Uzbek realities undercut Bush rhetoric

By ARTHUR I. CYR
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
President Bush just completed a trip to Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe, where he emphasized the absolute value of freedom, in the process taking a swipe at predecessor Franklin D. Roosevelt by equating the Yalta conference with Munich. In the wake of his trip, deadly public revolt has broken out in autocratic Uzbekistan.
Bush, however, has been quiet about the Uzbek people apparently taking his advice. Following the president's heavy-handed denunciation of dictators, White House spokesman Scott McClellan has been cautiously even-handed, expressing concern about the outbreak of violence as well as human rights abuse.
Why the rhetorical retreat, with bold Bush followed by mincing McClellan? Because the world is a very complex place and effective foreign policy, even for a crusading administration, ultimately has to take at least some note of that reality.
Uzbekistan is one of the most repressive regimes remaining in the former Soviet Union. Russian President Vladimir Putin may not practice our sort of rule of law, and has been growing increasingly dictatorial, but is still a long way from the harsh repression suffered by the Uzbeks.
This human rights abuse, however, is balanced by the fact that Uzbekistan has proven vital to the war on terrorism and related U.S. strategic interests. The regime has been very cooperative in permitting basing of American military forces. Geography makes the country particularly important for this mission. Military considerations here properly outweigh purely moral ones.
Rebuke of FDR
This point returns attention to Bush's posthumous public rebuke of FDR, and by implication British leader Winston Churchill, who was also at Yalta. That conference near the end of the war did not condone Josef Stalin's post-war repression of Eastern Europe but rather recognized the unavoidable reality that Soviet forces occupied the region.
The Soviet Union during the war faced approximately two-thirds of the Third Reich armies, and an even higher percentage of German mechanized forces. Churchill acknowledged this reality by noting that if Hitler invaded hell, he would go out of his way to say something complimentary about Satan.
The Soviets suffered enormous losses, yet after V-E Day withdrew from German territory to respect pre-existing occupation understandings. Stalin also entered the Pacific war on schedule. Keep in mind that the atomic bomb was an uncertain possibility, not a reality, when the Yalta agreements were reached.
Realistic strategy
Throughout this global war, both Churchill and Roosevelt were guided by a comprehensive realistic strategy. Neither the Soviet Union nor China was a democracy but each tied down enormous numbers of enemy forces, and in consequence received vital strategic assistance.
Churchill once said that the only thing worse than having allies was not having them. Bush restraint in commenting on Uzbekistan shows even this unilateral administration recognizes that reality.
X Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College and author of "After the Cold War." Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.