The Obama Administration Is Gifting War Machines to a Murderous Dictator [View all]

[jakeXT]

Uzbekistan, the scorched, double-landlocked nation in central Asia, stands known mainly for three things: boiling its dissidents, encouraging child slavery, and authoring the largest government-led massacre of the former Soviet space. The country is one of Freedom House’s 10 “Worst of the Worst” regimes and has been led since independence by President Islam Karimov, 77, who recently announced he’d be standing for yet another term. The regime’s designation and brutality are unlikely to improve anytime soon.

Nor does Tashkent feel pressure to. Last month, it was announced that Uzbekistan will receive the largest single military donation the United States has ever bestowed on central Asia. Dan Rosenblum, the deputy assistant secretary of state for central Asia, recently told Voice of America the United States has begun shipping Uzbekistan more than 300 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles and 20 Armored Recovery Vehicles (ARV). As Voice of America noted, each new MRAP costs $1 million, while the ARVs come in at $2 million apiece. These wheeled rhinoceroses were emblems of government overreaction during the Ferguson protests.

At first blush, the vehicles changing hands could appear to be excess materiel from the war in Afghanistan, set for repurposing in a neighboring nation rather than shipped to U.S. police departments. But as Rosenblum clarified, “These are not coming from Afghanistan. They are coming from other places.” Rosenblum did not specify the current locations of the MRAPs and ARVs—“some were in the United States and some were in overseas locations”—but he noted that deliveries had begun in December, and would continue over the coming months. As to the costs, Rosenblum only said that Uzbekistan would pay for the shipping costs.

Why would the Obama administration proffer hundreds of war machines to a regime responsible for perhaps the greatest civilian massacre since Tiananmen Square? Rosenblum's answer: “Our determination was that Uzbekistan required these vehicles and they made the case, of course, to support their efforts at counterterrorism and counternarcotics.” To be fair, Uzbekistan does maintain a narrow border with northern Afghanistan, in addition to a discernible history of Islamic extremism. And central Asia is a major opium-trafficking corridor.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120911/obama-administration-gives-uzbekistans-karimov-military-machines