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noetsi · #1 (**permalink**) 04-29-2006, 04:15 AM

Where are the neo-con shock over human rights in foreign leaders when the people commiting them are friends of ours?

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With Aliyev sitting in an armchair next to him, Bush held out Azerbaijan as "a modern Muslim country that is able to provide for its citizens, that understands that democracy is the wave of the future."

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Aliyev replaced his father, Heydar A. Aliyev, in October 2003, in an election that also drew sharp criticism from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which saw evidence of ballot-stuffing and a falsified vote count.

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But, it said, "the government's human rights record remained poor, and it continued to commit numerous abuses."

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The report cites "torture and beating of persons in custody, leading to four deaths," as well as arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly of political opponents, harsh prison conditions and corruption in the judiciary.

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President Bush praised Azerbaijan's president Friday despite human rights problems documented by the State Department, and said the country had a "very important role to play" in meeting global energy needs.

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Bush expressed his appreciation to Aliyev several times, thanking him for support in the war in Iraq and for his help in achieving "what we all want, which is energy security."

lol we will hear several times today why human rights violations and a need to bring democracy to Iraq justified the war there. Just as long as the country in question was not a friend of ours, in which case somehow that was not important at all.

http://tinyurl.com/rj9tu