tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post2904326149137280932..comments2024-03-10T13:59:19.230-04:00Comments on xpostfactoid: Hertzberg's left, Sullivan's right: busy getting dizzyAndrew Sprunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17601269968798865106noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-15807570184310028912010-10-26T20:09:00.080-04:002010-10-26T20:09:00.080-04:00Tariq Aziz is due to be hanged soon in Iraq, which...Tariq Aziz is due to be hanged soon in Iraq, which at one level is not at all surprising, given his closeness to Saddam's regime. At another level his imminent demise is mind-boggling for us in the mostly democratic west.<br /><br />When Saddam needed to invade Iran in 1980, afraid as he was of the revolutionary Shiite fervor in Iran making it across the border to Iraq, a pretext was needed, and it was provided by Aziz. Saddam claimed that Iranian agents attempted to assassinate Aziz (who, conveniently, is a Christian, not a Sunni), and thus the war was on.<br /><br />Hence, over two generations, Aziz will have gone from statesman, (alleged) attempted harm to whom justified a ruinous, decade-long war, to executed criminal, enemy-of-the-state. <br /><br />If you've read Alan Palmer's Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire, Aziz's fate is no surprise. If you haven't read that book, here's a synopsis of the history of the Ottomans: Sultan/Grand Vizier takes power, the winds of fate turn against him, and he is executed. Next sultan/vizier takes power, falls out of favor, is executed. Then the next one, once again ill fortune, executed. Etc. Aziz is the latest in a long line to face fickle cruel Arab statesman fate.<br /><br />Compare that, though, with the fate of Nixon, who left office in disgrace but, by virtue of pretty much hanging around and not making further trouble, was feted with a state funeral including all the bells and whistles. Much different final accomodation than the burlap bag that the body of Aziz will likely ride into the Euphrates River.<br /><br />I think the Nixon v. Aziz comparison points to much of the difference between democracies and dictatorships. In democracies, government officials exist to serve the interests of their constituents; no one individual is bigger than a government role. (At least they aren't supposed to be). In a dictatorship, to borrow a line from Andrew Lloyd Webber about the Pharaoh in Joseph: "For all intents and purposes he/Was Egypt with a capital E". <br /><br />Until he isn't Egypt anymore, which is highly disruptive. Obviously less so in a democracy.CSHnoreply@blogger.com