Friday, June 27, 2008

The World's worst dictator

This essay is an example for why I have been a faithful reader of Slate Magazine ever since Michael Kinsley founded it with Bill Gates' money. The essay clearly shows how, again, the US is all too willing to overlook the dictatorial and personality driven politics of a country because it has oil. And, how the US media can't be bothered with such stories when they can devote their attention on US celebrities and their soap-opera-lifestyles!
An excerpt: For the usual and shameful reasons, the White House does not use its clout to condemn Obiang as it condemns Mugabe—there has not been a word of censure from Washington about Obiang's 99-for-100 triumph in May's elections. Yet that's only part of the reason Americans hear little about him. There isn't a gag order on America's media, after all. There is, however, a famous dictator trying to crush a peaceful uprising in a far larger country with a historical narrative that we're familiar with and fascinated by—in a dramatic fashion, Zimbabwe has gone from white rule to independence to destitution. Mugabe's government admits to an inflation rate of 150,000 percent, but that's the optimistic view, because unofficial estimates are a calculator-busting 1 million percent. This drama casts an unfortunate spell, because Obiang is not just a worse tyrant, he is a better story. The U.S. government is not propping up Mugabe, but with billions invested by American companies in Equatorial Guinea, it is propping up Obiang.

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