Strategic Aims, Not Abuses, Are U.S. Focus in Kyrgyzstan

[IDemo]

By CLIFFORD J. LEVY
New York Times
Published: July 22, 2009

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — “You know what this is for,” Emilbek Kaptagaev recalled being told by the police officers who snatched him off the street. No other words, just blows to the head, then all went black. Mr. Kaptagaev, an opponent of Kyrgyzstan’s president, who is a vital American ally in the war in nearby Afghanistan, was found later in a field with a concussion, broken ribs and a face swollen into a mosaic of bruises.

Mr. Kaptagaev said that the beating last month was a warning to stop campaigning against the president, but that he would not. And so he received an anonymous call only a few days ago. “Have you forgotten?” the voice growled. “Want it to happen again?”

Mr. Kaptagaev’s story is not unusual in this poor former Soviet republic in the mountains of Central Asia. Many opposition politicians and independent journalists have been arrested, prosecuted, attacked and even killed over the last year as the Kyrgyz president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, has consolidated control in advance of elections on Thursday, which he is all but certain to win.

“This is how the authorities rule in Kyrgyzstan,” said Mr. Kaptagaev, 52. “They use criminal methods to keep power.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/world/asia/23kyrgyz.html?hpw

[Arctic Dave]

1. He may be a deranged thug but damn it, he's our deranged thug.

As long as they let us use their bases for the occupation we won't give a rats ass what he does.