TASHKENT--In the markets, on the streets, even in the privacy of their homes or cars, the people of Uzbekistan are sphinxlike. They think things are going...well, as best as could be expected.
On October 26, President Bush signed into law an antiterrorism package dismantling many privacy protections that Americans had long taken for granted.
(With apologies to Harry Belafonte, among others)
Bombed all night by dat Yankee bunch
Daylight come and de bombers go home
Now dey'll drop some cashew crunch
Daylight come and de bombers go home
Day-o, day-o
Bad guys hide in dere catacomb
Day-o, day-o,
'Til dose bombers have said shalom.
Hey, Mr. Taliban, shoutin' your hosannas
Daylight come and de bombers go home
You're de Kool-Aid makin' dese Guyanas
Daylight come and de bombers go home
Day-o, day-o,
Daylight come and de bombers go home
Day-o, day-o,
Daylight come and de bombers go home.
Swept away by the fury of their impotence, huddled in temporary congressional offices, unable to capture anyone responsible for the terrorist assault on the United States, Congress and the Presiden