US Evicted From Uzbekistan
CNN reports: Uzbekistan says U.S. troops must leave.
Well, they gave us 180 days, but I wouldn’t ask for a return of the damage deposit. Apparently President Karimov was annoyed by American officials, who talked about spreading democracy and didn’t condemn the UN for aiding several hundred Uzbekis fleeing the repression of demonstrators to escape his grasp. Even if they didn’t mean it, it was annoying to a government that doesn’t have a problem with boiling detainees and gunning down demonstrators. Like most brutal dictators, Karimov believes that people don’t approve wholeheartedly of everything he does are against him.
Rumsfeld’s recent trip was supposed to mend fences, but it obviously didn’t impress the Uzbek government. I doubt the US can match the bribes offered by the Afghani drug lords, nor are there alternative facilities in the area capable of handling large cargo aircraft. Too bad nobody planned for this possibility.
