Uzbekistan

Do you know who this man is? Well, he is Islam Karimov, the President of Uzbekistan. He is responsible for police authorities opening fire on a peaceful demonstration of close to 10,000 people in the city of Andijan (killing 1,000). Think of this incident as Tiananmen Square like. Tanks rolled through the main square, firing indiscriminately, snipers picked off their victims from convenient buildings, and, later on, soldiers shot some of the wounded. That was three months ago.

So, what has the United States, the United Nations, or the European Union done? What have been the following sanctions placed on Uzbekistan? NOTHING!!!

During the cold war the West would sit back and turn a blind eye to the misdeeds of dictators, but this is something special. Never to my knowledge has so little been done by so many in the face of such atrocity. At least China was given a slap on the hand for a few years after Tiananmen. The actions of the Uzbekistan government is on the same scale as Tiananmen, but still noting has occurred.

The United States has said that it will ponder sanctions. In a statement on the Andijan killings, U.S. Ambassador Stephan M. Minkes stated, "The United States condemns the indiscriminate use of force against unarmed civilians and deeply regrets the substantial loss of life." Deeply regrets!!! Take some action. We overthrew a dictator in Iraq I was told for crap like this. Even with this so called strong statement the U.S. is waiting for Europe's lead. Again, not a widely noted feature of America's foreign policy these days.

There is, however, some sense behind this plan. As a former member of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan is a part of the widest of Europe's concentric circles. It is a member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and it has a partnership and co-operation agreement (PCA) with the EU. So there is some justification in allowing Europe, with its well known human rights and security policy (ha!), to take the lead. In taken the lead, the European Union has risen to the occasion as grandly as it did over Bosnia, Iraq, and on so many other occasions: with a display of SPINELESSNESS worthy of a sea full of jellyfish@!

First, in June, it demanded that Uzbekistan submit to an international investigation to determine precisely what happened in Andijan. Failure to comply by July 1st, itterrigyingly threatened, might lead to a "partial suspension" of the PCA. Some countires wanted to go so far as to threaten a visa ban for (some) Uzebk officials and possibly even an arms embargo-- but that was reckoned to be a bit too tough.

So, what has happened since then? Well, July 1st came and went, as did August 1st. Still the EU has done nothing. You might ask hasn't the West ignored equally grisly abuses in Chechnya? Yes, but there it can at least be arqued that friendship with Russia is in its vital interest. Friendship with Uzbekistan is not. The country does have gas, but its not very accessible. The failure to punish Mr. Karimov discredits the United States and the West. This type of violence has gone on for far too long.