Idi Amin Dada.

This is coolbert: A number of years ago now, when a colleague of mine asked me to suggest the name of a third world nation leader he could do a college paper on, the one name that came to my mind instantly was that of Idi Amin Dada.

Idi Amin Dada.

The leader of Uganda. When I use the word leader in the context of Idi Amin Dada, I use that word advisedly.

Generalissimo Field Marshal Doctor Professor President for Life King of Scotland Hajii.

Idi Amin, a man who just died recently. After a long life in exile.

Perhaps the most odious person of the latter half of the twentieth century. If not the most odious, very close to it.

[more than anything else, the ludicrous and outrageous behavior of Amin seems to guarantee his ranking right at the top of "odious" characters!!]

Idi Amin can be considered to be the archetype for and the standard by which all tin-horn, third-world dictators can be judged. A man whose cruelty, barbarism and sadism is infamous.

Idi Amin is an excellent example, perhaps the epitome of what many Third World military officers become or desire to become. Dictators who lust for and seize power, abusing their authority and power in an obscene manner.

[military officers of modern times are said to follow in the footsteps of the knight of yore. A person who is SUPPOSED to possess chivalrous behavior. Honorable in the extreme. A person NOT abusive of their power. And there is good reason for this. A military officer HAS THE POWER OF LIFE AND DEATH OVER HIS SUBORDINATES. The subordinates have to obey the orders of those officers appointed over them. Even if the order carries the weight of possible death on the battlefield. You do NOT WANT a person as a military officer who abuses their authority and power.]

See this description of how a medieval chivalrous knight was supposed to not behave. According to Geoffroi de Charny, a French knight who was born in the first decade of the 14th century and who died at Poitiers in 1356:

"Men who want to wage war without good reason, who seize other
people without prior warning and without any good cause and rob
and steal from them, wound and kill them ... who use arms
(dishonorably) behave like cowards and traitors ... Indeed all
such people who are thus doers or consenters or receivers in
relation to such deeds are not worthy to live or to be in the
company of men of worth ... Cursed be these persons who devote
their lives to committing such evil deeds in order to acquire such
dishonorable fame! And indeed any lords who have such men under
their control and have knowledge of their ill doings are no longer
worthy to live if they do not inflict such punishment on them that
would persuade anyone else who might have a desire for wrongdoing
to draw back."

Persons of the military officer class [knights] MUST be restrained by a severe code of conduct that to many layman seems ludicrous with all the emphasis on honor and noble behavior. This is the thing that Idi Amin Dada lacked in the extreme!!! To the detriment of all!!]

Generalissimo Amin was a military man and dictator who aspired to be a player of significant measure on the world stage, as preposterous as that sounds.

Amin DID have a long military career as a member of The King's African Rifles. African troops serving as part of the British Army, with white British officers commanding. Amin DID rise to the rank of Sergeant Major. Amin DID have a large degree of natural leadership ability. Although his British commanders knew he was a man to be "watched". "Watched" in the sense that he had a tendency to get "out of hand".

Even as a NCO in the African British Army, and later also, Amin did have an ability at confabulation. Lying to suit his purposes.

Amin claimed that he fought with African forces in Burma during World War Two [WW2].

This was not true.

Amin claimed that he had attended parachute school in Israel and was a qualified parachutist. This also is not true. Amin did send troops from Uganda to attend parachute school in Israel, but Amin WAS NOT among those attending.

[please note the photo accompanying this blog entry. Those are Israeli paratrooper wings Amin is wearing. He DID not earn them, but liked to wear them nonetheless. A wannabee of the highest level.]

The actions of the despot Amin are almost legendary. The cruelties inflicted upon his own people are well known. Cannibalism, mass executions, deportations, etc. Amin has been rated among the ten worst dictators of the last thousand years. Amin was a man possessing a very sadistic streak. A character flaw he did not suppress. Rather a character flaw he seemed to like.

Amin, as I have said, did have a desire to be a player on the world stage.

This at face value DOES seem preposterous.

But NOT entirely so!! Amin did make an effort to see if he could acquire weapons of mass destruction [WMD]!!

Amin hoped to acquire six atomic bombs from some source and did investigate the possibility of doing so. His intent was blackmail. Explode one bomb to demonstrate to the world community that Amin and Uganda possessed the bomb. Then plant the remaining bombs in five world capitols and demand ransom. Threaten to detonate the bombs unless his demands were not met.

This did NOT happen. But Amin did desire it to happen. And made an effort to see if the idea was feasible. Amin lacked the wherewithal to accomplish his goal. But did have contacts among people in the "black world" that perhaps COULD have aided him in Amin's mad-man goals.

[when I speak of the "black world", I am speaking about gun-runners, international criminals, rogue intelligence officers, etc.!!]

This was to be part of Amin's desire for revenge on the west for past colonialisation and support of the apartheid South African regime. Also, Amin DID have a very high and undeserved opinion of himself. An opinion NO ONE dared even question. Amin saw himself as a WORLD LEADER!!??

[Amin DID have marked physical abilities. He was a boxing champion.]

Amin and his cronies were finally put in their place by the Israelis [Entebbe], and an invasion by Tanzanian military forces that displayed Amin for what he was. The bemedaled tin-horn dictator that was under the surface so much phoney baloney.

It is just a shame that the world community DOES NOT act with more forthrightness against the tin-horn crackpot but very dangerous dictators such as Amin!! This does not happen!! I am SURE it is worrisome for the civilized world that someone of the same ilk as Amin will one day actually acquire WMD!!

coolbert.