Our Ally

The New York Times reports "two suicide bombings, attacks on police and an explosion at an alleged terrorist bomb-making factory in Uzbekistan killed 19 people and injured 26." Initial reports out of the country blame Muslim extremists, possibly foreign, for the bombings.

Karimov's record in regards to human rights is, in a word, abysmal. Read an overview here and more specific instances of human rights abuses here. Also note that, according to the Times article, "Uzbekistan has been a strong supporter of U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan, and American troops are using a military base at the southern city of Khanabad for operations."

In a "best-case" scenario--that is, assuming the government controlled media is telling the truth--is troubling. It means yet another front in the "war on terror." However, again from the Times article, "...there were suspicions of an official set-up. He said Interior Minister Zokijon Almatov had visited Chorsu personally on Thursday and that was ``the start of the whole thing'' and that police had been preparing a diversion for a while."

What's truly sad, though, is that Bush is so desperate for allies in his various wars that he'll resort to such a despot for help. It demonstrates clearly that human rights are of little concern to the United States in international affairs. I think the diplomatic expression for this type of behavior on our government's part is "two-faced."