Turkmenistan or bust

Yesterday I got an e-vite for a going away party in Madison on Friday. My buddy Mike is going to Turkemenistan to teach English to rich boys, and we're sending him off the right way, with lots and lots of alcohol in his American bloodstream.

If you didn't know, Turkmenistan (also known as Turkmenia or Turkmania) is a country in Central Asia. The name Turkmenistan is derived from Persian, meaning "land of the Turkmen". Before 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, called the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic. It is bordered by Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the southwest, Uzbekistan to the northeast, Kazakhstan to the northwest, and the Caspian Sea to the west. Although the country is wealthy in natural resources in certain areas, most of it is covered by the Karakum (Black Sands) Desert. The Turkmen government comprises one of the last remaining dictatorships in the world.

Welcome to Turkmenistan!

When the Soviet Union began to collapse, Turkmenistan and the rest of the Central Asian states heavily favored maintaining a reformed version of the state; mainly because they needed the economic power and common markets of the Soviet Union to prosper. However, in 1991 the Soviet Union split and Turkmenistan was one of the last countries to declare its independence. The former Soviet leader, Saparmurat Niyazov, remains in power to this day. His policies have changed greatly since Soviet times: He is friendly to foreign corporations; he has rather tense relations with Moscow; and he styles himself a promoter of traditional, Muslim, Turkmen culture. The extent of his power has been greatly enhanced since the early 1990s.

Today, Niyazov is an authoritarian dictator. He calls himself "Turkmenbashi" – a title which means "leader of all ethnic Turkmen", in a similar style to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He has become notorious in the Western world for his cult of personality and the disproportionate measures he takes to crush political dissent. Presently, 60% of the population is unemployed while 58% lives below the poverty line.

Hopefully he doesn't end up like this journalist and rights activist.

Somewhat related link: Why is the President so determined to engage in torture?


"We know that the world would see this action as a U.S. repudiation of the rules that bind civilized nations. We also know that an extraordinary lineup of former military and intelligence leaders, including Colin Powell, have spoken out against the Bush plan, warning that it would further damage America's faltering moral standing, and end up endangering U.S. troops.

But I haven't seen much discussion of the underlying question: why is Mr. Bush so determined to engage in torture?

Let's be clear what we're talking about here. According to an ABC News report from last fall, procedures used by C.I.A. interrogators have included forcing prisoners to "stand, handcuffed and with their feet shackled to an eye bolt in the floor for more than 40 hours"; the "cold cell," in which prisoners are forced "to stand naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees," while being doused with cold water; and, of course, water boarding, in which "the prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet," then "cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over him," inducing "a terrifying fear of drowning."

And bear in mind that the "few bad apples" excuse doesn't apply; these were officially approved tactics - and Mr. Bush wants at least some of these tactics to remain in use..."

Read the full editorial

Anyways, I've always respected Mike for being hardcore like that and putting himself out on a limb, so I thought some hardcore music would be appropriate...

Iron Maiden - "The Wickerman"
Iron Maiden - "Mother Russia"
Metallica - "Master of Puppets"
NOFX - "Don't Call Me White"