Central Asia
May 17, 2005
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/GE17Ag01.html
THE ROVING EYE
The US and its 'special' dictator
By Pepe Escobar
"I am delighted to be back in Uzbekistan. I've just had a long and very
interesting and helpful discussion with the president ... Uzbekistan is a
key member of the coalition's global war on terror. And I brought the
president the good wishes of President Bush and our appreciation for their
stalwart support in the war on terror ... Our relationship is strong and
has been growing stronger."
- US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in Tashkent, February 2004
Uzbekistan dictator Islam Karimov's army, which last Friday opened fire on
thousands of unarmed protesters in Andijan, in the Ferghana Valley, has
been showered by Washington in the past few years with hundreds of
millions of dollars (US$200 million in 2002 alone) - all on behalf of the
"war on terror".
So you won't see the White House, or Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
hammering Karimov. You won't hear many in Washington calling for free
elections in Uzbekistan. The former strongmen of color-coded,
"revolutionary" Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan were monsters who had to
be removed for "freedom and democracy" to prevail. So is the dictator of
Belarus. Not Karimov. He's "our" dictator: the Saddam Hussein of Central
Asia is George W Bush's man.
'Either with me or against me'
This is what happened in Andijan. Twenty-three local businessmen - who
even resorted to hunger strike - have been on trial since February,
accused of "Islamic terrorism". They were part of Akramia, a small Islamic
movement whose platform privileges economic success over ideology and
religious fundamentalism. Soon after they had set up a construction
company - and apparently also a mutual fund - to help local people get a
few jobs, the businessmen were arrested.
Washington has listed the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) as a
terrorist organization. Hizbut Tahrir (HT) - which does not condone armed
jihad - may soon follow, as Washington always follows Karimov's leads. In
Uzbekistan, any opposition against the Karimov system is considered
terrorism. Karimov blames HT for a series of bombings - which the group
vehemently denies - as well as unspecified al-Qaeda-connected
organizations (it was the IMU which was responsible for the 1999 bombings
in Tashkent). According to Alison Gill of Human Rights Watch in
Uzbekistan, Karimov's security apparatus cracks down heavily on HT, but
now Akramia is also a target.
The group was founded in 1992 by a math teacher, Akram Yuldashev, and it's
in fact a splinter group from HT. It's very popular with relatively
educated youngsters in the Ferghana Valley - as it promotes a direct
connection between an honest, pious Islamic way of life and economic
success. Amplifying the Islamic tradition of zakat, Akramia also insists
that part of business profits must be consecrated to help the poor and the
needy. Yuldashev has been in jail since 1999. His wife, a defense witness
at the trial, vehemently denied that Akramia's teachings encouraged
political subversion: it's all about economic freedom.
Last Thursday, exasperated protesters close to the 23 businessmen
organized a commando raid to release them, taking over the local
administration center - with many also demanding for Karimov to go.
According to the protesters, had they not acted this way, the 23 would
have been condemned, tortured and killed: that's how it works in the
Karimov system. The next day came the bloodbath. Galima Bukharbaeva, on
site for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, described a column of
armored personnel carriers firing at will - and unprovoked - at the
protesters. As many as 500 may have been killed, including women and
children, and more than 2,000 wounded. People were angrily protesting
against the corruption of the Karimov system, which they blame for their
appalling living conditions. Karimov blamed it all on "terrorist groups".
The White House copied him almost verbatim.
Seven decades of the Soviet system imprinted their atheist mark on
Uzbekistan. This is not an Islamist haven. Talibanization is a deadend
(and that's why the IMU is only a minor sect). The only true national
religion is vodka - capable of alleviating even economic distress. Most
women in Tashkent use makeup and mini-skirts with thigh-high boots. HT
preaches peaceful jihad. The Karimov system's repression is relentless.
All Muslim organizations and even mosques have to be registered. Sheikhs
need a work permit issued by the government. If you don't pray in a
state-sanctioned mosque and wear a long beard, traditional turbans or a
hijab, you can go to jail.
A throne drenched in blood
When Uzbekistan became an independent republic in 1991 Karimov operated a
classic emperor's new clothes facelift: exit the communist apparatchik,
enter the president; exit Marx, Lenin and Stalin, enter Tamerlan. Karimov,
stony face and vacant eyes, is the new Tamerlan - without the conquering
spirit (Tamerlan built an empire stretching from Egypt to the Great Wall
of China).
The legendary, last nomadic ruler of the Central Asian plains used to
order pyramids of skulls to be erected after battles to better terrify
subdued populations. Karimov relies on proven "counterinsurgency" torture
methods with a macabre, creative touch (immersion in boiling water) thrown
in. He once declared, on the record, that Islamists should be killed by a
bullet in the head - exactly like scores of wounded may have been killed
in Andijan by the Uzbek army, according to some witnesses. In 2004, Human
Rights Watch released a book with more than 300 pages of case studies in
Uzbek torture. One of the key objectives of torture is to give the US
"intelligence" connecting the Uzbek opposition - any kind of opposition -
to al-Qaeda and "terrorist groups". Once again: the Karimov system regards
any kind of opposition as "terrorism".
Everything in Uzbekistan is Soviet/clannish, Karimov-controlled.
Practically every square inch in every neighborhood (mahalle ) in
Uzbekistan is under surveillance by the so-called "White Beards" - the
system's informants. Karimov's only weakness is his daughters. Gulnara
Karimova, the eldest, practically owns the country - factories, mobile
phone companies, travel agencies, the nightclubs where the micro-power
elite dances to Russian techno. There may be lots of gas, oil and cotton -
but the majority of 26 million Uzbeks subsist with less than a dollar a
day. The currency - the som - is virtually worthless: 0.0007 euros.
Changing money in Tashkent can become a war operation lasting a full hour.
Rosebud
If Orson Welles could remake Citizen Kane (Citizen Karimov?) Uzbekistan's
Rosebud would be Khanabad. Khanabad embodies a graphic post-Cold War
irony. It used to be the biggest Soviet airbase during the 1980s war in
Afghanistan. Now it hosts the Americans - ostensively serving to help the
"war on terror" in Afghanistan.
The Washington-Tashkent "special relationship" started as early as the
mid-1990s, during the Bill Clinton administration. In 1999, Green Berets
were actively training Uzbek Special Forces. Khanabad has nothing to do
with Afghanistan: Bagram takes care of this. But Khanabad is crucial as
one of the key bases surrounding Bush's Greater Middle East, or to put it
in the relevant perspective, the Middle East/Caucasus/Central Asia
heavenly arc of oil and gas. It's on a seven-year lease to the Pentagon,
due to expire in late 2008.
So Karimov in Uzbekistan is as essential a piece in the great oil and gas
chessboard as Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan. Inevitably, there will be more
uprisings in the impoverished Ferghana Valley that has reached a boiling
point. Karimov again will unleash his American-funded army. The White
House will be silent. The Kremlin will be silent (or dub it "green
revolution" - by Islamic fundamentalists, as it did with Andijan).
Corporate media will be silent: one imagines the furor had Andijan
happened in Lebanon when Syrian troops were still in the country. Uzbeks
in the Ferghana won't be valued as people legitimately fighting for
freedom and democracy: they will be labeled as terrorists. And Rumsfeld
will keep cultivating a "strong relationship" with Karimov's Rosebud.
(Copyright 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact
us for information on sales, syndication and republishing.)
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Ever feel sad or cry for no reason at all?
Depression. Narrated by Kate Hudson.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/LLQ_sC/esnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
***************************************************************************
Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg
Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.org
***************************************************************************
__________________________________________________________________________
Mohon Perhatian:
1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik)
2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari.
3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru;
4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
