The Hypocrisy of Bush's 'Regime Change'?

500 Uzbeks have been massacred by Uzbek government troops firing into a crowd of protestors including women and children. More than 2000 have been injured. Several thousands have attempted escaping into neighbouring Kyrgyzstan from government persecution.

The tragedy arose from protests against harsh economic hardship, but the government claimed it had acted against Islamist extremists, probably to seek US approval for its Tian An Men-like excesses. The USA considers Uzbekistan under its hardline, corrupt and brutal President Islam Karimov as a close ally.

Craig Murray, a former British Ambassador to the Republic, writing for the British online Guardian wrote disgustingly of the US support for such an evil regime:

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.

But as reported in the International Herald Tribune, the protests were more about the harsh economic situation than any alleged extremist Islamic activity

Uzbekistan under Islam Karimov is of course a part of the US strategy to control the oil-rich region, as was a former Iraq under Saddam Hussein. The US has a notorious history of supporting evil regimes like Saddam Hussein's, the Shah's, Marcos', General Pinochet's, the Taliban's, etc, and closing an eye to their brutalities against their people.

Additionally, Uzbekistan allows the USAF to have bases on its soil, which enables the American strategy of encircling China.

Since its British ally condemned the Karimov regime for its unmitigated atrocities, the US has been under pressure to do the right thing. Condoleezza Rice has grudgingly and finally stated that she is disturbed.

‘Disturbed?’ – tells you much, doesn’t it, just as much as Bush’s often proclaimed regime change?

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