Murderous dictator dies without paying for sins

It really doesn't matter what awaits former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the afterworld. While on earth, he committed unspeakable atrocities against his own people that put him in the same league as Slobodan Milosevic, the former leader of the Republic of Yugoslavia now on trial before a United Nations war crimes tribunal. Nonetheless, Amin was not held to account for his brutal eight-year rule that resulted in the deaths of 500,000 Ugandans
Instead, after he was finally driven from power in 1979, he sought refuge in Saudi Arabia, where he lived out his life in luxury and safety. The ruling royal family not only provided Amin with a mansion in Jeddah, but also paid for his cars and servants. For 25 years, this bloody dictator was comforted by his several wives, took strolls on the beach and indulged in one of his favorite pastimes, fishing.
Economic collapse
By contrast, Uganda still has not recovered from his rule of terror. Yes, there is a stable government and President Yoweri Museveni, who was elected in 1996, has won world recognition for his war on AIDS, which has become as efficient a killer as Amin. But the economy is in shambles -- in 1972, Amin expelled tens of thousands of ethnic Indians who had run the nation's commerce -- and the once self-sufficient country is now dependent on foreign aid.
Indeed, Amin and his henchmen raided the public treasury during their reign, just as other despots had done and continue to do. The result of this barbarism is that the have-nots, who number in the millions in the Third World, are on the receiving end of even more deprivation. Starvation and disease are the rule rather than the exception.
And so the question: Why was the former dictator of Uganda allowed to live out his life as a guest of the Saudi Arabian government and not taken before a U.N. tribunal and tried for his crimes against humanity? There are two possible reasons: One, Uganda, which is landlocked, isn't a player in the game of global politics and, therefore, what occurs within its borders is of little consequence to the developed nations; two, the United States, which has been in the forefront of the fight for human rights around the world, was unwilling to risk alienating its main Arab ally in the Middle East, the Saudis, by insisting on Amin's expulsion from the oil-rich kingdom.
Moral arbiter
America failed in its role as the world's moral arbiter by not insisting that the former dictator be brought to justice. It's as though the international community made a deal with the devil: You give up the reins of power and you can live out your life in comfort and safety. Brutal leaders deserve to be punished, not rewarded.
Idi Amin died Saturday at the age of 80. He had been on life support since July 18. Talk about the ultimate insult. The half-million deaths for which he was responsible will never be avenged. The world community should hang its head in shame.