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Saddam Stretched


Dechristo

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I'm amazed at how many otherwise intelligent, well spoken people on this forum are so quick to accept, embrace, and even revel in barbarism. It seems to me that one of the primary purposes of society is to prevent it. As for the 'violence is everywhere' theme; bullshit. Violence happens, that's obvious, and it certainly is everywhere...on the news, but it is an anomaly, and nearly always preventable. Most people on this planet do not live in Gaza, Darfur, or Iraq. They live in non-violent settings, because of the many, many long term advantages of doing so. That is, and should be, the norm that we strive for.

 

Conflict is and always will be a part of human nature. Violent conflict is an unecessary aberration of that nature.

Edited by tvashtarkatena
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They live in non-violent settings, because of the many, many long term advantages of doing so. That is, and should be, the norm that we strive for.

 

Conflict is and always will be a part of human nature. Violent conflict is an unecessary aberration of that nature.

 

Wrong. It is only by virtue of violent conflict that you are able to enjoy the bizarre privelege of a peaceful existance in a non-violent setting. Sometimes things are sad, even barbaric, and necessary at the same time.

Edited by Bogen
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Presenting (ta da)...for your viewing pleasure... the Dictator's of the 20th Century....... Whoa Nellie

 

The men who helped make the 20th century the bloodiest on record

 

 

Sani Abacha

Nigeria

Ahmadou Ahidjo

Cameroon

Idi Amin

Uganda

Ibrahim Babangida

Nigeria

Hastings Banda

Malawi

Jean-Bédel Bokassa

Central African Republic

Samuel Doe

Liberia

Hissène Habré

Chad

Felix Houphouet-Boigny

Cote D'Ivoire

Mu'ammar Quathafi

Libya

Laurent Kabila

Democratic Republic of Congo

Mathieu Kérékou

Benin

Maaouiya Ould Taya

Mauritania

Haile Mariam Menghistu

Ethiopia

Mobuto Sese Seko

Zaire

Daniel Arap Moi

Kenya

Robert Mugabe

Zimbabwe

Milton Obote

Uganda

Didier Ratsiraka

Madagascar

Haile Selassie

Ethiopia

Ali Solih

Comoros

Ahmed Sekou Touré

Guinea

Hafez Al-Assad

Syria

Chiang Kai Shek

China/Taiwan

Ngo Dinh Diem

Vietnam

Hussain Muhammad Ershad

Bangladesh

Kim Il Sung

North Korea

Kim Jong Il

North Korea

Yahya Khan

Pakistan

Ruhollah Khomeini

Iran

Mao Tse Tung

China

Ferdinand Marcos

Phillipines

Pervez Musharraf

Pakistan

Mohammed Najibullah

Afghanistan

Nursultan Nazarbayev

Khazakhstan

Ne Win

Burma

Saparmurat Niyazov

Turkmenistan

Turgut Ozal

Turkey

Reza Pahlavi

Iran

Park Chung-Hee

South Korea

Pol Pot

Cambodia

Rhee Singman

South Korea

Saddam Hussein

Iraq

Thojib Suharto

Indonesia

Ahmed Sukarno

Indonesia

Nguyen Van Thieu

Vietnam

Tojo Hideki

Japan

Zia Ul-Haq

Pakistan

Heider Aliev

Azerbaijan

Ion Antonescu

Romania

Leonid Brezhnev

USSR

Josip Broz

Yugoslavia

Nicolae Ceausescu

Romania

Francisco Franco

Spain

Adolf Hitler

Germany

Erich Honecker

East Germany

Enver Hoxha

Albania

Miklos Horthy

Hungary

Dimitrios Ioannides

Greece

Wojciech Jaruselzski

Poland

Leonid Kuchma

Ukraine

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

USSR

Alexander Lukashenko

Belarus

Slobodan Milosovic

Yugoslavia

Benito Mussolini

Italy

Ante Pavelic

Croatia

Vikdun Quisling

Norway

Antonio Salazar

Portugal

Joseph Stalin

USSR

Franjo Tudjman

Croatia

Todor Zhivkov

Bulgaria

Fulgencio Batista

Cuba

Carlos Castillo Armas

Guatemala

Fidel Castro

Cuba

Alfredo Christiani

El Salvador

Roberto Suazo Cordova

Honduras

Porfirio Diaz

Mexico

François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier

Haiti

Jean Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier

Haiti

Maximiliano Hernandez Martínez

El Salvador

Efrain Rios Montt

Guatemala

Manuel Noriega

Panama

Anastasio Somoza García

Nicaragua

Anastasio Somoza Debayle

Nicaragua

Omar Torrijos

Panama

Rafael Trujillo

Dominican Republic

Hugo Banzer Suárez

Bolivia

René Barrientos Ortuño

Bolivia

Desi Bouterse

Suriname

Juan Maria Bordeberry

Uruguay

Humberto Branco

Brazil

Forbes Burnham

Guyana

Carlos Ibanez del Campo

Chile

Morales Bermudes

Peru

Manuel Odria

Peru

Marco Perez Jimenez

Venezuela

Juan/Eva Peron

Argentina

Augusto Pinochet

Chile

Gustavo Rojas Pinilla

Colombia

Alfredo Stroessner

Paraguay

Juan Velesco Alvarado

Peru

Getulio Vargas

Brazil

Jorge Videla

Argentina

Juan Vicente Gómez

Venezuela

George Speight

Fiji

 

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And how did they control the area? Through violence. All these other options that everyone who is soooo smart talks about--where are they in use? Where are all the smart people living happily without any violence (including the threat of violence) in their culture? If that works so well, why aren't we all doing it? And how would we get rid of all those nasty violent people in our non-violent utopia? What are the options for dealing with them?

 

As for dooming ourselves to living in a culture of violence---I don't know where you live, but here on Earth, that's pretty much how it is. I'd like it to be different, but it ain't. And I wish I knew how to fix it, but as Jack Handy says, "you can wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which one fills up first".

 

Scandinavia, Holland, Britain - many European countries have outlawed capital punishment and yet the violent crime rates have not gone up and in fact are lower than what we see here in the US. There are other systems and they work. Do a little homework before throwing your hand up in and saying "Earth is violent, we need to kill the killers."

 

Here in the US, you are MUCH more likely to be put to death for killing a white man than a black man - what does that tell you? There are also several well documented cases of people being exonerated for crimes after their executions. Is that really the system of criminal justice you want to defend to fulfill a need for revenge?

 

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And how did they control the area? Through violence. All these other options that everyone who is soooo smart talks about--where are they in use? Where are all the smart people living happily without any violence (including the threat of violence) in their culture? If that works so well, why aren't we all doing it? And how would we get rid of all those nasty violent people in our non-violent utopia? What are the options for dealing with them?

 

As for dooming ourselves to living in a culture of violence---I don't know where you live, but here on Earth, that's pretty much how it is. I'd like it to be different, but it ain't. And I wish I knew how to fix it, but as Jack Handy says, "you can wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which one fills up first".

 

Scandinavia, Holland, Britain - many European countries have outlawed capital punishment and yet the violent crime rates have not gone up and in fact are lower than what we see here in the US. There are other systems and they work. Do a little homework before throwing your hand up in and saying "Earth is violent, we need to kill the killers."

 

Here in the US, you are MUCH more likely to be put to death for killing a white man than a black man - what does that tell you? There are also several well documented cases of people being exonerated for crimes after their executions. Is that really the system of criminal justice you want to defend to fulfill a need for revenge?

If homework is learning about history, you may wish to read a little about Scandinavia honey. First of all, a number of the countries in Europe only outlawed capital punishment because it was required in order to become a member of the EU. It was not because they suddenly became enlightened. Furthermore, subsequent decreases in violence cannot be attributed to this change in policy. Most often, decreases in violent crimes (I mention these because they are most often the common capital crimes)are attributed to increases in economic and political security. Countries in the EU enjoyed this increase--as far as I have heard. I lived there before the EU was around, so that part I can't speak from first hand knowledge. What I can say from first hand knowledge is that even though Scandinavia has a brutal violent history, they have been pretty calm and safe during my lifetime--even before outlawing capital punishment.

 

As for black and white crime: that is a different discussion altogether. That is not an issue here, I believe.

 

And as for your statement that I am defending the system; you have deeply misinterpreted my intentions here.

Edited by archenemy
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Presenting (ta da)...for your viewing pleasure... the Dictator's of the 20th Century....... Whoa Nellie

 

The men who helped make the 20th century the bloodiest on record

 

 

t

Fiji

 

your 'objective' list is missing quite a few our own leaders.we're in 60+ countries.

 

it also fails to mention the fact that a large number of those you listed were put in power or kept there by our governement, often times replacing democratically elected leaders .

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All these other options that everyone who is soooo smart talks about--where are they in use? Where are all the smart people living happily without any violence (including the threat of violence) in their culture? If that works so well, why aren't we all doing it?

 

Scandinavia, Holland, Britain - many European countries have outlawed capital punishment and yet the violent crime rates have not gone up and in fact are lower than what we see here in the US. There are other systems and they work.

Furthermore, subsequent decreases in violence cannot be attributed to this change in policy. Most often, decreases in violent crimes (I mention these because they are most often the common capital crimes)are attributed to increases in economic and political security.

 

You asked for an example and I gave you one. I didn't argue about cause and effect. Face it - there are other models of criminal justice that work and that do not involve capital punishment. End of story.

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All these other options that everyone who is soooo smart talks about--where are they in use? Where are all the smart people living happily without any violence (including the threat of violence) in their culture? If that works so well, why aren't we all doing it?

 

Scandinavia, Holland, Britain - many European countries have outlawed capital punishment and yet the violent crime rates have not gone up and in fact are lower than what we see here in the US. There are other systems and they work.

Furthermore, subsequent decreases in violence cannot be attributed to this change in policy. Most often, decreases in violent crimes (I mention these because they are most often the common capital crimes)are attributed to increases in economic and political security.

 

You asked for an example and I gave you one. I didn't argue about cause and effect. Face it - there are other models of criminal justice that work and that do not involve capital punishment. End of story.

 

My guess is that you may jump to conclusions a little quickly.

 

I believe the example was for other options to violence. Capital punishment is not the only form of violence. Scandinavia came into being by birthing itself in one of the most violent campaigns the world has seen. Your example does not match the request in the least.

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Presenting (ta da)...for your viewing pleasure... the Dictator's of the 20th Century....... Whoa Nellie

 

The men who helped make the 20th century the bloodiest on record

 

 

Sani Abacha

Nigeria

Ahmadou Ahidjo

Cameroon

Idi Amin

Uganda

Ibrahim Babangida

Nigeria

Hastings Banda

Malawi

Jean-Bédel Bokassa

Central African Republic

Samuel Doe

Liberia

Hissène Habré

Chad

Felix Houphouet-Boigny

Cote D'Ivoire

Mu'ammar Quathafi

Libya

Laurent Kabila

Democratic Republic of Congo

Mathieu Kérékou

Benin

Maaouiya Ould Taya

Mauritania

Haile Mariam Menghistu

Ethiopia

Mobuto Sese Seko

Zaire

Daniel Arap Moi

Kenya

Robert Mugabe

Zimbabwe

Milton Obote

Uganda

Didier Ratsiraka

Madagascar

Haile Selassie

Ethiopia

Ali Solih

Comoros

Ahmed Sekou Touré

Guinea

Hafez Al-Assad

Syria

Chiang Kai Shek

China/Taiwan

Ngo Dinh Diem

Vietnam

Hussain Muhammad Ershad

Bangladesh

Kim Il Sung

North Korea

Kim Jong Il

North Korea

Yahya Khan

Pakistan

Ruhollah Khomeini

Iran

Mao Tse Tung

China

Ferdinand Marcos

Phillipines

Pervez Musharraf

Pakistan

Mohammed Najibullah

Afghanistan

Nursultan Nazarbayev

Khazakhstan

Ne Win

Burma

Saparmurat Niyazov

Turkmenistan

Turgut Ozal

Turkey

Reza Pahlavi

Iran

Park Chung-Hee

South Korea

Pol Pot

Cambodia

Rhee Singman

South Korea

Saddam Hussein

Iraq

Thojib Suharto

Indonesia

Ahmed Sukarno

Indonesia

Nguyen Van Thieu

Vietnam

Tojo Hideki

Japan

Zia Ul-Haq

Pakistan

Heider Aliev

Azerbaijan

Ion Antonescu

Romania

Leonid Brezhnev

USSR

Josip Broz

Yugoslavia

Nicolae Ceausescu

Romania

Francisco Franco

Spain

Adolf Hitler

Germany

Erich Honecker

East Germany

Enver Hoxha

Albania

Miklos Horthy

Hungary

Dimitrios Ioannides

Greece

Wojciech Jaruselzski

Poland

Leonid Kuchma

Ukraine

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

USSR

Alexander Lukashenko

Belarus

Slobodan Milosovic

Yugoslavia

Benito Mussolini

Italy

Ante Pavelic

Croatia

Vikdun Quisling

Norway

Antonio Salazar

Portugal

Joseph Stalin

USSR

Franjo Tudjman

Croatia

Todor Zhivkov

Bulgaria

Fulgencio Batista

Cuba

Carlos Castillo Armas

Guatemala

Fidel Castro

Cuba

Alfredo Christiani

El Salvador

Roberto Suazo Cordova

Honduras

Porfirio Diaz

Mexico

François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier

Haiti

Jean Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier

Haiti

Maximiliano Hernandez Martínez

El Salvador

Efrain Rios Montt

Guatemala

Manuel Noriega

Panama

Anastasio Somoza García

Nicaragua

Anastasio Somoza Debayle

Nicaragua

Omar Torrijos

Panama

Rafael Trujillo

Dominican Republic

Hugo Banzer Suárez

Bolivia

René Barrientos Ortuño

Bolivia

Desi Bouterse

Suriname

Juan Maria Bordeberry

Uruguay

Humberto Branco

Brazil

Forbes Burnham

Guyana

Carlos Ibanez del Campo

Chile

Morales Bermudes

Peru

Manuel Odria

Peru

Marco Perez Jimenez

Venezuela

Juan/Eva Peron

Argentina

Augusto Pinochet

Chile

Gustavo Rojas Pinilla

Colombia

Alfredo Stroessner

Paraguay

Juan Velesco Alvarado

Peru

Getulio Vargas

Brazil

Jorge Videla

Argentina

Juan Vicente Gómez

Venezuela

George Speight

Fiji

please repost in some sort of sensible order such as:

1) by last name

2) by country

or 3) (my favorite)by most confirmed kills

 

my attention span grew weary towards the end - did you include the CEO's of DOW chemicals and the fella who invented the AK-47?

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My guess is that you may jump to conclusions a little quickly.

 

I believe the example was for other options to violence. Capital punishment is not the only form of violence. Scandinavia came into being by birthing itself in one of the most violent campaigns the world has seen. Your example does not match the request in the least.

 

 

:grlaf:

 

My guess is you can't admit when you're wrong. We were talking about Sadam being put to death - i.e. capital punishment. But you can keep moving the goal posts if it makes you feel better about all this nonsense.

 

lucy%20football.png

 

 

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Please list all the countries and their leaders, since 1900, that were not involved in genocide, purges, or warfare.

 

My next door neighbor cut down a beautiful doug fir that I really loved, so I hacked her up with an axe. No choice. After all, we're a violent species.

 

Oh, and BTW, from a practical standpoint, executions in the USA work out to be three times more expensive to carry out than a life sentence. The European aforementioned experience, which was completely relevant (Archenemy must have gotten her threads mixed up there), proves that the death penalty is not any more of a deterrent than other punishments. DNA testing has shown that about 5% of the folks on death row are innocent.

 

The death penalty has got to go. It offers society no advantages, and offers wrongly convicted death row inmates great disadvantage.

Edited by tvashtarkatena
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Ah but Fairweather, I am not left-wing. I typically vote Rep. like for the Oregon Govs. race and almost anyone who is against illegal immigration. I even voted for Bush in his first Pres. election. Now I just think he is an idiot. I did read the entire poll, just pointed out the villian portion. He is an idiot and I am ashamed to have him as president and ashamed that I voted for him.

 

As for the barbaristic nature of the Saddam execution, yes it is bad, but I still beliewve in an eye for an eye. The UN denounced the execution, but I whole heartedly disagree. What goes around, comes around. I would expect this for anyone regardless of nationality. If a leader in the U.S. was found guilty of such crimes, then they should be held accountable in the same manner as Saddam or even some murderous thug on the streets.

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My guess is that you may jump to conclusions a little quickly.

 

I believe the example was for other options to violence. Capital punishment is not the only form of violence. Scandinavia came into being by birthing itself in one of the most violent campaigns the world has seen. Your example does not match the request in the least.

 

 

:grlaf:

 

My guess is you can't admit when you're wrong. We were talking about Sadam being put to death - i.e. capital punishment. But you can keep moving the goal posts if it makes you feel better about all this nonsense.

Did you really forget this quote/question?

All these other options that everyone who is soooo smart talks about--where are they in use? Where are all the smart people living happily without any violence (including the threat of violence) in their culture? If that works so well, why aren't we all doing it?

 

And I can certainly admit I am wrong. I am wrong in thinking that we were discussing something important--our views toward violence. You labeled it as "nonsense"; so I guess I am wrong. My bad.

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If a leader in the U.S. was found guilty of such crimes, then they should be held accountable in the same manner as Saddam or even some murderous thug on the streets.

 

Had Saddam invaded the US and won, you can bet that it would be Bush hanging from that rope right now. He's guilty of inflicting more than enough human misery to justify serious punishment. Bush hasn't paid for his crimes because he is still secure in his position, not because he's innocent.

Edited by tvashtarkatena
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Had Saddam invaded the US and won, you can bet that it would be Bush hanging from that rope right now. He's guilty of inflicting more than enough human misery to justify serious punishment. Bush hasn't paid for his crimes because he is still secure in his position, not because he's innocent.

 

Yah, what he said.

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The 'threat of violence' so often used to describe America, particularly 21st century America, is largely manufactured hooey. Sure, some bad guys want to blow a few things up here. That justifies a 500 billion dollar a year military? Come fucking on. The US is under no threat of invasion or strategic missile attack right now. No, we spend 500 billion a year because we believe the hype, and that includes 'projecting power' (which, in recent conflicts, has nearly always resulted in fucking up a region for decades).

 

If we were really interested in countering threats, we'd be diverting most of that military budget towards resolving our little climate change problem.

Edited by tvashtarkatena
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The 'threat of violence' so often used to describe America, particularly 21st century America, is largely manufactured hooey. Sure, some bad guys want to blow a few things up here. That justifies a 500 billion dollar a year military? Come fucking on. The US is under no threat of invasion or strategic missile attack right now. No, we spend 500 billion a year because we believe the hype, and that includes 'projecting power' (which, in recent conflicts, has nearly always resulted in fucking up a region for decades).

 

If we were really interested in countering threats, we'd be diverting most of that military budget towards resolving our little climate change problem.

Good point.

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Iraq was created by the victors of World War I. Its Shia, Sunni and Kurdish peoples did not choose to be flung together, and their antagonisms made the country a powder-keg. Saddam believed that such a nation could be held together only by brutally effective repression. Current events suggest that he may have had a point. We are living in a time of enthusiastic globalization with increasing interdependence, integration and interaction among people. I agree with you - about the USA. We have our fingers in everyone's $ pie.

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