The Dangers of Friendly Dictatorships.

(From The Moscow Times)

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We look forward to hearing from you.Email the Opinion Page EditorThe political situation in Uzbekistan is spinning out of control, with anger growing in society and even among some moderate members of the ruling elite against President Islam Karimov.

The arrest last week of Sanjar Umarov, chairman of the Sunshine Coalition and the last serious opposition figure willing to work with the dictatorial regime, is just the latest sad sign of the country's deterioration into tyranny.

Karimov, who has ruled the Central Asian state of 25 million people for more than 15 years, has shut down opposition parties and conducted a relentless crackdown on political foes and practicing Muslims, jailing thousands. In May, Karimov's trained militia suppressed a popular uprising in the eastern city of Andijan, killing several hundred civilians -- in many cases shooting them in the back as they fled the city's central square. The arrest of Umarov -- and mounting evidence that he is being "treated" with psychotropic drugs, just as political opponents were "treated" under Stalin -- should be the last straw in American and Russian cooperation with the regime.