UK helped train massacre army

[struggle4progress]

JAMES KIRKUP
POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

<snip> The government of the central Asian republic has admitted that its troops killed 173 civilian demonstrators on 12 and 13 May in the city of Andizhan - and the true toll is believed to have been much higher. Human rights groups have condemned the massacre.

Last year, about 150 British Army veterans of the Iraq war travelled to Uzbekistan to train with the army responsible for the killings. According to one independent witness, the British soldiers "shared tactics" with the Uzbeks.

The revelations will raise fresh questions about the UK government's support for the autocratic regime of Islam Karimov, the Uzbek president.

Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan who has been critical of UK policy towards Mr Karimov, was outraged that British troops had worked so closely with Uzbek forces. <snip>

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=676492005

[LynnTheDem]

1. And then there's the US military base in Uzbekistan...

No more boiling political opponents in water! No, no, no. US and UK forces will teach Uzbek troops how to massacre people the US/UK way.

[struggle4progress]

5. I figure the Poodle went there because his master invited him. eom

[JohnyCanuck]

2. Tony says any friend of Dubya is a friend of mine.

06/26/03: Let me introduce you to our presidents new best friend, President Karimov of Uzbekistan.

<SNIP>

The U.S. State Department web site states "Uzbekistan is not a democracy and does not have a free press. Many opponents of the government have fled, and others have been arrested." and "The police force and the intelligence service use torture as a routine investigation technique."

Now I would like to introduce you to Muzafar Avazov, a 35-year old father of four. Mr Avazov had a visit from our presidents friends security force (SNB), the photographs below detail the brutality and inhuman treatment our tax dollars subsidize, with the full knowledge of our president and his administration.

Muzafar Avazov, body showed signs of burns on the legs, buttocks, lower back and arms. Sixty to seventy percent of the body was burnt, according to official sources. Doctors who saw the body reported that such burns could only have been caused by immersing Avazov in boiling water. Those who saw the body also reported that there was a large, bloody wound on the back of the head, heavy bruising on the forehead and side of the neck, and that his hands had no fingernails.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3943.htm

[Judi Lynn]

3. Bush has brought them down to his level. Pity.

From the article:

"One of the most chilling things about the massacre was that it was not a spur-of-the-moment thing," he said yesterday. "The morning after, the soldiers searched the square, methodically killing the wounded with bullets to the head.

"The idea that British Army soldiers were training alongside people who do that is simply appalling."

The wealthiest countries have never looked more barbaric. Nothing can stop them now, apparently. Of the two forces in the world, evil seems to fascinate them far more than love.

[lockdown]

4. Blair came to power with a promise to stop exporting death

After 18 years of Tory (mostly Thatcher) rule, during which the UK became the world's 2nd largest arms dealer with many exports underwritten by public money, one of Labour's pledges on coming to power was to end this practice. They lied, and continued to encourage arm sales to repressive regimes and enrich death merchants with taxpayer's money. Now, exporting death is what Tony Blair is best known for.

[sintax]

6. kick n/t

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

7. kick nt

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

8. isn't that what ALL armies do? massacre people?--and dress alike

What army do you know of that trains to kill "a little bit"?
They all train with the objective of massacring others.
Isn't the idea of war pretty sick?
Speaking of pretty, armies alway fight dressed alike--gotta look good when you're massackering.