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The Dictators that were Heroes |
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Written by NK Appiah
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Friday, 10 October 2008 |
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It's all down to interpretation. They say; one man's freedom fighter is another's terrorist. A logical conclusion that can be drawn from all this is that most of the dictators of today were heroes to some people yesterday. It's sad that over long periods of time; power, greed and dissent corrupts the best intentions of leaders, just as it did the pigs of George Orwell's Animal Farm.
From this, one can predict that today's heroes could potentially become tomorrow's dictators. The developing world (where poverty is rife and most of the time democracy is in its infancy) is most vulnerable to this culture of personalities, which lends itself so well to the creation of political heroes and dictators. Enough of the theoretical - in terms of dictators that used to be heroes, the prime example that comes to my mind is Zimbabwe's own - Robert Mugabe
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It doesn't matter which of the names you've heard him referred to as:
Comrade/Uncle Bob, Row-bart or just plain old (President) Mugabe, most of us know about this man. We have heard about how he has single-handedly taken on the West and the International Communty over land reform in Zimbabwe in the name of anti-neo-colonial struggle and in the process earned a reputation as a rogue. These days, he is becoming more infamous for brutal oprression of his domestic political opposition.
And we cannot forget about the Zimbabwean economy. Due to sanctions and the flight of experienced farmers brought about by his actions; the economy which was once one of the only shining examples in Africa is now experiencing inflation worst than Germany's in the height of the Great Depression.
Everybody knows the story I have just told; if you dont know just google it. There is no shortage of anti-Mugabe media coverage out there. However there was once Mugabe the hero.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 10 October 2008 )
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http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/international_politics/mugabe appoints key ministers/2498367?intcmp=rss_news_itnnews