What we do with despots
POSTED BY: SignyM
UPDATED: Tuesday, May 17, 2005 19:33
VIEWED: 7760
PAGE 8 of 9
HEY! Are you still interested in discussing (not arguing... for a change
) this topic?
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What do you want? An invitation? I just wrote a thousand word response last week.
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What I read of Finns' response, in sum: Finn thinks the US is in Iraq for freedom, which is why the US so generously invested taxpayer money, time and lives.
I thought you two were done, or at least had given up. Now that I see you are not, I'll keep my response off the board for now.
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Just a bump.
I am looking forward to reading more on this topic.
Rue
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Sorry Finn- I scrolled down very quickly to the end, and missed your post along the way. I hope to get to it this weekend- after I do my taxes. 
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If you scroll thru my vars posts on tyranny and Iraq, every now and again you'll see something about our good buddy, Islam Karimov, tyrant of Uzbekistan, one of the desposts we feed "in order" to advance democracy. Well DANG!! It looks like we wound up on the wrong side AGAIN!
How DOES that happen??
Quote:
Uzbek troops shoot at protesters
ANDIJAN, Uzbekistan (CNN) -- Soldiers have opened fire on protesters in an eastern Uzbekistan town where anti-government rebels were holding hostages in a regional headquarters, witnesses have said.
Journalists said the shooting came from a tank and a truck full of soldiers which had sped to the center of Andijan where the protesters had gathered. A Reuters correspondent later said he saw one body lying on the ground.
The Uzbekistan government said the rebels had refused to compromise during talks with authorities. {mmm-hmmmm. SignyM}
Thousands had been demonstrating, calling for the resignation of Uzbek President Islam Karimov and his authoritarian government. The president's office described them as criminals and extremists.
Maybe it has something to do with short-sighted, unprincipled decisions???
Nah.......
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D*mn I hate being right! But, if anyone had bothered to look at the real situation in Uzbekistan- the corruption, torture, poverty and nation-wide intimidation you would have known that this was just a rebellion waiting to happen.
Quote:
Thousands of refugees today fled fierce fighting in eastern Uzbekistan -- where human rights monitors say clashes between soldiers and rebels have left hundreds dead.
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Something you will not see in USA newspapers. All hail the Alliance!
Quote:
Heated criticism was growing last night over 'double standards' by Washington over human rights, democracy and 'freedom' as fresh evidence emerged of just how brutally Uzbekistan, a US ally in the 'war on terror', put down Friday's unrest in the east of the country.... Critics said the US was prepared to support pro-democracy unrest in some states, but condemn it in others where such policies were inconvenient.
Witnesses and analysts familiar with the region said most protesters were complaining about government corruption and poverty, not espousing Islamic extremism. ...
Washington has often been accused of being involved in a conspiracy of silence over Uzbekistan's human rights record since that country was declared an ally in the 'war on terror' in 2001.
Uzbekistan is believed to be one of the destination countries for the highly secretive 'renditions programme'... The CIA has never officially commented on the programme. But flight logs obtained by the New York Times earlier this month show CIA-linked planes landing in Tashkent with the same serial numbers as jets used to transfer prisoners around the world....
Critics say the US double standards are evident on the State Department website, which accuses Uzbek police and security services of using 'torture as a routine investigation technique' while giving the same law enforcement services $79 million in aid in 2002. .
The aid paradox was highlighted by the former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, who criticised coalition support for Uzbekistan when they were planning invading Iraq, using similar abuses as justification.... The support continues, seen by many as a 'pay-off' for the Khanabad base.
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SignyM, this is really nothing new, if you check out the Human Rights Watch or Amnesty international websites they report that up to 5000 pro democracy demonstrators have " vanished " between 2001 - 2003. With similar reports from Egypt really makes you wonder that if the Americans belived their own rhetoric why aren't they on the otherside of this " war "
http://web.amnesty.org/library/engworld/2md
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Mind you, it is even worse to be in a country without a despot " owned " by the US.
Chile in the 70's, Venezuela and Cuba present day, ...........
and now Burma ?
'Superpower behind' Burma blasts
The government says the terrorists and explosive came from abroad
Burma's government says rebels trained abroad by a "superpower" were behind last week's bombings at three shopping centres in the capital, Rangoon.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4549109.stm
Kind of reminds me of a really excellent movie,
The Quiet American, starring Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0258068/
Plot Summary for
The Quiet American (2002)
Saigon, 1952, a beautiful, exotic, and mysterious city caught in the grips of the Vietnamese war of liberation from the French colonial powers. New arrival Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser), an idealistic American aid worker, befriends London Times correspondent Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine). When Fowler introduces Pyle to his beautiful young Vietnamese mistress Phuong (Hai Yen) the three become swept up in a tempestuous love triangle that leads to a series of startling revelations and finally - murder. Nothing, and no one, is as it seems, in this adaptation of Graham Greene's classic and prophetic story of love, betrayal, murder and the origin of the American war in Southeast Asia.
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