Russia, China Support Uzbek Prez

It's easy to spot the bad guys. As leaders of free nations condemn Islam Karimov and his repressive Uzbek regime, Russia and China are telling Karimov he's just fine with them. Go ahead, they tell him, jail your citizens for speaking out against your regime, and kill their relatives when they protest and then call the dead terrorists.

Meanwhile, Condi Rice expressed the US view:

"Nobody is asking any government to deal with terrorists. That's not the issue. The issue, though, is that it is a society that needs openness, it needs to reform, and again, I think if you look at the record, we have raised that with the government of Karimov for quite some time." (NYT)

With the Bear and Dragon breathing down our necks, and the Islamofascists sharpening their blades for our necks, Uzbekistan presents perhaps the second greatest immediate diplomatic challenge to the Bush administration, topped only by Iraq.

We are in a dicey situation, because US forces have trained Uzbek troops in tactics for fighting terrorists, and we cannot have those tactics used to kill innocents in order to shore up Karimov's repressive regime. The US should force Karimov to confer with anti-Karimov, anti-Islamofascist interests in the country, and make it clear to Karimov that the next citizen uprising must be handled without deadly force.