Friday, August 12, 2005

Uzbek Opposition Leader Threatens Terror Wave

It looks like the Uzbek government may have been right when it called Kabul Parpiyev a terrorist, and blamed him for inciting riots in Andijan. According to Igor Rotar, certainly no friend of Karimov (he was recently arrested at the Tashkent airport), Parpiev has threatened to unleash a wave of terror and armed conflict in Uzbekistan unless there is international intervention. Rotar concedes that Parpiev's group of Islamists, known as Akramiya, are not the innocent victims portrayed in the Western media:
Regardless of whether Akramiya was a terrorist organization in the past, Parpiyev's statements indicates that the organization is ready to become one today. The Andijan events demonstrated that this organization already has sufficient forces to organize armed resistance to the authorities.
This type of dangerous talk, after 9/11 and 7/7, presents a serious problem for US diplomacy, which has aided the resettlement of Parpiev's followers following the failure of their attempted takeover of the Andijan government, and promoted Parpiev's views on Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe. If Parpiev is openly inciting terrorism after Andijan, then the US is supporting terrorism and terrorists. Frankly, this call to arms makes Parpiev's claims that he was not a terrorist look laughable, and those who believed him appear as fools. Now that his followers are safely relocated--his terrorist followers, it appears--Parpiev pulls off the mask of moderation...

My two cents: This should not come as a surprise or a shock, given the record of Islamist groups around the world for inciting violence, and the record of the American media and international NGOs in regard to terrorists. Since Radio Free Europe apparently knows where Parpiev is, or knows who knows, the US government might turn over Parpiev to the Uzbek authorities once they sign an agreement not to torture him.

As Tony Blair has finally realized in Great Britain, after the July 7th bombings, for the Global War on Terror to succeed, there can be no quarter given to terrorists or those who incite terrorism. This may be the view of the Russians, as expressed by Arseny Oganesyan in this RIA Novosti commentary, but that doesn't make it wrong. He points out:
There are three major players: China, Russia, and the United States. Each has its own interests, and all three want this poor region to be calm and prosperous. But this will not happen unless radical Islam is fully eradicated, a formidable task that can only be accomplished by a concerted effort. Understanding this truth gives Washington, Moscow and Beijing the opportunity to reach a compromise that they all need.

IMHO Tolerating or supporting any terrorists or calls for terrorism is a recipe for American defeat, geopolitically and morally.