Holding Tashkent's Hand

For almost three weeks, President Bush declined to personally condemn the Uzbekistan government's brutal crackdown on protesters in the eastern city of Andijan--which left anywhere from 500 to 1000 civilians dead. At the President's press conference last Tuesday, a reporter asked why?

"Thanks for bringing it up," Bush replied. "We've called for the International Red Cross to go into the Andijan region to determine what went on, and we expect all our friends, as well as those who aren't our friends, to honor human rights and protect minority rights."

It remains to be seen whether the ICRC will probe the close and troubling relationship between Washington and Tashkent. The Bush Administration is currently trying to build a permanent military base in Uzbekistan, despite the fact that US-trained Uzbek special forces may have taken part in the May 13 crackdown. A bipartisan group of Senators, led by Patrick Leahy and John McCain, are drafting a letter to Donald Rumsfeld and Condi Rice "pressing the Administration to investigate that possibility--and to stop any talks on military basing until Uzbekistan agrees to an international probe of the killings," the Washington Post reported on Saturday.

Three Republican Senators--McCain, John Sununu and Lindsay Graham--recently traveled to Uzbekistan and returned home deeply disturbed by what they saw. "If the government continues to refuse an investigation and does not cease its repressive policies, the US has no choice but to re-evaluate all aspects of our relationship with Uzbekistan," McCain said. "I would not be comfortable making a long-term commitment," Sununu added. An amendment passed by Leahy in 1997 prohibits the US from providing military assistance to foreign troops who've committed human rights abuses; one human rights group says there was "very credible evidence" that at least one senior Uzbek commander involved in the crackdown received training in the US.

Thus far, Uzbek dictator Islam Karimov has rejected calls by the EU, UN and NATO for an outside review. But in recent days, he's heard encouraging words from the Pentagon. "When you look at the totality of what Uzbekistan has been doing, they've been a very valuable partner in the global war on terror," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told the Post.

After granting the US an air base to use for the war in Afghanistan, the Bush Administration began funneling $79 million in aid to the Uzbek security forces in 2002 at the same time the State Department was condemning "torture as a routine investigation technique." When Colin Powell tried to cut off $18 million in additional aid for the security forces, General Richard Myers intervened to restore the funds, and added $3 million more. Last month, Condi Rice waived a State Department human rights requirement for military aid on national security grounds.

"The US will claim that they are teaching the Uzbeks less repressive interrogation techniques, but that is basically not true," says Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan. "They help fund the budget of the Uzbek security services and give tens of millions of dollars in military support. It is a sweetener in the agreement over which they get their air base."

That sweetener, it now seems clear, has quickly gone sour.

Comments (1)

1. I'm from Andijan. I live legally in free US. But my family and friends live in anguish in Andijan. I have survivor accounts pleading for help to get out of the country. One have to have a permit to exit Uzbekistan, where in the rest of the free world there is no ban on exiting a country.

   This article is old now. On June 14, Rumsfeld blocked NATO's call for international probe into Andijan killings. He wants to keep his K2 to fight afgan terrorists. But, at the same time, he helps to create new ones in Uzbekistan. Then he will come to fight them and will bring war into my home.

   I care for my kin. Rumsfeld doesn't. I preach liberty to my people. Rumsfeld helps Karimov to conceal events of May 13th in Andijan. I want peace. Rumsfeld can't live without war.

   Posted by Truth at 06/15/2005 @ 1:45pm