Guardian: The lie about liberty (Uzbekistan)

[muriel_volestrangler]

Uzbekistan has shown former Soviet states that the west tolerates the repression of peaceful protest in return for oil

...
Yet the halo that has since adorned Mr Akayev, generally the least brutal of central Asia's dictators, has not stopped his continued exile in Moscow, where he watches the wealth of his former fiefdom being redistributed among the remnants of its elite. One can only imagine his chagrin when, six weeks later across the border in neighbouring Uzbekistan, President Karimov gave the former Soviet Union's remaining authoritarians a textbook lesson in Stalinist repression: shoot them down and shut the doors; and soon the world will forget.

The brutal massacre of hundreds of civilians in Andijan is already beginning to fade from international consciousness. Islam Karimov's regime has efficiently prevented any transparent investigation of the town's fate. Germany, France, Nato, the EU, US and UN have all called for an independent international investigation. Mr Karimov has said Uzbekistan does not need to be "terrorised" by such requests. A veteran of 14 years of brutality, he appears to be sleeping well.

Jack Straw's insistence on an inquiry has not stopped the EU from continuing its aid packages to Uzbekistan. In truth, Europe has little leverage on a country with bigger, less sensitive friends. On Wednesday, Mr Karimov went to China, a nation practised in suppressing both Muslims and protest. Beijing gave him the requisite assurance that he did the right thing in suppressing the "separatism, terrorism and extremism" represented by the Andijan uprising, before striking a deal to prospect for oil in the central Asian state.

In this visit, Mr Karimov has astutely reminded his other ally, Washington, of its competitor in the region. The White House, which took six days to condemn a crackdown it initially said was in part against "terrorists", has too much at stake to get squeamish about Andijan. Washington appears to fear the possibility of Islamic insurgency in the region more than the consequences of the Karimov regime's long-term suppression of a country of 26 million. Uzbekistan - strengthened by $50.6m in US aid last year, a fifth of which was for "security and law enforcement" - remains the dominant, US-friendly hardman neighbour of every other central Asian state, a useful linchpin for a threadbare and volatile region.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1495879,00.html

[kliljedahl]

1. Ah ,yes, Uzbekistan

Thank jeebus for the internets & foreign news.





Keith’s Barbeque Central

[stevedeshazer]

2. Spreading freedom and democracy to our Central Asian "allies"

All hail America. :(

[Igel]

3. A pox on both their houses.

Karimov's a despot.

Just because a person revolts against a despot doesn't mean that the person must be a seeker after freedom and justice. He could just be a person who thinks he'd make a better despot.

Before I side with the rebels, I need to know more about them. Reliable information is hard to come by, as both sides portay themselves as the defenders of liberty and the rule of law.