(Click on the logo to return to the main blog.)

I Don't Agree with This
05/30/2003

Taking this Guardian report at face value (which is a lot to do, considering the source), I feel compelled to express my dislike for the strategy of supporting ought-to-be enemies as a component of using them to battle more immediately dangerous enemies.

Independent human rights groups estimate that there are more than 600 politically motivated arrests a year in Uzbekistan, and 6,500 political prisoners, some tortured to death. According to a forensic report commissioned by the British embassy, in August two prisoners were even boiled to death.

The US condemned this repression for many years. But since September 11 rewrote America's strategic interests in central Asia, the government of President Islam Karimov has become Washington's new best friend in the region.

The US is funding those it once condemned. Last year Washington gave Uzbekistan $500m (£300m) in aid. The police and intelligence services - which the state department's website says use "torture as a routine investigation technique" received $79m of this sum.

Mr Karimov was President Bush's guest in Washington in March last year. They signed a "declaration" which gave Uzbekistan security guarantees and promised to strengthen "the material and technical base of [their] law enforcement agencies".

On the other hand, I do think that a strategy of "reform through engagement" — beyond addressing the icky realities of international relations — is a worthwhile one to pursue... if we actually pursue it. In the meantime, perhaps it is enough to suggest that a nation can only do what it can do and that others (those who make such decisions, hopefully) are in a better position to judge what is the best approach to take in individual areas.

Posted by Justin Katz @ 07:56 PM EST