Idi Amin close to death.

July 20, 2003 8:31 PM

Idi Amin close to death The former big man of Uganda, self-proclaimed Conqueror of the British Empire, scorn of satirists and subject of a 1974 Barbet Schroeder documentary is near death. His overt support of the infamous Entebbe hijacking, intended as his show of strength and global defiance, led (in)directly to his overthrow. (More inside.)
posted by philfromhavelock (24 comments total)

I apologise if this (news of his illness) is news-filtery. A quarter-century after his over-throw, I think Amin's regime and legacy are still relevant. The overthrow of Amin by the government of Tanzania, then led by Julius Nyerere, was cited on a recent epsiode of the CBC programme Counterspin as an example of a foreign government attacking another country to better a region. (The second link is to the programme site, not to the quote; apologies.) Amin, it is well known, has lived in Saudi Arabia for years, and was, relatively recently, apparently shipping arms to Uganda and raised the ire of his hosts.

(And secondly, has anyone seen the film?)
posted by philfromhavelock at 9:06 PM on July 20, 2003

I've seen it. Extremely boring for anybody not interested in the subject. He just babbles on endlessly. Some humor in watching his pathetic military excercises in preparation to take over the Golan Heights. Nothing about his supposed cannibalism though.
posted by destro at 9:19 PM on July 20, 2003

When he was sitting at his "cabinet" meeting, and speaking to the person you know he will have murdered the next day - it's chilling. Why doesn't someone just take a gun to these types? One for a thousand, John Stuart Mill or otherwise.
posted by the fire you left me at 9:36 PM on July 20, 2003

Damn shame he gets to go of natural causes.
posted by notsnot at 9:36 PM on July 20, 2003

I hope a autopsy is done on him.
It'd be interesting to find out what's floating around in his blood and what the condition of his brain is.
posted by Trik at 9:47 PM on July 20, 2003

I've seen the film and found it interesting. Been a while since I watched it though. Definitely worth checking out, as is most of Schroeder's early work.
posted by dobbs at 10:10 PM on July 20, 2003

I thought the film was fascinating [self-link]. Like the Eichmann trial, it's a frightening close-up study of evil.
posted by muckster at 10:30 PM on July 20, 2003

I'll admit that I thought he was already dead. Or maybe I just wished that he was. Not unlike Saddam and Usama. Still, he had become irrelevant and powerless. Isn't that really worse than death for these types?
posted by treywhit at 11:31 PM on July 20, 2003

Good riddance to bad rubbish.
posted by spinifex at 11:59 PM on July 20, 2003

This breaking news just in... Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.
posted by insomnia_lj at 12:26 AM on July 21, 2003

So, it's 12:34 AM PST here. As a tribute to all that Idi Amin gave to the world during his life, anyone want to do a pool on when he's going to shuffle off this mortal coil? Count me in for 7:06 AM PST.
posted by insomnia_lj at 12:31 AM on July 21, 2003

Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead

How did people look up pop culture references before google?
posted by drezdn at 12:44 AM on July 21, 2003

How did people look up pop culture references before google?

They didn't, I don't think. Which was why being smart and having enormous amounts of info packed into your brain used to be more important - for you know, picking up the chicks and all that - than being a good data-wrangler. Not that the two skillsets are necessarily orthogonal, but.

/offtopic
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:18 AM on July 21, 2003

MeFi: not necessarily orthogonal to being smart.

As for Amin, I usually find rejoicing in the misfortune of others distasteful, but in this case I'm willing to make an exception.
posted by rory at 2:30 AM on July 21, 2003

I'm kind of confused. Saudi Arabia is a death penalty nation, this guy's known to have cause the deaths of, oh 300,000 people. Why is he alive again?
posted by anildash at 3:00 AM on July 21, 2003

That film was f'ing hysterical. Or, uh, would've been if you could somehow detach yourself from the understanding that this was a *real human being*.
posted by adamgreenfield at 6:43 AM on July 21, 2003

Stavros, thanks for the mention...

/way off topic
posted by datawrangler at 8:24 AM on July 21, 2003

Always said you were a Youthquaker, Idi
A stormy little world shaker
Warhol's darling queen, Idi
An angel with a broken wing

The dogs lay at your feet, Idi
We carressed your cheek
Stars wrapped in your hair, Idi
Life without a care
But you're not there
You're never there

Caught up in an endless scene
Paradise a shattered dream
Why'd all the shit you took, Idi
Your innocence dripped blood, sweet child

Sweet little sugar talker
Paradise dream stealer
Warhol's Darling queen, Idi
Innocence dripped blood, sweet child

Why did you kiss the world goodbye
Ciao Baby
Don't you know paradise takes time
It takes time, but you're not there
Fade away now
But you're not there
Ciao Idi
posted by homunculus at 10:27 AM on July 21, 2003

I'm kind of confused. Saudi Arabia is a death penalty nation, this guy's known to have cause the deaths of, oh 300,000 people. Why is he alive again?

i'm kind of confused. saudi arabian citizens are known to have destroyed the world trade center causing almost 3,000 deaths. why does saudi arabia still exist? why are we in iraq again?
posted by quonsar at 11:20 AM on July 21, 2003

why does saudi arabia still exist?

Indeed.

Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Burma... Some of you sure do have a hard-on for war these days ;)
posted by dhoyt at 11:59 AM on July 21, 2003

Some of you sure do have a hard-on for war these days

And some of us just because.
posted by vito90 at 2:10 PM on July 21, 2003

I'm kind of confused. Saudi Arabia is a death penalty nation, this guy's known to have cause the deaths of, oh 300,000 people. Why is he alive again?

They're too busy beheading homosexuals, "blasphemers" and other grievous dangers to society.
And homunculus, where did that come, out of curiosity?
posted by Celery at 2:52 PM on July 21, 2003

Celery, it's a song by The Cult called "Edie (ciao baby)". I believe it's about a NY model who hung out with Warhol, but it got stuck in my head while I was reading about Idi Amin. The mind is a terrible thing.
posted by homunculus at 3:32 PM on July 21, 2003

More on Idi Sedgwick.
posted by adamgreenfield at 6:00 PM on July 21, 2003