posted on February 28, 2003 01:01:30 PM new
A U.S. attack on Iraq might destroy Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces, but don't worry about him becoming homeless. With an estimated $2 billion fortune, he will still have plenty of pocket money to find suitable digs elsewhere.
As part of our annual ranking of the world's richest people, we calculated the net worth of eight of the world's richest royals and dictators. Hussein isn't the richest--we reckon that the fortune of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd is ten times greater--but he is worth approximately four times as much as the Queen of England.
Forbes is out with its annual list of billionaires, and its report includes a sublist of the world's wealthiest heads of state. The biggest moneybags are King Fahd of Saudi Arabia ($20 billion) and Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei ($11 billion). Tied for third place with Liechtenstein's Prince Hans Adams II is Saddam Hussein ($2 billion). And also in the top eight are Yasser Arafat ($300 million) and Fidel Castro ($110 million).
It's puzzling, isn't it? American liberals pose as the scourge of the rich, waxing indignant over plans to lower marginal tax rates or eliminate the double taxation of dividends. Yet these same liberals are America's most fervent supporters of the filthy rich Saddam, Arafat and Castro. Why can't we all agree that liberating Iraq is a form of class warfare that's worth waging?
