Top 10 worst living dictators
Hello. This is a great website, I have been reading it all day.
3. Hu Jintao, China, you said he was an engineer, should that be a hydraulic engineer? Perhaps I am wrong.
If not it is the only fault I have found, good work!
Matt
Hu JinTao is dictator? Can’t find more real dictator for your list?
The vast difference in opinions is eye opening. MARK
Its amazing how quickly some people go off the deep end when things don’t go their way and they watch a little too much you tube. Steve sounds like the type who watches the conspiracy network for his ‘news’.
Anyway, nice list.
I agree with Chris and Steve =D! Oh and don’t they know that Cuba wants Castro? Like duh, old news! Cubans… in a whole believe that Castro brought their country out of a very bad era and into something much better. Jeez, when will Americans just leave the old man alone?
Best to begin the video at 30:00 mins into it
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5547481422995115331
My university Spanish prof was born into a position of abject poverty in Cuba’s definite lower class. He had no hopes for anything, but after the revolution, he was able to receive an education to such a degree that he now teaches in Canada.
Why do you think it’s so ridiculous to suggest that the proprietary Diebold machines, the ones that insiders have said were specifically designed to include backdoors, could have been a part of a neocon voting fraud scheme?
Neocons do not have any respect for the principles of democracy and its processes, they simply *****yze the system, identify loopholes and exploit them to take full control. And, yes, they are perfectly capable of doing it while simultaneously “allowing” free speech to be maintained.
In other news, there’s this brand new shade everyone’s talking about, it’s called gray.
I see no point in even wasting youre valuable time calling bush a dictator..if you look at our country’s history no one who EVER entered office has ever even shown signs of dictatorship so why think that should change now??? get of your high horse and spare us your pity arguments..you probably just regret your OWN vote..
I wonder if all this anti-Bush stuff on the net will go away after the next elections. It could change the face of the internet!
George bush did not invade any country.
The army of the United States of America by request of President George W. Bush, (their commander in cheif) and with permission from the U.S. Congress invaded two countries.
I do not totally like Bush and I do not totally dislike him.
For enough americans to vote him in something had to be right. We don’t just give the job of President to the village idiot (or in this case the country idiot).
A person has to be well educated and somewhat intelligent.
Were he a dictator we would lead much different lives than we do now.
Try having all your assetts seized for the betterment of the coutry, try having your family killed or imprisoned for voicing disagreement with the political government.
In fact if we are able to make comments against our government in a public forum such as this without repisal means our president is not a dictator.
Thanks.
This is just typical internet neo-leftist anti-Bush hysteria.
Bush as bad as Kim Jong, Mugabe, or Saparmurat Niyazov? Last I checked, there aren't thousands of Americans in re-education camps around America, Bush hasn't had but one wife, January is still called January and his face doesn't appear on any of our bills.
Allow me to rephrase it:
There are more then 200,000 Chinese serving prison terms for political reasons. There are currently 0 Americans serving prison terms for political reasons.
Niyazov's book, BOOK OF THE SOUL, is REQUIRED reading for government workers. Bush's book is not required reading for anyone.
Mugabe's government has killed or tortured over 70,000 of it's own citizens. Bush has never killed or tortured any American citizens.
Than Shwe arrested his opponet in a general election. Both Gore and Kerry seem to be doing pretty well on the tour circuit and in Congress, respectively.
Last but not least, Bush's election: Even the most liberal leftist newspaper in the US, the New York Times, on Nov. 12, 2001, ran a front page article that began: "A comprehensive review of the uncounted Florida ballots from last year's presidential election reveals that George W. Bush would have won even if the United States Supreme Court had allowed the statewide manual recount of the votes that the Florida Supreme Court had ordered to go forward."
Folks, if you are this bat-shiat crazy against Bush that you would make him the worst dictator in the world, compared to these top 10 nuts, seek professional help. You are mentally disturbed.
Bush has… a book?
(quick google check)
Oh F*CK… he does!
I totally don’t agree with Hu Jintao & Fidel Castro on this list of the WORST,first Hu isnt even a dictator so thats off and Castro is better than many US presidents and has made cuba a politically stable and strong country and its medical facilities is better than US so he is a dictator BUT not the WORST,sorry ur just wrong there.
The fact that you put Castro on this list shows your utter lack of knowledge re the latin world and US imperialism in that region.
Wideload (and partly Doomkultus): I don’t consider that any nation’s imperialism gives someone an excuse to become a dictator. No matter how bad the US may have been, Castro murders people who oppose him and prevents free elections. That makes him a dictator. When he gives Cuba free elections and stops murdering people for political reasons, I will remove him from the list. Thanks for the comments.
Bush is a traitor. He belongs in the number 1 spot.
So I was hanging out in the Imperial, I mean the Oval Office this morning surfing the net I saw Chris and Greg’s e-mails. That’s it for them, I’ve already had them picked up by the NSA along with their families. They’ll be shot, of course, and the families put into the Correction Facilities in Area 54. My NSA agents are out looking for Steve, and that will guy is in for it too, just as soon as they figure out which Euroweenie country he is from and who to bribe. Black helicopter time for him. And I’ll show that six million jews guy the ropes, too. (Get it? The ropes? Little dictator humor there.)
That’s why I had Harry Reid killed, too. Looked like a car accident, but that was Daddy’s friends in the CIA. And Nancy Pelosi “just dissapeared?” Come on. I fed her feet first into the woodchipper and made a coffee cup out of her skull. And I made Olympia Snowe drink out of it last time she opened her mouth about where all the stolen oil went.
But you know what was really satisfying? When I closed down the New York Times and fed Pinch Sulzberger the publisher to the hyenas at the Bronx zoo. Man, the screams and the laughter juxtaposed together were really sonic art. I recorded and listen when I play with “Little George” while watching “Peace Mom” Cindy Sheehan and those other “Code Pink” *****es raped by the Washington D.C. Police Cavalry Unit. “Absolute Moral Authority” my ass. Her ass, actually. More Dictator Humor. We don’t use any vaseline, so you *better* laugh. And after that fake “toilet story” in the U.S. World Report I closed the magazine down and threw the entire editorial staff into the Gitmo Latrine on CNN and had all the terrorists do their business on them for a few hours, and then I invited the CNN people to join them. They “reluctantly” agreed, so I just left them there.
Now *that’s* what happens in a dictatorship. Who can see the difference? This is a test. If you fail, you get to live in a dictatorship. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life.
Ummm..Mr Bush, I’m not sure. Can you go back to the part about Cindy Sheehan, though, that was fun.
Can you tell us more stories about Pelosi’s Coffee-Mug-Skull, too? Who else drinks out of it?
Where is Maumoon Abdul Gayoom of Maldives in your list. He’s been in power for nearly 30 years, with absolute control on everything. He is probably the worst dictator of them all.
I would vote the american presidency starting sometime more or less with kennedy as an imperial presidency. whereas in the past the office of president was just a public official like any senator or judge, nowadays they have unprecedented power.
Phil: I would vote the american presidency starting sometime more or less with kennedy
As the top 10 worst dictator in the world? Are you farking nuts?
Again, real slow so you can understand me; Show me where any one of the previous Presidents rose to the level of pure madness these current 10 listed here have.
Seriously, put the pipe down, folks and step away from the bong. You’re two last brain cells are fried.
Phil: erm, I don’t know that Kennedy had long enough to be classified as imperial. Regardless though, he was elected. May I ask what your political affiliations are? You don’t seem too keen on the Demos or Republican’s.
Loose Cannon: I should try to be unbiased, but… you go!
Loose Cannon: I was referring to the first few comments above. by imperial presidency I mean that the presidents have been given more and more authority. see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_presidency
jfrater: i’m liberal but don’t really belong to any of the two parties.
What about the Pope? he has absolute authority within the vatican and catholicism, and is considered infallible.
Phil: Thanks for replying. Your answer makes it clear why you don’t seem to support republicans or demos. What was it about Kennedy that makes you feel he was imperialistic? Do you think (Iraq war aside) that recent Presidents have really acted in an imperial manner (keeping in mind that true imperialism is what we saw from the English monarchy in the 1800′s – it has since been abolished).
“Bush” said: But you know what was really satisfying? When I closed down the New York Times and fed Pinch Sulzberger the publisher to the hyenas at the Bronx zoo. Man, the screams and the laughter juxtaposed together were really sonic art. I recorded and listen when I play with “Little George” while watching “Peace Mom” Cindy Sheehan and those other “Code Pink” *****es raped by the Washington D.C. Police Cavalry Unit.
Loose Cannon responded: Ummm..Mr Bush, I’m not sure. Can you go back to the part about Cindy Sheehan, though, that was fun.
you’re a sick ***** loose cannon and i discredit your arguments
Jfrater: I don’t specifically think the “imperial presidency” started with kennedy. it’s just around that time (the mid 60′s maybe) that the office went from being something smalltime like a senator to big like the president was the supreme executive authority.
Slim Jim: The infallibility of the Pope is very limited (ie, it relates only to morals and doctrine); but that aside, Catholics have never considered imperialism to be a bad thing – that is why the Catholic Church used to crown the royals of Europe’s thrones. You could say that in an ideal world (from a Catholic perspective) each country would be governed by an absolute monarch who acts for the best of all his subjects. Frankly this worked for a long time, but you do suffer the occasional despot who screws it up for all by being totally evil. I am not sure we will ever find a perfect balance.
Slim: you go!
Phil: I see – to be honest I don’t follow politics a great deal so I am not one to debate on a deep level as I lack the knowledge. I am happy to just chew the fat though (as we have here).
Slim Jim: you’re a sick ***** loose cannon and i discredit your arguments
It was satirical. If you’re that oblivious to sarcasm then I suggest you stick to the Disney Channel forums.
My argument is simple: Rating any political leader in this nation as one of, or the, worst dictator in the world, especially when we have so many others that are clearly worse, is hysteria.
Anyone who disagrees with this argument is either an imbecile or suffering from BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome).
Loose Cannon: passion is good – but we should probably try not to resort to name calling. I think we could probably have a reasonable debate here if everyone is willing to listen to the others and ALSO to be heard by the others. Hysteria is always lame – we should try to be moderate. Thanks for the comment though – I guess if some are passionate about their views we need to have others as passionate for the opposition too!
I wouldn’t go as far as to say Bush is a dictator. Besides, the problem really seems to be with the whole system as opposed to just one centralized figure. Too many representatives and congressman are more interested in filling their own pockets and egos than helping the state of the nation or the world.
Also, for those comments about Bush being elected, you seem to forget that in order to have any realistic chance of being elected you need to have $250 million and to have all the right corporate powers in your pocket. That narrows it down to a very small pool of people who generally don’t care about the average American any farther than where their votes and money go.
I’m sorry if that wasn’t very on-topic or if it was a little extreme. I always get fired up when discussing what I see as a great disservice to the American people(i.e. politics).
“It is amazing that these people continue to rule while we busy ourselves fighting in places that are ruled by far less dangerous men.”
That is a quote from the top of the page. Funny — We are talking about dictators and at the same time we are talking about how Bush ‘invaded Iraq for no reason’, yet where the hell do you think Saddam Hussein would be on this list? In my opinion, top 3.
So, how do you make a list about evil dictators, then in the introduction you say we are wasting our time in Iraq while these people are still ruling.
I guess the millions tortured, raped and murdered by Saddam Hussein don’t matter and should be overlooked because a Republican actually did something about it. God, I hate those damn Republicans so ill ***** that we arent doing anything in the world to help genocide and at the same time ill overlook what Saddam did in Iraq throughout the years.
Louis: thanks for the comment – it is nice to hear a fairly moderate view of the state of things.
Billy – when I compiled this list Saddam was dead – therefore he can’t be on the list of living dictators. My introduction to the article was not actually related to Iraq. I watched the execution of Saddam (and I must confess, I watched it was with glee) but I think we tend to focus on countries that have the most to offer us, rather than those which actually are suffering dreadfully while the world is oblivious. Where were we in Rwanda? Please don’t take this is as a condemnation of our actions in Iraq – I think they had to happen, and now it is time for us to let the Iraqi people govern themselves finally. Surely we are all for the freedom of people to decide their own governments?
Just to confirm: I think Saddam had to be taken out of Iraq and am glad we did that. I will never forget the images of his political opponents hanging by the neck from streetlights.
Jfrater, I think you might have missed Billy’s point.
Others in this comments section have asked the question or submitted the comment about Pres. Bush being one of the worst dictators.
Billy’s point is if Saddam were alive, he would have made the top 10 here. He surely had the cult of personality, the sheer brutality, and posed a danger to everyone around him, having attacked four of his neighbors in just the last 15 years. Not to mention, he would have been the only one on the list to have used WMD on his enemies and his own people!
That in removing this brutal dictator from power, Bush would earn himself a place on this list, according to some, seems outrageous and hysterical.
My point is that if anyone thinks that Bush is the worst dictator in the world compared to these 10 baddies, they are completely unhinged and should seek professional treatment for insanity.
While it would be nice to tip-toe around the issue by ‘agreeing to disagree’ and using niceties to point out the ignorance of people you disagree with, there’s just no comparison here. You did an excellent job in listing the worst in the world. For anyone to put Bush in this list because they disagree with him politically is morbid and ignorant.
Saparmurat Niyazov renamed himself Turkmenbashi (leader of all turkmen). he has also renmad cities, schools, and anything else he can Turkmenbashi.
Bush is certainly no dictator- no American president was or will be. The closest any have come to dictatorship was FDR. Four terms in office and placing Japanese, Italian, and German Americans in camps from 1942 until the end of World War Two is worse than anything Bush has done. Bush may not be a very good president, but hes no where near as bad as these 10 monsters.
Loose Cannon – you are right – I did misunderstand Billy. However, my comment is still true – the first paragraph of this article was not a criticism of Bush’s actions in Iraq.
Loose Cannon is right on with the point I was trying to make.
How people can honestly believe George W Bush belongs ANYWHERE near this list, I just dont know.
I hate Hilary Clinton as much as some of these people hate Bush, however, I would never compare her or anyone else to dictators such as these. You can disagree with policies and hate the way they are running the country, but to put a man as more evil then Kim Jong II is simply ludicrous.
Billy – hear hear!
I think this list should be changed to enemies of America.
Woah where’s Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan. The guy who killed 5 thousand unarmed protesters mainly contained of women and children, who uses millions of children to plant and harvest cotton for him, exports all the natural resources of the country, where its own citizens don’t even have electricity in their homes, the person who keeps all the money, the country makes, the person who doesn’t even provide police officers with modern torture equipment, so that they use boiling water to torture innocent people…
Why would Police need torture equipment??? Military state polilitcs??? excessive even then. Less than lethal ?????
Simon: they are enemies of their own people! Mugabe is a criminal – regardless of US views, he is a thief.
Huh: It is probably high on the list – just not the top 10.
Crimanon: Police should never need it – I can understand for the military in some cases, but certainly not the police.
Never need it, Yes. But reguardless of what they should never Need, it is necissary to have on hand things like Pepperspray, beanbag rounds, and tasers. People are not rational and don’t respond well to “Authorities”. Street justice isn’t legal or even a viable option, no matter how much I believe in it. Vigilantism would only work IF humans were rational until then we need trained Men And Women who can handle a crisis. Keep your nose clean and you won’t have a problem with the police. I could write an essay on this……Until Humans have learned to control themselves cops will be needed and I will stand by Any Officer who isn’t already corrupted by Indifference.
Crimanon: oh – I have no problem with pepper spray and tasers, etc. They are definitely needed by the police.
Stop blaming one guy (Bush) for all your problems. You are guilty, alright? Share the guilt.
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“The army of the United States of America by request of President George W. Bush, (their commander in cheif) and with permission from the U.S. Congress invaded two countries.” quoted from eddiesammy
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Fidel Castro is a dictator, but I dont think he’s that bad
Özhan: Castro arrests and sometimes executes people just because they don’t agree with him – that makes him bad in my books!
at first i thought you were a cool guy and that this website was cool, but after reading your opinion on fidel makes me think you’re a stereotypical white trash: believes everything that is told to him by american government. Fidel castro stopped the american oppression on cuba along with che guevara, and has ran from the american government from ever since. he might be a dictator, in that sense that he leads the country on he’s own, but really, cuba doing just fine and he’s for christ sake NOT executing people. AND WHAT THE HELL, the fact that a country is communist doesn’t mean that they rig elections.
ok,so first off, great list.
second, while i may be a bit harsh to call bush a dictator,to ignore the erosion of american civil liberties in the last 6 years is downright foolhardy.
to those of you that said “we elect presidents”, this is not true. we “appoint” a electoral college,which can then vote the way we asked, or vote what ever way they please.
also, to think that he will definitely go away is niave on a level that is astounding. hell, right now as we speak, putin of russia is suspected of setting up a “puppet president” that he can control behind the scenes, after he leaves office.
history is full of democracys(sp?) that have all but dissapeared, almost overnight. greece(several times) rome(also a couple times) france(napolean) germany (hitler). these are just the most common known examples.
so remember, while it is true we should not compare the crimes of “dubya” to,say, pol pot,he IS a criminal,and IS (in my opinion) a very dangerous man that could destroy this country,if left unchecked.
second, while i may be a bit harsh to call bush a dictator,to ignore the erosion of american civil liberties in the last 6 years is downright foolhardy.
Well, your ‘civil liberty’ of free speech still seems intact. I’m assuming you still have the civil liberty to use capitalizations, right? What other ‘civil liberties’ are ‘being eroded’?