Oh, Boy! A Post About Uzbekistan!

By Moe Lane

...a title which is glaringly out of sync with the generally sober tone of this entry, but really, our corner of the world is filled with the sorts of people who would really, really want to read about Uzbekistan, as opposed to the ones outside our corner of the world, who would really, really not rather. Either way, the title fits.

Moving along: Uzbekistan. Former Soviet republic, independent state, home to a nasty regime... and a benefit of American aid. We made a deal back in the aftermath of 9/11 to put a base there, and I've seen a bunch of people ask the question, "So, if we're suddenly in the topple-dictators-business, why was Iraq bad enough to deserve Shekinah and Uzbekistan not?"

Now, it's a relatively simple matter to note this aid can be justified. We needed an airbase; Afghanistan (and later, Iraq*) was well below Uzbekistan on the scale of 'financing foreign terrorism' (I have not seen credible evidence that Uzbekistan has ever been linked to acts of foreign terror; it seems to be entirely self-directed in its nastiness) and sometimes the choice is between bad and worse, rather than good and bad. One step at a time, choose your battles when you can, and whatever meme that you care to choose.

However, it has been several years since the liberation of Afghanistan and six months since that of Iraq. Now would be a good time to ask ourselves, "Given that the presence of an American military base usually implies that we're on good terms with the local government, and given that the need for the Khanabad air base could be well reassessed in the light of our current geopolitical situation, will our continuing presence there hinder or help further reforms in that country?" On the whole, I think that it might not be a bad idea to let the existing aid packages run their course and tie future aid to human rights improvements: it's something that the late Senator Wellstone favored, and I think that it's not a bad idea.

Interesting final note: the amount of aid actually given to Uzbekistan is of some interest. A number of $500 million for 2002 was reported here (via TalkLeft - hi, Jeralyn!). However, the State Department reported $160 million for 2002 and this report gives a number of $43 million in 2003. I suspect that the different numbers represent different interpretations of 'foreign aid', but I can't be certain, as the Guardian does not provide links to their source material.

Moe

*Ah, first footnote. It is the position of this blogger (though not necessarily that of his esteemed co-bloggers) that the payment of significant sums of money to the families of successful Palestinian suicide bombers does in point of fact come under the heading of 'financing foreign terrorism'. Please calibrate your viewers accordingly.

Comments

[AJ]

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are still worse I think...we should try to deal with them first....rather than this uzbekistan....do you know how much money we send to that hellhole pakistan...?

[Katherine]

If you and Wellstone agree, I'm inclined to go with that too. But I know very little about Uzbekistan.

Bribing suicide bombers is definitely sponsorship of terrorism but there are other countries that sponsor it much, much more actively than Iraq was, & anti-U.S., al Qaeda terrorism is the kind we need to worry most about.

Pakistan has the bomb, so regime change their is simply out of the question. It is the country I worry most about. Does Bush have a contigency plan to do everything in our power from preventing Pakistan's nuclear weapons from falling into Islamists' hands? (Contigency plans, codes that only Musharraf & people we trust know, etc.) This is the sort of thing that would never be public and you have to take on faith that your leaders have done. I have close to no faith in these guys; my biggest problem is not the eagerness for military solutions but the utter neglect of non-military solutions.

[Katherine]

Regime change there. Blog comments and IM are even worse for my grammar than email and spellcheck.

[James Casey]

That's almost possibly the most sensible thing I've read on Uzbekistan... but when would this deal on 'future' aid start? British Foreign Office sources over here in the UK report that the regime sometimes boils people alive.

Aid packages are sort of 'reverse sanctions', and possibly a better way of dealing with things like this, so your idea's a good one.

But certainly just giving them money without acknowledging they are killing and torturing their citizens musn't remain the status quo.

[Timmy the Wonder Dog]

Katherine, I suggest you look into who is currently guarding the Paki nukes in order to rest your weary heart.

On Uzbekistan, Central Asia (and of course its oil) is going to be an interesting geopolitical intersection with Iran, India, Russia, China, Old Europe, Britain, Pakistan and the US all competing in the region. Don't expect any change in US policy on Uzbekistan in the near term.

[Seth]

Wouldn't the personnel and equipment we have in nasty-but-stable Uzbekistan be better used in Afghanistan, a nation we have a commitment to rebuild and limited resources to do so? I'm all in favor of carrot-and-sticking* the Uzbek leaders into better behavior, but the function of a base in Uzbekistan was to support operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Those operations need the resources more.

*New verb alert!

[Arc]

I think the main reason we are keeping our base in Uzbekistan is to keep the current regime in place and prevent an Islamic revolution. This place is right on the border with Afghanistan, and until the Taliban are finished we won't be leaving. We don't want them to be able to set up shop north of the border.

Besides with Putins recent manuvering in Belarus, Georgia and Ukraine I have a feeling he will be looking east to the oil as well.

[Asif Khan]

>> "do you know how much money we send to that hellhole pakistan...?"

Not much when compared to all the services provided by the Pakistani army including weaponry, troops, land and air bases during "Operation Freedom, Afghanistan". Also, no matter how much of a hell hole you think Pakistan is, atleast it isn't responsible for the most deaths in the world every year since World War II. Look towards one's self and what your own administration does in your name before baseless criticism on others.

[Marat]

Hello!!!!
My name is Marat.I very much would like to ask you that you have sent if it is not a pity 100 $ You you see have a lot of money . Please help me.
My address:Counry Uzbekistan. 708000. Djizak City. Zargarlik
street apartament 5
Good - buy!!!
Mr.Marat.

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