The Foreign Service Journal, September 2007

of the alliance, and to persuade international organiza- tions to accept the Uzbek narrative, as well. It was a disheartening exercise to be party to compro- mises under which international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund would publish data some- where between the official statistic published by the Uzbek government and backed by Washington, and the truth — which often told the opposite story. This was most sharply expressed in economic growth statistics, which were always accepted as positive even when the economy was plainly in free fall. At this time the U.S. was also defending Uzbekistan from well-deserved criticism at the U.N. Human Rights Council and elsewhere. Such self-delusion opens you up to the accompanying danger of window-dressing. This is where the host dictatorship is very happy to accept your consultants’ reports, training and courses on human rights or economic reform, without any intention at all of putting any of the teaching or advice into practice. Then the exis- tence of the training workshops or consultants’ reports becomes a useful proxy for the reform itself, and can be quoted as evidence of progress. The U.S. paid a great deal of money for innumerable inputs on media and legal training, yet the media and the legal system in Uzbekistan remain 100 percent not free. From 2002 to 2004, Washington repeated ad nauseam the claim that the existence of such programs itself was evi- dence of progress, and praised the intention of the Uzbek government to reform — even as several journalists who learned to respect freedom during such courses ended up in jail (or worse) if they tried to practice their new knowl- edge. For its part, the wily Karimov regime was very adept at playing along. SOB Stories The American experience in Uzbekistan illustrates the adoption of false principles over true ones. It also beauti- fully illustrates the entire fallacy of what I might call the “He may be a son-of-a-bitch, but at least he’s our son-of-a- bitch” approach. An SOB is never “our” SOB. He is F O C U S 46 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 7 SERVING THOSE WHO SERVE AMERICA S I NCE 1 9 7 1 2007 represents our 37 th year helping to maintain America’s fleet of vehicles throughout the world. All of us at D & M consider it an honor to have worked with all of you through these years. We are aware of the importance of your official and private vehicles, forklifts, generators, tools and equipment. We look forward to continuing this service in a professional manner. We are here to help, just ask! Gary Vlahov www.dmauto.com (516) 822-6662; FAX: (516) 822-5020; E-mail: info@dmauto.com