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What to do with a problem like Uzbekistan
The stars aligned and two interviews I gave over the last week for different-language’d public media have been published.
The first is with Dutch Public Radio, and it’s about the U.S. decision to lift restrictions on providing certain kinds of military equipment to the Uzbek regime. (See more here.)
The second is with VOA Uzbek, where I talk about the inherent tensions between human rights advocacy and broader strategic U.S. goals in the region. (See more here.)
The Dutch text can be machine-translated in Chrome (or whatever you use), but the Uzbek one is a bit harder to work with. Anyway, there’s that.
Kazakhstan needs religious patriots! (And already has them.)
Last week, Kazakhstan’s Vice Prime Minister Erbol Orynbaev told the board of the Ministry of Education and Science that the country’s schools have a vital assignment: to prevent “ideological extremism” – presumably the type of extremism that led to the criminal acts done in the name of Islam in western Kazakhstan and Taraz last year – by developing Kazakh “patriots” who think independently. This assignment reflects the Soviet approach of some Kazakhstani government officials to criminal acts done in the name of Islam: the problem to be solved is the false consciousness of “extremists.” Except, in this case, instead of the proletariat’s misrecognition of its class interests, it is Kazakh Muslims’ misrecognition of their true ideology: Kazakh patriotism.
Geldy Kyarizov’s Deteriorating Condition
A few weeks ago, I highlighted the plight of Geldy Kyarizov, a former horse trainer turned political prisoner in Turkmenistan. Amnesty International has just released an Urgent Action alert on his deteriorating condition:
COMISAF Responds to Latest UNAMA Report: I Ain’t Happy
So yesterday I posted this here at Registan.
What will be interesting to see is how ISAF responds to this report, if it will at all. They’re certainly quick to point out how IEDs are a good thing, despite the fact that they are killing and wounding Afghan civilians in record numbers.
Today I read this.
Gen. John R. Allen, commander, International Security Assistance Force, welcomes the latest report from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan that shows a reduction in coalition-related civilian casualties.
More IEDs, More Dead Civilians — ISAF’s 2011? Pretty Great Year
Some days I worry that I’m suffering from sleep apnea. Which, in turn, is causing me to lose oxygen to my brain. Which, in turn, is causing me to not fully comprehend what I read, particularly on the interwebs. Because, that, friends, is one of the few logical explanations for what I read today:
Last year was the deadliest on record for Afghan civilians with 3,021 killed, a rise of 8 percent from the year before as insurgents ratchet up violence with roadside bombs and suicide attacks, the United Nations said Saturday.
Huh. Must be oxygen deprivation, because I could have sworn that the CRS said this:
According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the research arm of the US Congress, 2,262 Afghan civilians died last year, compared to 2,777 in 2010.
That’s a 750+ difference. Somebody’s lyin’.
Turkestan Album
For at least the last seven or eight years, the Prokudin-Gorskii collection of color photos of the Russian empire taken in the early 20th century, gets noticed and reported by journalists, history buffs, and photography enthusiasts. Less well known is that the Turkestan Album, a series of volumes on the people, architecture, history, and economy of Russian Turkestan commissioned by General von Kaufman, the Empire’s first Governor-General in Turkestan, was also digitized by the Library of Congress and made available several years ago. (Many thanks to Fergana News for writing about this, which reminded me that I had a draft post on this from 2007.)
The Uzbek “Military” Waiver
This B-52 is not a part of the “military aid” the U.S. will provide Uzbekistan.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
The Obama administration waived a ban on military assistance to Uzbekistan in a move to bolster ties with a nation that is part of a vital supply line to Afghanistan, but was cut off from aid because of alleged human-rights violations…
The U.S.-funded supplies to Uzbekistan wouldn’t include weapons and ammunition, and would be limited to items meant to bolster the country’s border and transportation security. The military equipment would include body armor and other protective equipment, night-vision goggles and thermal-imaging sensors for border-patrol forces, according to officials familiar with the waiver.
Tengrism on Trial
RFE/RL carries an interesting story about Kubanychbek Tezekbaev, an advocate of Tengrism who is on trial for inciting religious and ethnic hatred for saying in an interview last June that many mullahs in Kyrgyzstan are “former alcoholics and murderers” who are trying to paper over their pasts. Tezekbaev, who could be sentenced to five years in prison if found guilty, says he is being punished for his beliefs.
Kazakhstan’s Stability, Central Asia’s Stability
Last week, the US Helsinki Commission held a hearing on Kazakhstan’s stability, looking at the violence in Zhanaozen and the recent parliamentary elections and questioning whether or not Kazakhstan is as stable as its government claims. The testimony, which can be found here is interesting and worth taking a look at. Included with the expert testimony are also statements from Kazakhstan’s embassy and from the Alga People’s Party and People’s Front.
And Daveed Wins Everything, Forever
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross ups the ante in his “friendly” sparring with me on the Mukhtarov arrest:
