Bush's Uzbek buddy Karimov killed up to 1,000 last week

"Uzbek police and security forces may have killed as many as 1000 unarmed civilians in Andijon and Pakhta-abad using machine guns, other automatic weapons, and helicopters, according to independent journalists and local human rights organizations including the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan. Another 2000 people have been injured. The attacks on demonstrators have been followed in some cases by summary executions of the wounded, and by arbitrary arrests and detentions. The region has been blockaded, excluding news media and investigators including those from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)."
International Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights

Uzbekistan unbound
"'Such people must be shot in the forehead,' Uzbekistan dictator Islam Karimov once said of political dissidents. 'If necessary, I'll shoot them myself.' When not personally gunning down his opposition, Karimov keeps busy by instructing his security forces to boil, rape or asphyxiate political prisoners.

"Luckily for Karimov, he's a key US ally in the war on terror ...

"When thousands of demonstrators, emboldened by the jail break, assembled in Andijan's town square to protest their country's climate of repression, corruption and poverty, Karimov travelled to the city and instructed his soldiers to open fire on the crowd. Violence soon spread to the border with Kyrgyzstan, as soldiers allegedly targeted women and children. Anywhere from a few hundred to 745 people are reported dead.

"The Bush Administration's response to the butchery was both comical and sad. 'We have some concerns about human rights in Uzbekistan, but we are concerned about the outbreak of violence, particularly by some members of a terrorist group freed from prison,' Scott McClellan said. 'The people of Uzbekistan want to see more representative and democratic government, but that should come through peaceful means, not through violence.'

"How peaceful change will occur when the US has supplied Karimov with $500 million in military aid and waived human rights requirements for military and non-proliferation assistance is anyone's guess. Shortly after 9/11, Uzbekistan granted the US a crucial air base to use for the war in Afghanistan ..."
Source: Yahoo! News (yes, even Yahoo is appalled)