Uzbekistan's Karimov--the next Saddam?

The London Telegraph calls Uzbekistan president Islam Karimov the "tyrant of Tashkent" and opposition leaders in the country refer to him as making Saddam Hussein look like "a choir boy." Is the U.S. really supporting this regime? Apparently so.

Over the weekend, some rioting broke out near the Kyrgystan border in the city of Andijan. The CBC has reported that nearly 700 people have been killed by security forces, including civilians--even women and children. While the British have forcefully condemned the actions taken by Karimov's security forces as human rights violations, the United States has been reluctant to speak out against what the Bush administration considers an ally in the fight against terrorism. The U.S. reluctance has been so great, in fact, says the London Telegraph in an editorial, that events in Uzbekistan undercut the Bush administration's call for democratization in other parts of the world.

Some comparison is being made between the U.S. support of Saddam Hussein in the 1980s and the support given to Karimov now. British Foreign Minister Jack Straw has spoken out against Karimov in the strongest words, and former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, has said that the U.S. is looking for ways to dismiss Karimov's actions. Murray was removed from his post in 2004 largely for criticizing the human rights abuses of the Karimov regime. The Times of London reports that there may be as many as 6,000 political prisoners in Uzbek jails.

The U.S. State Department's most recent report of human rights abuses apparently does criticize Karimov for his actions over the last year, and State Department spokesman Richard Boucher spoke out against Karimov's history; however, very little has been said about the recent violence except that the U.S. is "'deeply disturbed' by reports that troops in Uzbekistan fired on civilians during protests in the east of the country," as reported by the BBC. Further, SecState Condi Rice has called for political reform in the country following this weekend's rioting.

It remains to be seen whether the Bush administration will push its doctrine of 'democratization' even against such a 'valuable ally' as the "tyrant of Tashkent."