My friend here in California has Talk of the Devil, Encounters with Seven Dictators by Riccardo Orizio. The first interview is with Idi Amin. Orizio reminds us that Amin sent a letter to Richard Nixon during the Watergate crisis: “When the stability of a nation is in danger, the only solution is, unfortunately, to imprison the leaders of the opposition.”
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This sounds brutal, but when one considers the historically tough times the US has gone through, we’ve followed Idi’s advice in every instance.
During the Civil War, the US killed opposing soldiers. During WW2, we imprisoned people we thought might cause instability. If you were plotting (or if the US thought you were plotting) the overthrow of this government you’d be imprisoned. And then you’d be executed if you were found guilty of treason.
I’m sure if Richard wrote Idi back, he said something along the lines of “yes, we know.”
(aside: For some reason, the “unfortunately” in Idi’s letter made me laugh. Idi makes imprisoning opposition sound like the equivalent of taking a shotgun to the head of a beloved pet who’s gone mad)