Mick Hartley

The World’s Worst Dictators

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Mick Hartley

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The Washington Post’s weekly magazine Parade on Sunday has published its 2006 list of the world’s worst dictators (via):

This present list draws in part on reports by global human-rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International. While the three worst from 2005 have retained their places, two on last year’s list (Muammar al-Qaddafi of Libya and Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan) have slipped out of the Top 10—not because their conduct has improved but because other dictators have gotten worse.

It’s a tough competitiion: Kim Jong Il can’t even make it to no. 1, and there are a couple of promising high performers moving up into 4th and 5th place….

Comments

  1. Eamonn Avatar
    Eamonn

    Rather tellingly, Chimpy McBushitlerton and the evil child-eating Ariel Sharon are missing.

    Reply
  2. Ian Avatar
    Ian

    Chimpy and Babyeater are excluded because of the imperialist definition of “dictator, which, as any reasonable liberal elitist dictionary will tell you, actually means “the person I didn’t vote for”.

    Reply
  3. dearieme Avatar
    dearieme

    “head of state”: why not head of government?

    Reply
  4. Ian Avatar
    Ian

    “Head of State” and “Head of Government” are only really applicable when they refer to different roles in a bicameral government, otherwise they are the same person.
    Dictatorships tend not to have bicameral parliaments, and if they do, it is normally the “Head of State” appointing the “Head of Government” anyway.

    Reply
  5. Damian P. Avatar
    Damian P.

    This is my number-one dictator:
    http://www.hubcapcafe.com/ocs/pages01/stud3701.htm

    Reply
  6. dearieme Avatar
    dearieme

    Ian, would your argument work for “Uncle Joe”?

    Reply

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