Hypocrisy on use of political violence

Baltimore Sun Letter to the Editor May 23, 2005.

Regarding the violence in Uzbekistan, The Sun reported that the Bush administration “faces a quandary in responding … because of its ties to the Karimov government and its air base in the country” (“11 killed in Uzbek border-town clash,” May 16).

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, “The people of Uzbekistan want to see a more representative and democratic government. But that should come through peaceful means, not through violence” (“Protesters revolt in Uzbekistan,” May 14).

Iraqis also wanted a more representative and less brutal government when the Bush administration invaded their homeland, ostensibly to bring them democracy.

Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov is a brutal dictator and an ally of Mr. Bush in the so-called war on terrorism, just as Saddam Hussein was once a brutal dictator and ally of the United States in its proxy war against Iran.

In other words, by overthrowing one “strongman” while supporting another, the Bush administration is employing the same kind of “situational ethics” conservatives love to chide liberals for.

And for all its lofty talk about no longer tolerating “democracy deficits” in our foreign policy, Uzbekistan seems to prove the Bush administration is as short-sighted and hypocritical as earlier U.S. administrations.

Dave Goldsmith
Woodstock