On The Road In The Kingdom Of Fear

Credit where credit is due? - with much thanks to Gene

The Bush administration has refused to ease its diplomatic pressure on the Uzbek government following the Andijan massacre in May. Karimov and his government have got increasingly pissed off at the White House's constant houndings about human rights abuses in the country. So much so; the Usbek regime gave them 180 days to clear out of an important air base in the country, or ease off the pressure. The Bush administration has decided to sacrifice the air base and continue its push for democratisation.

The eviction, administration officials say, will be costly and inconvenient when it comes to US operations in Afghanistan.

It would have been easy to turn a blind eye to the human rights abuses in Usbekistan and keep the important Air Base.

It is fair to say that the administration has been far from consistent when it comes to supporting democracy, particularly when it affects US interests. As Gene points out, "this time it seems human rights have trumped immediate strategic/military considerations".

from the washington post -

The eviction notice came four days before a senior State Department official was to arrive in Tashkent for talks with the government of President Islam Karimov. The relationship has been increasingly tense since bloody protests in the province of Andijan in May, the worst unrest since Uzbekistan gained independence from the Soviet Union

Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns was going to pressure Tashkent to allow an international investigation into the Andijan protests, which human rights groups and three U.S. senators who met with eyewitnesses said killed about 500 people. Burns was also going to warn the government, one of the most authoritarian in the Islamic world, to open up politically -- or risk the kind of upheavals witnessed recently in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, U.S. officials said......Uzbekistan has been widely viewed as an important test for the Bush administration -- and whether the anti-terrorism efforts or promotion of democracy takes priority. "We all knew basically that if we really wanted to keep access to the base, the way to do it was to shut up about democracy and turn a blind eye to the refugees," said the senior official, on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive diplomacy. "We could have saved the base if we had wanted."

Uzbekistan has been widely viewed as an important test for the Bush administration -- and whether the anti-terrorism efforts or promotion of democracy takes priority. "We all knew basically that if we really wanted to keep access to the base, the way to do it was to shut up about democracy and turn a blind eye to the refugees," said the senior official, on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive diplomacy. "We could have saved the base if we had wanted."

posted by Alexander Try @ 7:32 pm