Oldguy. Ceausescu had the most grotesquely lavish palace of all and was a truly disgusting tyrant, even measured against Saddam. Didn't stop him getting to shake hands with the UK's dear-beloved monarch. Idi Amin wasn't great in my opinion, yet when he carried out his ethnic cleansing of Ungandan Asians (OK, with hindsight, they turned out to be the lucky ones) the UK could hardly have been more accommodating.

But yes, I have to agree with you entirely on your other point. Anything that might stem the worldwide trade in arms would surely be for the good. As someone said in one of these threads, the US for one (and I would guess maybe the UK too) has been ramping up its spend in the military. In the US this has coincided with cutting back on overseas aid. Whether or not such trend can be justified in the present climate, surely no-one can be sanguine that world affairs have come to this.