Kyrgyzstan: Aftermath of Uprising

'Kyrgyzstan: The aftermath of public uprising'
by Chris Rickleton, Global Voices

Another user, optimist summed up the mixture of emotions that accompany a revolution in a brief, multi-coloured post [ru]:

"There is so much I want to write about the recent "events" in my country. But the words won't come together as a sentence: Chaos, demonstrations, looting, murder, provocation, press conferences, toadying, lying, patriotism, blood, violence, tears, drunkenness, robbery, guard, the crowd screams, photographer, the area, fear, shots, money, slander, soldiers, flag, smoke, rain, Twitter, border, night, uncertainty, hope ..."

Hope is indeed a running theme as bloggers attempt to come to terms with life under the newly installed provisional government of the country.

But other bloggers are more critical of the state of politics in Kyrgyzstan. Theseabiscuit accuses the provisional government of direct involvement with the attacks and looting that dissolved all sense of order in Kyrgyzstan [ru]:

"The people should probably not be blamed for these acts," theseabiscuit judges. "In any case, the driving lever of the revolution is always the elite. Until the elite alter, in both form and substance, nothing anywhere will work."

In a post titled 'My Soul aches for my native kyrgyzstan", Adilets charts [ru] the downfall of the Bakiev regime as beginning in the second half of 2009, and attributes it to their 'growing confidence' after this period. Adilets also celebrates the scrapping of the 60 tiyin (USD 0.01) charge for mobile connections, an unpopular trademark of the ousted President's reign.

English language blog thespektator writes of the bizarre link between the Bakievs and English football club Blackpool F.C, while aidea manages to salvage some humour from a tragic situation, adapting an old soviet idiom and considering revolution as a rite of passage in the country:

"Every Kyrgyz man," the user writes, "should, over the course of his life, build a house, plant a tree, raise a son and break into the White House."



You may view the latest post at
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/04/19/kyrgyzstan-the-aftermath-of-public-uprising/

A Critic Responds to My Article "Statesman Obama"

A Critic Responds

[Writings such as yours are] “the reason the world sees an ugly distortion of American reality. Drooling proagandists like yourself, Leftist media, educators, and politicians all work diligently at spreading these distortions. Or maybe I'm wrong and you are just a dupe who's been sucked into the mirage like **** who, I believe, is authentic in playing his role of useful idiot.”

July 21, 2008 5:41 PM (Israel Standard Time)

You confuse me with Bill O’Reilly. He leads public opinion and shapes it to his own devices.
On the other hand, I report on other peoples opinions from all over the world. What they think depends on how the USA has treated them. If the USA puts boots on the ground and helicopter gunships in the air, the people become frightened. When US companies triple the prices of basic food commodities, mothers worry how to feed their children. Nobody enjoys hearing threats that he will be annihilated.
America may be the best country in history, but foreigners do not attend US public schools. They receive many more US programs than you get foreign coverage.
The US media, educators, and politicians know next to nothing about the world outside the USA. They may discuss foreign issues, but only insofar as they effect Americans.

WYSIWYG As a result, Americans base policy decisions on misinformation and disinformation in the dark like mushrooms. For full information worldwide, I depend on Global Voices, Voices without Votes and Rising Voices.

Living in Asia...

Living in Asia, I am constantly amazed by American attitudes. They constantly talk only to one another, as if 'foreigners' do not exist. Some human rights advocates may mention us as collateral damage to prove a political point. The Americans kill 15,000 Iraqis per month, while Saddam rarely topped 1,500 for example.
The consensus among Iraqis is the Americans should clear out of Asia as quickly as possible. Nobody here wants to suffer radioactive fall out from a preemptive nuclear strike against Iran. The Iraqis are like everyone else who wants to control his oil production.
Aside from the parent Global Voices itself, Voices without Votes gives westerners a first look at the Asian culture and outlook.
I prefer reading about people to bombing them.