the world's ten worst dictators

[TerraFrost]

1. Omar al-Bashir, Sudan.
2. Kim Jong Il, North Korea.
3. Than Shwe, Burma.
4. Hu Jintao, China.
5. Crown Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia.
6. Muammar al-Qaddafi, Libya.
7. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan.
8. Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan.
9. Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe.
10. Teodoro Obiang Nguema,

for justifications as to why these people are ranked the way they are, for a list of dishonorable mentions, and for lists from 2003 and 2004, click here:
http://archive.parade.com/2005/0213/0213_dictator.html

[LarryTGC]

That sucks they left out Khatami and Castro.

Must be 11 and 12.

There are some bad dudes on that list.

Anyone looking for a good book about overcoming dictatorship should read

Natan Sharansky's The Case For Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... s&n=507846

[Exalted Ugu]

Oh dear.... that sounds like a lovely read. Does he have any examples of a country overcoming tyranny and terror with democracy? Or is the book as full of buzzwords and devoid of content as it's title/jacket blurb?

-ugu

[LarryTGC]

You probably wouldn't like it much Mr. Ugu.
It is written by a conservative that inpart thanks Ronald Reagan for his freedom.

So I'm sure you would see it as a bunch of lies to help Bush's cronnies get more oil. Or a Jewish plot to take over Muslim lands. Or a threat to homosexuals. Or a capitalist scheme to abuse unionized workers or something along those lines.

Actually it contrasts free and fear societies. How free speech, or the lack of, can change societies from one to the other and back again.

It also outlines some of the tactics used by Dictators to keep their boot on the populas.

In it, Natan Sharansky recounts his time in the Soviet Gulag's.

A good read, but not for everyone.

[Exalted Ugu]

"It is written by a conservative that inpart thanks Ronald Reagan for his freedom."
*laughs*, so it's written by a delusional, then?

"So I'm sure you would see it as a bunch of lies to help Bush's cronnies get more oil. Or a Jewish plot to take over Muslim lands. Or a threat to homosexuals. Or a capitalist scheme to abuse unionized workers or something along those lines."
Oh, give me some credit. I doubt that i'd dislike it for any of those reasons, i think i'd dislike it because it contains nothing of any real signifigance, and merely celebrates democracy and freedom in the way american conservatives like it best, vapidly.

However, if i see a chance, i may pick it up just for the humour value.

Thanks for the reccomendation, Mr. Larry.

-ugu

[TerraFrost]

The 2006 list:

1. Omar al-Bashir, Sudan
2. Kim Jong-il, North Korea
3. Than Shwe, Burma (Myanmar)
4. Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe
5. Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan
6. Hu Jintao, China
7. King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia
8. Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan
9. Seyed Ali Khamane’i, Iran
10. Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Equatorial Guinea

http://www.parade.com/articles/editions ... /Dictators