Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov is notorious for heading one of the world’s most oppressive regimes, and millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars are being given to a for-profit military contractor turned propaganda machine to make sure he remains a faithful and able ally in the global war on terror.
The interim government of Kyrgyzstan has extended a state of emergency announced last week after ethnic violence erupted between Uzbek and Kyrgyz groups, killing more than 100 and extending to neighboring provinces.
As Daily Kos puts it, “The British government is trying to prevent the publication of memos which detail how information procured by torture in Uzbekistan is being used by the US and the UK.” The Independent has the story.