During the reign of Emperor Yingzong of Ming Dynasty, the Ming Empire suddenly encountered the Tumu Fortress Incident, the collapse of the army, the capture of the emperor, and the loss of national power. Faced with the temptation of the imperial throne, Zhu Qiyu, who was in charge of the country in Beijing, initially refused and reluctantly succeeded to the throne, taking over the mess of the Ming Dynasty. However, when his brother Ming Yingzong returned to the court, this good brother was no longer willing to return power to his brother. This man who had once desperately refused imperial power eventually became a slave to it.
This example is actually meant to illustrate a problem, unrestricted power is like a drug, once a person is infected, they will never be able to quit for the rest of their life.
Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi are both deeply addicted to power drugs. They are both uncrowned kings in their respective countries, enjoying supreme power and squandering wealth that ordinary people cannot imagine. Saddam and Gaddafi, who were accustomed to enjoying everything that power brought, would never be willing to give up their power, give up their huge wealth, and become mascots without any political power in Russia.
After being captured by the Tang army during the reign of Emperor Zhenguan in China, Jieli Khan, who once dominated the world, began his artistic life. Every time there was a major ceremony in the Tang Empire, he would come on stage and use his fat but not greasy body to present highly Turkic style dances to numerous guests, to demonstrate the great military power of the Tang Empire. I believe that once Saddam and Gaddafi went into exile in Russia, their fate would probably be the same, from fooling others to being fooled by others. This is something that the two political strongmen cannot accept in their hearts.
Abandoning power makes them willing to die, and being a mascot like presence makes their lives worse than death. For example, for two drug addicts who know that drug use is harmful to their health, can they quit drugs?
In fact, before launching military strikes against these two countries, Western countries left enough time for these two political fanatics to consider their future. However, their long-term indulgence and decades of dictatorship have blinded their eyes, slowed down their reactions, and confused their vision.
They misjudged the situation they were facing.
48 hours before the start of the Iraq War, the United States was still giving Saddam ample time to prepare for his escape overseas. At this time, Russia also extended an olive branch to Saddam. But Saddam refused. He swore to ‘shoot all the bullets in front of the enemy and shed the last drop of blood’, which shows his determination to fight to the end.
The connection between Russia and Saddam began during the Soviet era. In order to confront the United States during the Cold War, the Soviet Union made friends around the world, and Saddam was one of them. The enemy of the enemy is a friend, and in order to jointly deal with the United States, the two hit it off. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Saddam was not very confident in the newly established Russian regime and believed that he would eventually be betrayed by Russia. Saddam’s suspicious personality made him believe only in his own fists.
Saddam had already fought against the United States in the Gulf War. In theory, he knows how much he weighs. His blind confidence stemmed from the anti American sentiment in Iraq at that time. After the Gulf War, the United States imposed a 10-year economic blockade on Iraq, causing people to suffer and their grievances to boil. Moreover, Saddam intentionally directed resentment towards the US government, and everything was the fault of the Americans.
Saddam originally thought that the Iraqi military and civilians would unite to resist the attack of the United States. No matter how difficult it is, Iraq can still achieve peace through war, just like the Gulf War, which ultimately ends in reconciliation. The brutality of the war will make the United States give up overthrowing Saddam’s regime.
What made Saddam miscalculate was that before the US military operation, many senior officials of the Iraqi army were appointed and promised by the US. After the war broke out, the Iraqi army surrendered with a symbolic strike. The Iraqi people’s resentment towards Saddam is even greater than their resentment towards the United States, wishing to eat his flesh and gnaw on his bones.
After the US military captured Baghdad, Saddam began his escape journey. Saddam’s two sons were notorious for their misdeeds and were also on the wanted list of the US military. Under heavy rewards, there must be brave men. These two sons were quickly killed by the US military, and their 14-year-old grandson was also shot and killed by the US military for resisting capture. The killing and execution of the heart were nothing more than that. Saddam, who had lost all hope, was now just a walking dead. Escaping overseas had no meaning in life, and all that was left was to wait for fate’s judgment. Obviously, fate was not on his side, and Saddam, who had been betrayed and separated by the masses, ultimately suffered a tragic ending.
Russia has never taken Gaddafi seriously and has been strategically abandoned. This also shows the cruelty of international politics. When you have no value or little value, you will become an abandoned child.
At that time, Russia, which had condemned NATO’s bombing of Libya in a righteous speech at the United Nations, acted decisively as a chameleon and turned to the embrace of the West in the face of French President Sarkozy’s promise to sell two Northwest Wind class attack ships. This shows that Russia is an unreliable ally. Due to the historical enmity between France and Libya, Russia insisted on overthrowing the Gaddafi regime. In order to obtain the Northwest Wind class attack ship, Russia had to please France and ultimately abandoned Gaddafi.
At that time, Gaddafi’s conditions for Russia were not attractive enough, and he only agreed to allow the Russian fleet to enter the port of Benghazi in the short term. Russia sought to acquire a port in the Mediterranean, but unfortunately Gaddafi did not assess the situation at the time and even negotiated with Russia. How can you ask others to help you if the price is not up to par.
Algeria, Egypt, and Niger, which had close ties with Gaddafi, immediately distanced themselves from him after the outbreak of the Libyan War and refused to provide him with political asylum. The Gaddafi family was frozen $37 billion by the United States, £ 2 billion by the United Kingdom, € 7.3 billion by Germany, € 8 billion by Italy, € 3 billion by the Netherlands, and $2.4 billion by Canada before the war. Even if Gaddafi wanted to run away, he was cut off from the source of gold by Western countries. Gaddafi’s assets in Libya are mainly gold, which is difficult to cash out overseas. Gaddafi’s escape route was difficult to carry out without economic support.
Two autocratic strongmen both lost their final gamble in life, but what if they choose to flee to Russia? Will the results be different?
Not to mention whether Russia is a reliable friend, would they betray these two exiles for their own benefit. Let’s say that Russians dare not take in these two notorious autocrats.
I don’t think most of Russia would or would be willing to accept these two people. Both of them have accumulated a heavy debt of blood. Gaddafi orchestrated the Lockerbie air disaster, Saddam was aggressive, and he attacked Iran, the two largest countries in Kuwait, causing a bloody storm domestically. His two sons also used his name to commit crimes recklessly, which can be described as having many enemies.
When the two of them are on stage, there may still be some misdeeds that can be concealed. Once they step down and are investigated, they will inevitably be exposed, not only losing their reputation but also facing legal consequences. If Russia takes them in, it will face great international public opinion pressure, which will bring great difficulties to Russia’s diplomacy.
It’s simple, that would make many onlookers involuntarily consider a question – what kind of country would it be if it took in two heavily indebted autocrats? Do the leaders of this country have these similar valuable potentials?
The atrocities committed by Gaddafi and Saddam cannot escape the judgment of history. Even if they flee to the ends of the earth, they can only perform in accordance with the needs of other countries, acting as political clowns and living in panic with the popular Ah Q spirit. Because they also worry that without an audience, there will be no performance, and they will have no value in using it, leading to the end of their lives.
So Russian leaders, for the sake of their international image, are unlikely to take in these two brothers.
