It’s Good To Be King

“It’s good to be king.” is a famous line from the Mel Brooks movie “History of the World.” Clearly Brooks had special insight into the minds of monarchs, despots, and dictators as recent events in the world have shown None want to give up their power. Most are willing to fight for it. Some are willing to chose death over losing it.

The Arab Spring has come to the Middle East. There have been revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. The ruling despots put up a struggle but ultimately saw the writing on the wall and stepped down.

Bashar al-Assad is the dictator of Syria. The Syrian people are currently revolting against his rule. While news reports are sketchy, it seems the people of Syria are fed up with his regime and are joining the revolution. There are reports of mass demonstrations and disruptions is certain cities. There are rumors that members of the army are defecting. For some reason the west is not helping the rebels like they did in Libya, so whether or not Bashar al-Assad can cling to power is an unanswered question. Either way, he seems intent on staying in Damascus until the rebels are crushed, he steps down, is arrested, or killed by his own people.

While not part of the Arab Spring, what happened in Iraq illustrates how much some rulers are willing to sacrifice to hold on to power. Saddam Hussein and his sons owned Iraq. The could steal, rape and pillage the country at will. They amassed billions in stolen loot. For some reason they wouldn’t allow the U.N. inspectors to look for weapons of mass destruction. Some say they actually didn’t know if the WMDs existed, but no matter. The inspectors would have ordered the weapons destroyed and Saddam could have gone back to watching his loyal followers run swords through themselves to show their allegiance. His sons could have continued racing the best cars through the streets of Baghdad looking for rape victims. Instead they are all dead.

As the Arab Spring unfolds, there have been small protests and demonstrations in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Sudan Western Sahara, and Mauritania, Bahrain, Yemen Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Morocco, and Oman. So far the kings and dictators don’t seem seriously threatened. Some of the demonstrations didn’t amount to much. In some cases concessions were made. In the case of Saudi Arabia the rebels were paid off with oil money. If the rebellions grow, it will be interesting to see if the despots decide to fight to hold on to their kingdoms or flee to a comfortable life with their stolen billions.

The rebellion in Libya was part of the Arab Spring. Momar Gadhafi refused to give up power. There have been estimates of his personal wealth between 74 and 200 billion dollars. He had ample opportunity to leave the country as the rebels began to advance. Instead he retreated from small desert city to small desert city until it was no longer possible to escape the country. He was captured and killed by one of his subjects. Ironically he was killed by a young man using Gadhafi’s personal gold plated pistol. If this dictator had an I.Q. higher than that of a camel he could be living the good life in Paris. Or he could have taken one of his stolen billions, purchased several million acres of desert, built a fabulous tent palace, imported in his harem of goats, declared himself Grand Salami., and lived happily ever after. Instead he’s dead at the hands of his own people.

Who will be the king to face the wrath of the people? Any of the nascent rebellions in the Arab world may ignite. Another likely candidate is Kim Jong-un of North Korea. The obviously phony mourning at Kim Jong-il’s funeral showed there is little love for the regime.

What were the hapless despots in Libya and Iraq thinking? Had they convinced themselves that the people who turned out for their government planned rallies actually loved them? Did they surround themselves with sycophants and yes-men who told them only what they wanted to hear instead of the truth. Did they think their people would rally around them in the face of rebellion? History shows them wrong. From Charles I of England to Louis XVI of France, the past is littered with the bodies of despots who died clinging to power. If you are willing to sacrifice you life to keep the job, it truly must be good to be king.

Two Idiots

I am thinking of Saddam Hussein and Momar Gadhafi. These guys had everything, lost it, and are now dead.

Saddam and his sons owned Iraq. The could steal, rape and pillage the country at will. They amassed billions in stolen loot. For some reason they wouldn’t allow the U.N. inspectors to look for weapons of mass destruction. Some say they actually didn’t know if the WMDs existed, but no matter. The inspectors would have ordered the weapons destroyed and Saddam could have gone back to watching his loyal followers run swords through themselves to show their allegiance. His sons could have continued racing the best cars through the streets of Baghdad between rapes. Instead they are all dead.

Gadhafi is a similar moron. I have seen estimates of his personal wealth between 74 and 200 billion dollars. He had ample opportunity to leave the country as the rebels began to advance. Instead he retreated from shithole city to shithole city until he was captured and killed. If Gadhafi had an I.Q. higher than that of a camel he could be living the good life in Paris. Or he could have purchased a few thousand acres of desert in Yemen, built a fabulous tent palace, moved in his harem of goats, and declared himself king. Instead he’s dead.

What were these guys thinking?

This Is Hard to Believe.

According to a story in the news recently three Navy SEALS are being prosecuted for roughing up one of the most wanted terrorists after they captured him in Iraq. From a story by Kevin Freking we learn:

One of the SEALs is accused of punching Ahmed Hashim Abed in the face after his September arrest; the others are accused of falsifying statements on the episode. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9CCSR4G0&show_article=1&catnum=3

I found it hard to understand why the military would choose to pursue punishment for these brave me. But after I thought about it, this type of thing might explain the lack of success the military is having in Afghanistan.

Why can’t the best, most advanced, and most expensive military in the world roust a few thousand medieval religious fanatics from their caves and kill them? Maybe it’s because politics, political correctness, minority rights, diversity, and prosecutions have become more important to the military brass than is fighting. Winning “hearts and minds” has taken precedence over killing terrorists.

There have been many similar persecutions of our soldiers by their own, the media, and by grandstanding politicians during the war on terror. To the best of my memory all but a few Abu Ghraib guards have been exonerated. If anyone should have charges brought against them, it is the people going after these SEALs. I hope they are quickly exonerated or better yet, the charges are dropped after an apology is issued.