Let’s start with two new additions:
And while I’m at it, and it’s quite obvious I’ve been slacking, here’s five current members of my blogroll that have moved:
Day: May 13, 2005
-
Violence Flares in Uzbekistan
Protests and prisoners. Bloodshed and hostages. Uzbekistan teeters on the edge of a precipice and, of course, radical Islamists are involved.
Police opened fire on thousands of protesters in the central Asian state of Uzbekistan yesterday, after an armed mob stormed a jail to free 23 men accused of Islamist extremism.
At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured in the fighting in the eastern town of Andijan. Fifteen police officers were held hostage by rioters.
Demonstrators in the central square demanded the resignation of the authoritarian president, Islam Karimov. Some protesters had taken over the local administration building and were flanked by men armed with machine guns.
Yesterday afternoon, witnesses reported that a truck of soldiers drove into the crowd three times, firing into it or into the air. “I was lying down, but the guy next to me was dead,” said one witness. He said he had seen five people injured in the shooting.
The government claimed that protesters had opened fire on troops. It insisted it was in control of the town and had retaken the administration building in bitter fighting with armed protesters.
A government source told Reuters last night: “The square has been cleared. Protesters have left. The building has been freed from those who seized it. The search for weapons is under way.”
The witness said he and other protesters were fleeing the town. “It’s too dangerous here,” he said. The last gunfire had been at 7pm local time on a main road near the centre.
Protesters reportedly used a police hostage as a “human shield” when engaging troops. The authorities said in a televised statement: “The militants are sheltering behind women, children and hostages. They will not compromise with the authorities.”
Some reports said that 50 people had died in clashes with the police. Mr Karimov’s press service said he had rushed to the scene to negotiate. Officials said he had later returned to the capital, Tashkent.
The unrest threatened to spark wider popular revolt in Uzbekistan, an impoverished state of 26 million people. It borders Kyrgyzstan, where violent protests in March ousted the country’s authoritarian government. Uzbekistan, the most brutal dictatorship in the former Soviet Union, has cracked down on dissent since three protest-led regime changes swept through the region in the last 19 months.
Yes, this is one former Soviet republic that has played a very important role in the war against Islamist terror, particularly in the Afghanistan theater.
Uzbekistan has been a US ally in the war on terror since 2001, and hosts a vital airbase in the south. Critics say this has caused Washington to turn a blind eye to its torture record. The US last night called on the government and protesters to show restraint.
“We are concerned about the outbreak of violence, particularly by some members of a terrorist organisation that were freed from prison,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Much more information and analysis can be found at Captain’s Quarters, Publius Pundit and especially Registan, a blog I was previously unfamiliar with that is all over the story with several posts and updates, starting here.
-
Is Osama’s Location Known?
Chad at In the Bullpen shows that the chief of the general staff of the Israeli Defense Forces thinks so. Me, I’m not exactly sold. Fine, I’ll believe in a narrowing down to a small region, but that doesn’t mean it is a militarily or politically actionable deal … yet.
Waziristan is fairly large and is home to several different tribes and warlords. It is believed many of these tribes are friendly to Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaida. This is the area of the map where it is known that Osama Bin Laden, rumored that he rode out on horseback, fled during the Tora Bora operation under a cease-fire. It was believed he did not go too far, yet no one has known. How Ya’alon knows is beyond me, however Israel’s intelligence service is one of the best in the world.
Assuming Ya’alon and U.S. Intelligence are correct and Osama Bin Laden is hiding out in Waziristan, allow me to discuss just a bit on what would need to happen in order to get him.
Good start. Go read.
Personally, I don’t care too terribly much about catching bin Laden. Yeah, I’d love it and I would hope that he would suffer horribly and painfully at our hands. And I ain’t talking panties-on-the-head or naked-human-pyramid-Twister suffering. I mean pain.
That said, bin Laden is really but a pawn in this war. We’re dealing with a conflict of the centuries — the fifteenth versus the twenty-first. The objective is to provide an alternative, a shining city on the Arab hill, to the atmosphere that allowed bin Laden and his murderous followers to be given a sizable say in popular belief in the region. This war is not against one man but one belief — one radical, backward and violent thread of Islam. Chad agrees.
I contend that even if Bin Laden was either killed or captured it would do little to nothing to win the war on terror. We must attack radical Islam at the root cause and not just the people calling the shots.
Iraq plays a role in this. They may, if we stay resolute, be the start of the alternative hope of which I speak.
Yes, I want bin Laden caught … and skinned. However, only at a time when his capture will help and not harm our process, as a bold thrust by Americans into Pakistan currently would do.