The media has been reporting heavy fighting in parts of Uzbekistan as freedom fighters attempt to overthrow their repressive government. Why is the United States government silent about what’s been happening over there?
Here’s why: the U.S. military is using Uzbek territory as a staging area for missions into Afghanistan. The Uzbeks signed onto the war on terror shortly after the September 11th terrorist strikes against the United States; in return, the Bush Administration has been very generous in trade concessions and in overlooking a few details about the Uzbek government.
It is a totalitarian government, headed up by iron-fisted President Islam Karimov, who has no bones about crushing free speech, a free press, and other liberties enjoyed by other nations in the region. Because he is a staunch ally of the United States, the human rights violations are recorded and then ignored.
The U.S. cannot keep doing this; Uzbekistan could turn into another Iran and we don’t need another one. The government of Uzbekistan is blaming radical Islamic groups for the violence that has beset the country; but if it turns into a general uprising, and the U.S. keeps supporting the dictator’s side, it could turn into a repeat of the overthrow of the Shah of Iran.
Human rights are not to be thrown away for the sake of an arrangement between a U.S. government that is already very secretive and a maniac who rivals Saddam Hussein in his brutal treatment of his people. That has to stop.
The U.S. has a moral obligation to speak out openly about what the government of this former Soviet republic has done to Uzbeks to keep itself in power.
Get with it, State Department!
No comments:
Post a Comment