Credit where credit's due
Like the Clinton administration before it, the Bush administration has walked an uncomfortable path with the brutal government of Uzbekistan, headed by President Islom Karimov. I've been one of the critics of the Bush administration's support for the government, even as it has become clear that some units that received US antiterrorism assistance training may have been involved in a brutal massacre in Andijon earlier this year.
But the Bush administration may have been cooperating behind the scenes with a United Nations mission to rescue refugees from the massacre, and that decision may cost the US its military base in Uzbekistan. So far, the Bush administration is saying that political and economic reform in Uzbekistan is more important to us than keeping the air base. Good for them.