...I'd hate to be an Uzbek.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-06/18/c_13357430.htm
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/ethnic_attacks_in_kyrgyzstan.html

6/18/2010 3:41:54 PM

so can you clue me into what set off the riot?


ethnic cleansing is just one of the ultimate ::facepalms:: for me. You know the people carrying it out are probably some of the absolute dumbest people on the face of the planet, and are probably so consumed with hate you can't reason with them.

6/18/2010 4:18:29 PM

http://english.aljazeera.net/video/asia/2010/06/201061834529117730.html

OSCE is calling it ethnic cleansing. There's speculation that the deposed President Bakiyev may be behind this to try and destabilize the existing government. Others suggest a third party which is taking advantage of the weak position if the interim government.

This conflict really has the potential to go all sorts of bad. Not only do you have the Kyrgyz and the Uzbeks, but you've also got the Russians to the north along with a base, the Chinese to the east who really don't want instability along its frontier, and a large USAF base in country.

What really scares me about this is that if they don't get this situation under control fast, it has the potential to become another ugly ethnic conflict that could destabilize the region. Someone needs to get this under control quickly because once an ethnic conflict starts, it can take decades before it ends.

[Edited on June 18, 2010 at 4:29 PM. Reason : added commentary]

6/18/2010 4:26:31 PM

I love how I haven't seen it on CNN, Fox News, abc, cbs, etc... 400,000 refugees; no bigs.

6/18/2010 4:29:14 PM

If we can't find it, we ain't reporting it.

6/18/2010 4:40:54 PM

Then don't watch those networks. BBC has covered it very thoroughly.

6/18/2010 4:42:01 PM

I had a friend deployed at the AF base there when the riots first started.

He said it was the first time that anyone could remember carrying around combat gear on base there.

6/18/2010 5:29:40 PM

2,000 dead, mostly Uzbeks.

That's terrible

6/18/2010 5:52:42 PM

what are they so mad about?

6/18/2010 6:18:40 PM

Dude, you are from India, you know how it works in brown/black people countries in Asia, South America, and Africa.

Some races just hate other races mutually, and for reasons rooted in history, politics, or something stupid[er].

And that leads to ethnic cleansing, mass killings, and crimes against humanity (both by civilians and government forces; in this cases it is the civilians doing it).

6/18/2010 6:31:04 PM

6/18/2010 6:33:21 PM

I went to grad school with someone from Kyrgyzstan.

6/18/2010 7:16:23 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2i5ShKaASc

6/18/2010 7:51:27 PM

Uzbekistan has the largest military in Central Asia, and Kyrgystan is barely a country. Uzbekistan doesn't really recognize it, and the Kyrgyz are worried that one day they'll just grab certain areas where there are a lot of Uzbeks, or which are important for other reasons (such as highlands from which Uzbekistan's water comes).

More proximately I think everybody agrees that somebody is pulling strings here, but so far I've not heard a definite answer to who or why.

6/18/2010 11:16:58 PM

it's all bbehe's fault

6/21/2010 9:54:02 AM

good reads...

http://business.maktoob.com/20090000483998/Islamist_groups_sparked_violence_-Kyrgyzstan/Article.htm

http://business.maktoob.com/20090000480642/Kyrgyzstan_violence_orchestrated_-U_N_/Article.htm

6/24/2010 8:07:20 PM