Uzbekistan

Craig Murray gives a nice summary in the Guardian of recent US relations with Uzbekistan, who has just given notice to the US that it must pack up its base there. Karimov is torturous and murderous scum, but this didn't bother the Bush administration until the past few days. Now Karimov's getting some Rovificationism while he poops on the American military parade and turns to Russia in the meantime. It couldn't happen to more deserving guys, all around.

President Karimov of Uzbekistan has served notice to quit on the US base in his country. This completes a process of diplomatic revolution as Karimov turns away from the west and back into the embrace of Russia, with coy sideways glances at China. The US is trying to cover its retreat behind a smokescreen of belated concern for human-rights abuse in Uzbekistan. Suddenly one of their most intensively courted allies has been discovered - shock horror - to be an evil dictator. (Remember Saddam?) But the reality is much more complex.

The first and most obvious point is that the US didn't jump, it was pushed. The Andijan massacre of May 13, in which at least 600 demonstrators were killed, was carried out by Uzbek forces that in 2002 alone received $120m in US aid for the army and $82m for the security services. Prior to Karimov kicking it out, there was no indication at all that the US was going to review its military links with Uzbekistan - in fact General Richard Myers had specifically stated that they would continue.