Monday, May 16, 2005
Guardian | What drives support for this torturer
Guardian | What drives support for this torturer:
Comment
What drives support for this torturer
Oil and gas ensure that the US backs the Uzbek dictator to the hilt
Craig Murray
Monday May 16, 2005
Guardian
The bodies of hundreds of pro-democracy protesters in Uzbekistan are scarcely cold, and already the White House is looking for ways to dismiss them. The White House spokesman Scott McClellan said those shot dead in the city of Andijan included 'Islamic terrorists' offering armed resistance. They should, McClellan insists, seek democratic government 'through peaceful means, not through violence'.
But how? This is not Georgia, Ukraine or even Kyrgyzstan. There, the opposition parties could fight elections. The results were fixed, but the opportunity to propagate their message brought change. In Uzbek elections on December 26, the opposition was not allowed to take part at all.
. . . Take the 23 businessmen whose trial for "Islamic extremism" sparked recent events. Had the crowd not sprung them from jail, what would have awaited them? The conviction rate in criminal and political trials in Uzbekistan is over 99% - in President Karimov's torture chambers, everyone confesses.
. . . The airbase opened by the US at Khanabad is not essential to operations in Afghanistan, its claimed raison d'être. It has a more crucial role as the easternmost of Donald Rumsfeld's "lily pads" - air bases surrounding the "wider Middle East", by which the Pentagon means the belt of oil and gas fields stretching from the Middle East through the Caucasus and central Asia. A key component of this strategic jigsaw fell into place this spring when US firms were contracted to build a pipeline to bring central Asia's hydrocarbons out through Afghanistan to the Arabian sea. That strategic interest explains the recent signature of the US-Afghan strategic partnership agreement, as well as Bush's strong support for Karimov.
. . . The western news agenda has moved the dead of Andijan from the "democrat" to the "terrorist" pile. Karimov remains in power. The White House will be happy. That's enough for No 10.
· Craig Murray was British ambassador to Uzbekistan from 2002 to 2004
www.craigmurray.co.uk
Comment
What drives support for this torturer
Oil and gas ensure that the US backs the Uzbek dictator to the hilt
Craig Murray
Monday May 16, 2005
Guardian
The bodies of hundreds of pro-democracy protesters in Uzbekistan are scarcely cold, and already the White House is looking for ways to dismiss them. The White House spokesman Scott McClellan said those shot dead in the city of Andijan included 'Islamic terrorists' offering armed resistance. They should, McClellan insists, seek democratic government 'through peaceful means, not through violence'.
But how? This is not Georgia, Ukraine or even Kyrgyzstan. There, the opposition parties could fight elections. The results were fixed, but the opportunity to propagate their message brought change. In Uzbek elections on December 26, the opposition was not allowed to take part at all.
. . . Take the 23 businessmen whose trial for "Islamic extremism" sparked recent events. Had the crowd not sprung them from jail, what would have awaited them? The conviction rate in criminal and political trials in Uzbekistan is over 99% - in President Karimov's torture chambers, everyone confesses.
. . . The airbase opened by the US at Khanabad is not essential to operations in Afghanistan, its claimed raison d'être. It has a more crucial role as the easternmost of Donald Rumsfeld's "lily pads" - air bases surrounding the "wider Middle East", by which the Pentagon means the belt of oil and gas fields stretching from the Middle East through the Caucasus and central Asia. A key component of this strategic jigsaw fell into place this spring when US firms were contracted to build a pipeline to bring central Asia's hydrocarbons out through Afghanistan to the Arabian sea. That strategic interest explains the recent signature of the US-Afghan strategic partnership agreement, as well as Bush's strong support for Karimov.
. . . The western news agenda has moved the dead of Andijan from the "democrat" to the "terrorist" pile. Karimov remains in power. The White House will be happy. That's enough for No 10.
· Craig Murray was British ambassador to Uzbekistan from 2002 to 2004
www.craigmurray.co.uk
