More policy blunders/hypocrisy in the making?

[Union Thug]

"Uzbekistan is crucial to America's interests in Central Asia. Indeed, engagement with Uzbekistan across the spectrum of U.S. policy priorities will be essential to our diplomatic success in the 21st century."
http://www.buyusa.gov/uzbekistan/en/page19.html

But, geez, I thought the US went into Iraq for umm, umm, umm.. oh yeah, "liberating Iraqis", "human rights" etc. (wmd not withstanding)... and yet...

http://www.unknownnews.net/uzb.html#realsmart

Some brief excerpts to spark your interest:

Anger simmers around Uzbekistan's brutal regime

Excerpt: Local and international human rights groups report that convictions are often based on flimsy evidence, and that torture is used routinely to extract confessions. A number of deaths of Hizb-ut-Tahrir supporters while in custody are alleged to be the result of mistreatment.

The Uzbek government has in the past insisted that the people in jail present a threat because they plan to overthrow the state. It has denied allegations that its security forces use torture systematically.

Profile of President Islam Karimov
Human Rights Watch
Excerpt: "I'm prepared to rip off the heads of 200 people, to sacrifice their lives, in order to save peace and calm in the republic…If my child chose such a path, I myself would rip off his head."

Mothers and wives begin hunger strike
"All of complainants were tortured and incarcerated in punishment cells. In response to it 200 prisoners began hunger-strike on 6th December in this colony. Their relatives who came to see them were refuted" said A. Madumarov.

According to rights activist those women who were taken away on December 13 to police station were released evening after some of them were fined and others warned.

[oldcoot]

1. Thanks for posting this

You might find this interesting: http://web.amnesty.org/pages/uzb-151203-action-eng .

[cosmicdot]

2. just look at it's geographical location to the Caspian Sea Oil Basin

the Council on Foreign Relations http://treemedia.com/cfrlibrary/ ("This site was build and hosted in 1998 - 1999 to facilitate an on-line debate on the Caspian Sea Region, with the goal of formulating a set of recommendations for U.S. Policy") ... as, I'm sure, other corporate-republican think-tanks have, white-papered this region into the threads of the fabric of the long-range foreign policy agenda ... maintaining a course which needs to be reversed, revised, and reformed with alternative energy approaches; and, an agenda which, if history is any lesson, leads to 'conflict' ...



toss in some PNAC ... blunders waiting to happen ...

... and, you're correct ... why aren't Bush's handlers consistent?

[Wwagsthedog]

3. It's all about the oil bidness

These are long but back up your premise about supposed US intentions.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EL24Ag01.html

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EL25Ag02.html