Touching Evil: Holding Hands with Uzbekistan

Last week, President Bush spoke to thousands of adoring fans in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. He spoke of freedom, liberty and justice and held up Georgia as an example for other nations to follow.

Referring to Georgia's progression to democracy, Bush declared, "Now, across the Caucasus, in Central Asia and the broader Middle East, we see the same desire for liberty burning in the hearts of young people. They are demanding their freedom – and they shall have it."

Unless, of course, they happen to live in Uzbekistan.




Days after Bush got his ego stroked in Georgia, soldiers in Uzbekistan killed hundreds of civilians in the city of Andijon as they protested the arrest of several prominent business owners on charges of religious extremism.

At one point, the protesters began calling for the resignation of Bush's "key ally" in his global war on terrorism, Uzbek President Islam Karimov.

That's when Uzbek soldiers opened fire into a crowd of women and children, and even Uzbek police officers, who begged the soldiers not to shoot.

After the opening salvo, the soldiers walked among the hundreds of bodies, shooting the wounded. The dead were laid out for identification in front of a local school. On Monday, Uzbekis began digging a mass common grave under the watch of Uzbek forces.

While denying that his soldiers opened fire on the demonstrators, President Karimov attempted to keep reporters out of Andijon, as well as Pakhtabad where another 200 civilians were killed by Uzbek troops.