[A] modern Muslim country that is able to provide for its citizens, that understands that democracy is the wave of the future.
Retard in Chief welcoming this Saddam wannabe with open arms, saying he "understands that democracy is the wave of the future."
Ilham Aliyev's government engages in arbitrary imprisonment of political opponents, torture of persons in custody, and government-wide corruption which prevents any real reform. Just ask Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, or Dubya's own State Department, whose most recent report reads like a laundry list in Hell:
* restricted right of citizens to peacefully change their governmentRead the U.S. government's own report. It's terrifying. No honest or sane person would call this a "democracy." The kicker is that Azerbaijan has oil. And a bigass pipeline.
* torture and beating of persons in custody, leading to four deaths
* arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly of political opponents
* harsh and life-threatening prison conditions
* police impunity
* lengthy pretrial detention
* pervasive corruption in the judiciary
* some restrictions of privacy rights
* periodic interference with media freedom
* excessive use of force to disperse demonstrations
* instances of violence and societal discrimination against women
* trafficking in persons
* limited workers' rights
Aliyev's government also uses a variety of means to circumvent international law, manipulate elections, and limit the media's ability to report the truth. Does this sound familiar?
And Aliyev only came to power in an election so filled with one-sided irregularities than most objective observers considered it rigged. (Even Bush's own State Department dryly calls it "an election that did not meet international standards.") And they should know.
This is apparently what Bush means when he says Azerbaijan is developing as "a modern, secular, democratic country."
Bush actually said "We share the same values."
Indeed.
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