Rumsfeld "delighted" to meet dictator Karimov (February 2004)

[allemand]

"I am delighted to be back in Uzbekistan. I've just had a long and very interesting and helpful discussion with the president ... Uzbekistan is a key member of the coalition's global war on terror. And I brought the president the good wishes of President Bush and our appreciation for their stalwart support in the war on terror ... Our relationship is strong and has been growing stronger."
- US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in Tashkent, February 2004

:puke:

THE ROVING EYE
The US and its 'special' dictator
By Pepe Escobar
http://atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/GE17Ag01.html

Some quotes from the article:

Uzbekistan dictator Islam Karimov's army, which last Friday opened fire on thousands of unarmed protesters in Andijan, in the Ferghana Valley, has been showered by Washington in the past few years with hundreds of millions of dollars (US$200 million in 2002 alone) - all on behalf of the "war on terror".

So you won't see the White House, or Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, hammering Karimov. You won't hear many in Washington calling for free elections in Uzbekistan. The former strongmen of color-coded, "revolutionary" Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan were monsters who had to be removed for "freedom and democracy" to prevail. So is the dictator of Belarus. Not Karimov. He's "our" dictator: the Saddam Hussein of Central Asia is George W Bush's man. (...)

Everything in Uzbekistan is Soviet/clannish, Karimov-controlled. Practically every square inch in every neighborhood (mahalle ) in Uzbekistan is under surveillance by the so-called "White Beards" - the system's informants. Karimov's only weakness is his daughters. Gulnara Karimova, the eldest, practically owns the country - factories, mobile phone companies, travel agencies, the nightclubs where the micro-power elite dances to Russian techno. There may be lots of gas, oil and cotton - but the majority of 26 million Uzbeks subsist with less than a dollar a day. The currency - the som - is virtually worthless: 0.0007 euros. Changing money in Tashkent can become a war operation lasting a full hour.

[marmar]

1. But he's a good dictator...

Rummy probably felt right at home amongst fellow fascists.

[DrDebug]

2. From the BBC Country profile

Uzbekistan is the most populous Central Asian country and has the largest armed forces. There is no real internal opposition and the media is tightly controlled by the state. A UN report has described the use of torture in Uzbekistan as "systematic".

The rigidity of political control is mirrored in the tightly centralised planning of the economy. Economic reform has been painfully slow to materialise.

A World Bank report in the summer of 2003 found economic growth and living standards to be amongst the lowest in the former Soviet Union. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development poor human rights record.
(...)
Following the 11 September attacks on the US, the Uzbek authorities won favour with Washington by allowing its forces a base in Uzbekistan, affording ready access across the Afghan border. US aid increased. Human rights observers have voiced mounting fears that it has become harder to focus international attention on the many reported cases of abuse and torture.
(...)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1238242.stm

There is on positive point about Uzbekistan. It's strategicly placed, so from a military point of view it's an important ally.