No Investigation into Massacre
In a sad and disappointing appendum to Jigga's post about the Uzbek Massacre, we discover that not only "were they all terrrrrists," but that we went out of our way to have no proof to that end. Courtesy, of course, of the red, white, and blue:
Not "did not support" the investigation.
Rumsfeld BLOCKED an investigation. Fillibustered, refused an up-or-down, blocked an investigation. This massacre is a crime against humanity; and the effort that Rummy put toward refusing a NATO investigation should be understood to be complicit in that crime.
Russia and the United States reportedly blocked NATO last week from calling for an international probe into last month's clashes in Uzbekistan, in which hundreds of people were believed killed.
Defense officials prevailed over the State Department view that a probe was in order by arguing that an investigation could compromise US access to a military base in Uzbekistan they said was crucial in the fight against international terrorism.
US officials at a meeting Thursday of defense ministers from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Russia and Ukraine discussed violence-torn Darfur, the Washington Post reported.
A closing statement said security issues in Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, had also been discussed without further details.
Britain and other European had pressed for NATO to include in the final statement a demand for an international investigation of the May 13 massacre in the Uzbek city of Andijan, but they were stopped by Russia and the United States, US and diplomatic officials told the daily.
Human rights groups say hundreds of people, many of them unarmed demonstrators, were killed as troops opened fire in Andijan after rebels seized government buildings. Uzbekistan's authorities have put the official death toll, including law enforcement officers, at 173.
Not "did not support" the investigation.
Rumsfeld BLOCKED an investigation. Fillibustered, refused an up-or-down, blocked an investigation. This massacre is a crime against humanity; and the effort that Rummy put toward refusing a NATO investigation should be understood to be complicit in that crime.
posted by General Stan at 11:36 AM
1 Comments:
Question from Radio BBC: Today among the CIS countries it became known that the United States and Uzbekistan have signed an agreement on the lease of Khanabad airbase for 25 years. Is that true? Please comment on this. The second question is: do you believe that the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan still threatens this country? And do you have any information on the location of the leaders of this movement?
General Franks: On the second question regarding the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, I think that the terrorists that we have seen centered in Afghanistan over the past several years will remain a danger as long as even individually they are moving in the area. And so I will not minimize the potential danger associated with the IMU. I’ll just simply say that we will continue to rout them out until we have the very last of them. My belief is that the leadership of the IMU has in fact been destroyed.
On the first question, I understand about Kharshi-Khanabad. No, as a matter of fact there is not an agreement that will permit the use of Kharshi-Khanabad airbase for 25 years. What we have said all along is that we do not anticipate a permanent presence in any of the countries in the region, although we have enjoyed wonderful cooperation with all the states in the region. I would anticipate that Uzbekistan as well as the other nations in the region will continue to cooperate with us. But we have not at all made any long term arrangements for a presence either in Uzbekistan or in any of the other states in Central Asia.
-Bizzarly taken from real GI JoeToy Gen. Tommy Frank's Jan. 2002 press conference upon arrival in Uzbekistan. [note the timing, people!]
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