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June 15, 2005
Pro-Base, Anti-Despot
Remember our ally, Uzbekistan, where they boil prisoners to death and shoot demonstrators by the hundreds? Well, here's our most recent gift to that regime:
Defense officials from Russia and the United States last week helped block a new demand for an international probe into the Uzbekistan government's shooting of hundreds of protesters last month, according to U.S. and diplomatic officials.British and other European officials had pushed to include language calling for an independent investigation in a communique issued by defense ministers of NATO countries and Russia after a daylong meeting in Brussels on Thursday. But the joint communique merely stated that "issues of security and stability in Central Asia, including Uzbekistan," had been discussed.
...
The communique's wording was worked out after what several knowledgeable sources called a vigorous debate in Brussels between U.S. defense officials, who emphasized the importance of the base, and others, including State Department representatives at NATO headquarters, who favored language calling for a transparent, independent and international probe into the killings of Uzbekistan civilians by police and soldiers.
In other developments, the same paper the above article was published, the Washington Post, has another piece today titled "Bush Takes Aim at Despotism." Bush is apparently meeting with dissidents from various strategically-important countries, including Uzbekistan. Well, I guess a toothless photo-op almost never hurt anyone.
Posted by zeynep at June 15, 2005 12:02 AM