"The Monster is dead", Brian writes. But which one? Here's a list of monsters that the US has supported over the past 70 or so years: General Sani Abacha, Nigeria Idi Amin, Uganda Colonel Hugo Banzer, Bolivia Fulgencio Batista, Cuba Sir Hassanal Bolkiah, Brunei P.W. Botha, South Africa General Humberto Branco, Brazil Raoul Cedras, Haiti Vinicio Cerezo, Guatamala Chiang Kai-Shek, Taiwan Roberto Suazo Cordova, Honduras Alfredo Christiani, El Salvador Ngo Dihn Diem, Vietnam General Samuel Doe, Liberia Francois Duvalier, Haiti Jean Claude Duvalier, Haiti King Fahd bin' Abdul-Aziz, Saudi Arabia General Francisco Franco, Spain Adolf Hitler, Germany Hassan II, Morocco Saddam Hussein, Iraq Ferdinand Marcos, Philippines General Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez, El Salvador Mobutu Sese Seko , Zaire General Efrain Rios Montt, Guatemala General Manuel Noriega, Panama Turgut Ozal, Turkey Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, Iran George Papadopoulos, Greece Park Chung Hell, South Korea General Augusto Pinochet, Chile Pol Pot, Cambodia General Sitiveni Rabuka, Figi Halie Salassie, Ethiopia Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, Portugal Anastasio Somoza, Sr., Nicaraugua Anastasio Somoza, Jr., Nicaraugua Ian Smith, Rhodesia Alfredo Stroessner, Paraguay General Suharto, Indonesia Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, Domincan Republic General Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentina Mohammed Zia Ul-Haq, Pakistan Just in case any of you are not familiar with any of these epitomes of democracy, you can check out our government's relationship to them at http://www.omnicenter.org/warpeacecollection/dictators.htm#hitler My point is that Saddam was no worse than most of the "monsters" we've installed or used to promote our agenda in the world. Should we do such things? We're going to. All powers do. Knowing that, I'm not sure why I find it so reprehensible that we would execute those people who did our bidding as soon as we no longer need them. But I do. I believe capital punishment itself is an egregious barbarism, but one that I'm resigned to in this barbarous US culture, so why do I react with such anger at the extermination of a man who was such a despicable criminal and who should never be allowed to see the light of day again? I know why. I just don't want to say it out loud. Dark hawks hear us. Mike Geary Memphis ----- Original Message ----- From: Brian To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Friday, December 29, 2006 9:53 PM Subject: [lit-ideas] The Monster is dead As the decent world rejoices let us remember why his rape rooms and acid baths, his plastic shredders and mass graves are now shut down; why his plans to build nuclear and chemical and biological weapons and use them on his enemies are aborted; why his reign is over. For Saddam would be a force for evil in the world today if brave and courageous men women had not been determined to take him down and had not stayed the course until it was done. http://www.frontpagemag.com/blog/BlogEntry.asp?ID=763