What do almost all war criminals and dictators have in common?

For many people, the term “war criminal” mostly means swastikas and concentration camps. Give it further thought and the more open-minded among us may recall grainy black-and-white images of My Lai.

Hear the word “dictator” and perhaps your mind’s eye conjures up Hollywood-inspired images of Third World “banana republics.”

In reality, however, living under the yoke of relentless necrophilic rule provides an endless supply of despots, war-mongers, and the inevitable atrocities they command and commit.

These criminals come from all walks of life, from every corner of the planet, e.g. Mobutu of Zaire, the Shah of Iran, Marcos in the Philippines, and Noriega of Panama — to name but a few.

From Harry Truman and his terror bombing of Japan to Saddam Hussein’s mass murders in Halabja.

From Suharto’s bloody rise to power in Indonesia to the Contras making Reagan proud in Central America.

From Ariel Sharon in Sabra and Shatila to Henry Kissinger’s legacy amongst the Vietnamese, the Kurds, the Chileans, the East Timorese, the Bangladeshis, etc. etc. etc. 

From the earliest of recorded history right up to this very minute, ruthless rulers are ubiquitous.

But what do almost all of them have in common? 

For starters, the list I offered above is made up of Americans, U.S. allies, and those funded and supported by the Land of the Free™.

However, I could spend another 1,000 pages discussing the catalog of thugs that pre-date the founding of the Home of the Brave™.  

War criminals and dictators come in many age ranges, are found in just about every geographical location, and run the gamut of religions, ethnicities, and financial classes. So, if none of these is the most universal marker for recognizing such predators, what is?

Think it over. I’ll wait. 

A few more examples, while you ponder: Bill Clinton, Idi Amin, Kenji Doihara, Augusto Pinochet, and Curtis LeMay.

Go ahead. Say it.

Adolf Eichmann, Tariq Aziz, Colin Powell, Kim Jong-Il, and Efrain Rios Montt.

You know what it is, so just admit it.

Kang Kek Iew, Robert McNamara, Charles Taylor, and Donald Rumsfeld.

Do the thing.

Tojo, Hitler, FDR, Stalin, Mussolini, Bush, Obama, Pol Pot… I could keep going for days.

Name the problem. 

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