Genocide trial of former Guatemala dictator begins

[sabrina 1]

10. Yes, they share that love of dictators with the US

I wonder what causes this affliction, this belief that cruel, brutal people like Pinochet, are to be revered.

I do believe that part of it, at least among the ignorant, is the example set by the leadership of a country. And a lack of normal human emotions, such as empathy for the victims.

I have learned sadly over the past decade that our leadership appears to favor always, these Far Right dictators. Yet many of us believed we were the 'good guys'. That of course was due to ignorance which is part of the policy I suppose, to keep the people from knowing much about what we were doing to other nations overseas.

Even now this government supports brutal dictators, in Uzbekistan eg, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and our tax dollars often go to help keep them in power. I remember reading one of the Wikileaks cables on Karamov/Uzbekistan and being sickened to learn that they KNOW how cruel and brutal these people are, but toss it off with a comment like 'well, yes, he's a bad guy, but he lets us put our military bases in Uzbekistan'.

Some day there should be studies done to find out what motivates these far right criminals and their supporters. It is disturbing how similar they are from one country to another. Is it a human defect afflicting so many people, a kind of desease of the mind, or is it the result of indoctrination? I hope it is the latter as that can be fixed.