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THREAD
TRUMP: A REINCARNATION OF IDI AMIN
Let me tell you the story—the nightmare—of Idi Amin in Uganda. Because it is about time that Americans start learning a few things from Africans.
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TRUMP: A REINCARNATION OF IDI AMIN
Let me tell you the story—the nightmare—of Idi Amin in Uganda. Because it is about time that Americans start learning a few things from Africans.
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In 1971, Amin, as the head of the Ugandan military, was facing likely prosecution for the misappropriation of army funds.
So he decided to launch a military coup to seize power. The coup was hardly the first time that Amin’s elite status enabled him to escape justice.
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So he decided to launch a military coup to seize power. The coup was hardly the first time that Amin’s elite status enabled him to escape justice.
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While Amin had only a 4th-grade education and was repeatedly derided as “stupid,” he was doubtless a good fighter.
In the 1950s and 60s, he had ascended the ranks of the British Colonial Army and later the Ugandan Army, culminating in his 1970 appointment as military chief.
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In the 1950s and 60s, he had ascended the ranks of the British Colonial Army and later the Ugandan Army, culminating in his 1970 appointment as military chief.
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Once he seized power, he adopted what could be called a “Uganda First” agenda. Most notably, he expelled, dispossessed, and persecuted foreigners.
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“We are determined to make the ordinary Ugandan master of his own destiny and...to see that he enjoys the wealth of his country. Our deliberate policy is to transfer the economic control of Uganda into the hands of Ugandans,” Amin stated.
In reality, the economy collapsed.
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In reality, the economy collapsed.
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Amin ruled by divide-and-conquer. He built a base of power among ethnic groups from the West Nile Region, his native area.
And because Uganda was a divided country, with everyone struggling for resources, he could pit people from different regions against one another.
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And because Uganda was a divided country, with everyone struggling for resources, he could pit people from different regions against one another.
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While he made sure to build a loyal base of West Nile and Islamic followers within the military, he largely stocked the armed forces with South Sudanese and Congolese mercenaries.
(The U.S. wouldn’t ever use mercenaries, would it?)
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(The U.S. wouldn’t ever use mercenaries, would it?)
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He detested the previous government’s intelligence services—so he disbanded them, putting in their place his barbaric State Research Bureau.
He also relished firing government officials via the radio or television.
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He also relished firing government officials via the radio or television.
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He unleashed the machinery of widespread state terrorism and organized mass executions of ethnic groups that had been loyal to the previous president.
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Known for his misogyny, Amin was married at least six times.
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Amin was a self-obsessed man, bestowing upon himself the following title, which is too long for the character limit of this tweet.
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The U.S. ambassador to Uganda at the time described Amin’s regime as “racist, erratic and unpredictable, brutal, inept, bellicose, irrational, ridiculous, and militaristic.”
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Amin’s regime in Uganda is known as one of the most brutal in world history, having killed an estimated 300,000 people (about 2.5% of the population), and possibly many more, most from rival ethnic groups.
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No one was spared.
For example, Amin turned on the very chief justice he himself had appointed, the esteemed Ben Kiwanuka, arresting him while he was in court and ultimately subjecting him to a gruesome execution, the details of which I will not repeat.
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For example, Amin turned on the very chief justice he himself had appointed, the esteemed Ben Kiwanuka, arresting him while he was in court and ultimately subjecting him to a gruesome execution, the details of which I will not repeat.
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No loyalist could be loyal enough. As Amin even had two of his own cabinet members murdered, everyone was at risk of being swallowed up.
He also hunted down his former lovers.
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He also hunted down his former lovers.
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The foreign media was complicit—known for normalizing Amin and caricaturing Amin as a clown while downplaying his brutality.
(Sounds a lot like the U.S. media, if I have to say.)
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(Sounds a lot like the U.S. media, if I have to say.)
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Initially, many Ugandans themselves were incredulous about what was taking place and gave Amin the benefit of the doubt. In fact, Amin liked to act as though he was not directing all of the violence, often speaking in euphemisms and dog whistles.
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Eventually, after picking fights with his neighbors, Amin was dislodged in 1979 by the Tanzanian military and fled to Saudi Arabia, where he spent the rest of his life.
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He never expressed any remorse for the heinous crimes committed by his regime, always insisting that he was serving his nation.
Much like Jefferson Davis, Amin continued to be revered by his followers for years to come.
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Much like Jefferson Davis, Amin continued to be revered by his followers for years to come.
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Perhaps most importantly, the story is hardly about Amin alone. Amin would never have been able to rise to power and wield the weaponry of demagoguery had it not been for Uganda’s tribalism.
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Only in such a vulnerable, divided country could Amin pit different ethnic groups against each other in a fictitious zero-sum battle of us-versus-them.
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Does any of this ring any bells for you? Do you still believe that it can’t happen here?
Although the context differs, and although Uganda and the U.S. have very different histories, the principles are same.
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Although the context differs, and although Uganda and the U.S. have very different histories, the principles are same.
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Nothing makes the U.S. immune to the ugly side of humanity. But because we have long otherized societies and groups around the world—from autocratic regimes to foreign terrorists—we have blinded ourselves to the horrifying possibilities that can unfold on our own land.
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Trump is only a reincarnation of Amin, and our country’s divisions make us similarly vulnerable to an oppressive takeover.
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PS: The two images in the thread that contain text mistakenly have a transparent (rather than white) background and therefore may be difficult to read when you click to enlarge them. Here are corrected copies.
For the handful of folks who, for various reasons, have pushed back on the parallels I’ve drawn between Trump and Amin, let me offer a few thoughts.
PPS1/
PPS1/
While Trump has most often been compared to Hitler or Mussolini, I'm hardly the first to make a comparison to Amin. For example, this is from Charles Onyango-Obbo ( @cobbo3) in The East African all the way back in May 2017.
PPS2/ https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/434750-3940282-view-printVersion-bc1se6z/index.html
PPS2/ https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/434750-3940282-view-printVersion-bc1se6z/index.html
It should already be clear—but let me reiterate—that the comparison I have made is with regard to disposition as well as the general social conditions that tend to give rise to such autocrats.
PPS3/
PPS3/
The comparison was not with regard to mass murder. While I told the story of the atrocities carried out under Amin to illustrate the gravity of his acts, I have made zero claims that Trump has carried out anything equivalent.
PPS4/
PPS4/
However, to say that there are no parallels between the two figures, based on the observation that Trump hasn’t murdered as many people, would also be shortsighted. History is done for Amin. But history is still unfolding for Trump, with an ongoing coup attempt.
PPS5/
PPS5/
Over the past four years, it should have been nearly impossible to miss the fact that Trump is a white supremacist autocrat. It also should have been nearly impossible to miss all of the groundwork that the administration has already laid for potential acts of atrocity.
PPS6/
PPS6/
Most fundamentally, because the history on Trump is not finished, the thread serves as a warning: we might expect a future resembling Amin’s regime if we do not rid ourselves of Trump.
PPS7/
PPS7/
That is why I said our country is *vulnerable* to an oppressive takeover—which I would rather warn about now, and take action to avert such a fate, than live to regret later.
PPS8/
PPS8/
Some people have also said they disagree with the comparison because they are certain that Trump will be leaving office on January 20.
It is remarkably audacious and naïve to believe that there is zero chance that Trump’s coup will succeed.
PPS9/
It is remarkably audacious and naïve to believe that there is zero chance that Trump’s coup will succeed.
PPS9/
Currently, no one knows what the outcome of the coup will be. But burying our heads in the sand certainly will not help. For a potentially catastrophic event, it is only rational to confront the risk, err on the side of caution, and work to forestall a worst-case scenario.
PPS10/
PPS10/
Yes, as I stated in the thread, the historical context absolutely differs between Uganda and the U.S. Yes, Uganda was a young state emerging from colonialism at the time of Amin. Yes, Uganda’s institutions at that time were not nearly as strong as the U.S.’s are today.
PPS11/
PPS11/
However, it is also amply clear that U.S. institutions are not nearly as strong as everyone once thought they were. And while the U.S. may not be such a young state, it is in a period of democratic decline.
PPS12/
PPS12/
There is also little doubt that indicators of sociopolitical instability in the U.S. are at a relative high. For example, refer to the work of Peter Turchin.
PPS13/ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0237458
PPS13/ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0237458
Yes, many of the foreigners targeted by Amin were Indians, whose presence in Ugandan originated during the colonial period (the British having brought in one colonized group to manage another colonized group). Yes, Indians may play a complicated role in Ugandan history.
PPS14/
PPS14/
The thread does not serve to examine the full extent of Uganda’s colonial history, nor, in any fashion, to defend it. None of this, however, alters the facts of Amin's regime, style, and brutality; and that is the crux of the thread.
PPS15/
PPS15/
Also, to be clear on the history, it was not “just” Indians whom Amin targeted. For example, he also targeted Kenyans. But let’s be clear on this point too: Indians are no less human than anyone else. And the fact remains that all Ugandans suffered from what Amin did.
PPS16/
PPS16/
If you wish, you might also want to consider the comparison this way: if Trump were in Uganda in the early 1970s, there seems little doubt that he would have behaved equivalently to Amin. But, again, even in the U.S. today, Trump has the potential to inflict major damage.
PPS17/
PPS17/
Lastly, if anyone has factually grounded claims to offer for why the parallels between Trump and Amin do not exist—based on evidence related to what the thread provided—then I am all ears.
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PPS18/END
