Mark Steyn: He will not be missed (Idi Amin)

The Sunday Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | 07/27/03 | Mark Steyn

[Pokey78]

[MinuteGal]

A great piece of writing by Mark (as usual).

What a wordsmith he is.

Leni

[IGOTMINE]

I am in awe of his talent. Never a bad column...what a wit!

[knighthawk]

Ping

[joesnuffy]

So nice of the Saudis to give sanctuary to Amin the cannibal
this insane cruelty must be a requisite to be a friend of islam
Given the insane cruelty of Amin and the Hussein family
and of course a justice system of beheadings kidnapings rapes murder torture assasination (a Hashimite invention)
And we count them as "friends"?
BWAHAHAHAHAHAH

[Victoria Delsoul]

It seems strange to think of Idi among the Wahhabis.

I don't think so, I think he's among friends:

But what he really was was a psychopath. In eight years, more than 300,000 Ugandans were killed. He enjoyed personally decapitating his enemies, and on one occasion he and a few family friends passed a pleasant farewell dinner with the severed heads of two opponents propped up at their places round the table. He had the second of his five wives murdered and dismembered, and then ordered the pieces retrieved from a burlap sack and stitched together so he could show her off to their children. The expatriate community he regarded as mainly a source of potential hostages, such as the adventurer and writer Denis Hills, whom he arrested and sentenced to death. After being advised to do so by God, he expelled all the Asians and destroyed his country's economy. Then he decided to invade Tanzania, and that was the end.

[sine_nomine]

True. The best comment (among many) was the quote about Di marrying the Prince of Wales. "You will regret it."

Why are all the best writers conservative?

[Colosis]

Always remember my boss telling me the story of consternation caused when Idi was in a plane over the the west coast of Ireland.

Aperently, he was somehow invited to the Macroom 'mountain dew' festival in Cork, but he was not allowed. As we had no airforce to speak of at the time (still don't), the only way they could stop the plane from landing was to park all the fire brigades on the runway. Thankfully, it worked!

[livius]

I'd be laughing even harder if this weren't so true. But then, everything Mark Steyn says has that unfortunate qualifier.

[dennisw]

HahahhahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahAHHAHAHAHahahhahahhaha

[dennisw]

HahahhahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahAHHAHAHAHahahhahahhaha

[dennisw]

HahahhahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahAHHAHAHAHahahhahahhaha

[dennisw]

HahahhahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahAHHAHAHAHahahhahahhaha

[Spyder]

Thanks Pokey. I couldn't read this, though, without picturing Garrett Morris on Saturday Night Live as Idi "VD" Amin.

[MeekOneGOP]

Steyn bttt for later read . . .

[tet68]

Boy, you just can't beat Steyn, what style!

[Dog Gone]

It never ceases to amaze me how well-read Steyn is. I found this column a little uncomfortable to read, but he does have the right perspective on uncomfortable facts.

[AIRFORCE76]

You da man!

[lainde]

His grasp of history is phenomenal. Many years ago, I had a Ugandan friend who was lucky enough to escape. Mark hasn't even scraped the surface of this man's flagrant, cruel, dementia...