Joe Scarborough

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What the capitulation of Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, means for the rest of the world's tyrants

http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Americans are cleaning up in the high-stakes game of 55-card pickup. Today, our troops picked up one of Iraq’s most well-known thugs. It sends a important message to tyrants across the world that at a critical time. If you want to know what happens when you mess with America, here's 'The Real Deal.'

Tariq Aziz was the eight of spades in America’s stack of wacky Iraqi cards. And he joins the increasingly full house of thugs now in coalition hands. Aziz’s capture is especially sweet. This is a guy who spent his life flaking for Saddam’s brutal regime. He was Saddam’s key apologist for terror. He was an enabler of brutality. And he was a kingpin of oppression.

As the public face of Iraq‘s regime, Aziz drummed up support for Iraq’s war with Iran. And then he lied about reports that his government used chemical weapons against the Iranians. And then he lied about Chemical Ali’s gassing of the Kurds. Then, Aziz lied and stalled at a time when Saddam Hussein’s troops invaded Kuwait. And last month, he defiantly vowed that Americans would face a bloody quagmire in Baghdad. And he vowed to the world that Iraq would never surrender. Whoops. Today, even Mr. Aziz gave up the ghost. He simply turned himself over to American troops.

Now, Mr. Aziz leaves behind a DVD collection that includes “Josie and the Pussycats,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” and “The Godfather.” He has bottles of cheap cologne scattered around his mansion and a subscription to “Vanity Fair.” But Mr. Aziz also leaves behind a pathetic life spent sucking up to a despicable tyrant who killed more Arabs than any person in history.

Here’s hoping that Tariq Aziz pays for his sins in this life and in the next. And, also, let’s hope that the tyrants running Iran and Syria received today’s message loud and clear: Stop exporting terrorism and torturing your own people, or, one day soon, you’re going to find your pathetic self in the custody of American G.I.s., just like the once powerful and the once cocky Tariq Aziz.

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Former Congressman Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.) hosts “Scarborough Country,” 10 p.m. ET, weeknights on MSNBC. Comment by clicking here.

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