Will Bush still do business with these 'oppressive' allies?

[emad]

Times
From Roland Watson in Washington



PRESIDENT BUSH’S pledge to spread freedom to the darkest corners of the Earth has been greeted with scepticism at home and hostility abroad.

The day after he vowed to work towards ending tyranny, analysts questioned how his rhetoric meshed with the realities of US economic and military interests. In its pursuit of the War on Terror, the US depends economically, logistically or politically on at least six countries that could fall into the category of “oppressors”: Russia, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. “The US is closing its eyes towards dictators who serve its own interests, but attacks those that damage it,” Abdul Hussein Shaaban, an Iraqi analyst, said.

Mr Bush opened his second term with a striking adjustment of US foreign policy, placing the spread of human freedoms and democracy at its core. It was the latest evolution of the “Bush doctrine” that emerged after the September 11 attacks when he warned nations they were “with us or against us” in the War on Terror. But it was the first time Mr Bush had argued that the spread of democracy was “vital” to American interests without linking it specifically to the War on Terror.

If he tries to live up to his words, the speech will radically change many of Washington’s relationships around the world. The US receives 20 per cent of its oil imports from Saudi Arabia, a critical strategic ally. Yet the State Department states that the kingdom is guilty of “prohibitions or severe restrictions on the freedoms of speech, press, peaceful assembly and association, and religion; denial of the right of citizens to change their government; systematic discrimination against women and ethnic and religious minorities; and suppression of workers’ rights”.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1451117,00.html

[emad]

1. Amnesty International’s verdict last year on Saudi Arabia:

Saudi Arabia: “Gross human rights violations continued and were exacerbated by government ‘anti-terrorism’ policies and acts of violence. Hundreds of suspected religious activists, critics of the state and protesters were arrested or detained. Torture and ill-treatment remained rife.”
(Times)

China: “Tens of thousands of people continued to be detained or imprisoned in violation of their rights to freedom of expression and association, and were at serious risk of torture or ill-treatment. China continued to use the international ‘war against terrorism’ as a pretext for cracking down on peaceful dissent.”

Russia: “Security forces continued to enjoy almost total impunity for serious violations of human rights committed in the Chechen Republic. Elsewhere there were continuing reports of torture and ill-treatment.”

Uzbekistan: “At least 6,000 political prisoners, who included dozens of women, continued to be held in cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions. Hundreds of people suspected of political or religious dissent were harassed, beaten and detained without trial, Torture was reported to have resulted in the death of at least three men in custody.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1451117_2,00.html

[rodeodance]

2. they are not 1 of 6 "outposts of tynanny"------so it is buss. as usual