Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Guess what - Uzbekistan still sucks.
Not that people who live there aren't trying. Following a brutal government massacre of protestors in Andijan, for there to be any kind of public protest in Uzbekistan is pretty remarkable. In this case, it was protesting a Mugabe-esque rapid fire eviction/home demolition plan - more examples of Islam Karimov using his brutality to try and mask his incompetence.
Tip - Publius - who optimistically calls Karimov's days "numbered." I wish I shared his optimism. The simple truth of the matter is - Karimov is not going to be moved by public protest alone - he will simply go Tiananmen on everyone and dare the world to give a crap. The world will respond with sound and fury signifying nothing, possibly leading to a UN resolution that will ultimately be forgotten or ignored. I said it once before, I'll say it again:
Tip - Publius - who optimistically calls Karimov's days "numbered." I wish I shared his optimism. The simple truth of the matter is - Karimov is not going to be moved by public protest alone - he will simply go Tiananmen on everyone and dare the world to give a crap. The world will respond with sound and fury signifying nothing, possibly leading to a UN resolution that will ultimately be forgotten or ignored. I said it once before, I'll say it again:
If the dictator is willing to paint the streets with blood, democracy is coming from without, or not at all.Still, public attention can't hurt - at some point maybe the army decides to back a different horse or something, affecting Karimov's willingness to massacre.
