Realpolitik

Great article by Hitchens on how Bush critics struggle with consistency. The Bush administration's pathetic evasive remarks after the horrors committed in Uzbekistan a couple of weeks ago, gave Bush's critics lots of fresh meat to chew on. Yes, Uzbekistan is ruled by Islam Karimov, a ruthless tyrant who orders his army to shoot demonstrators who dare question his authoritarian rule and who is known to have "boiled" political prisoners...among other things. The country is of course a crucial strategic US ally, given its proximity to Afghanistan, and is one of the several tyrannical allies who make the US lose so much credibility. Bush critics are right to lambast his administration for doing nothing and for its flagrant double-standards. The interesting irony though is that these same critics are those who vehemently attack and ridicule Bush's regime-change policy. In Hitchens' words "[...]those who criticize Karimov's internal conduct are not asking that we repudiate such help (or are they?). They are, at any rate ostensibly, demanding that we use our influence to amend Uzbekistan's internal affairs. So it seems as if, when all the rhetoric is examined, the regime-change position is only being criticized for its inconsistency."