US-sponsored Dictatorships

Saudi Arabia, the Obama administration announced last November it is seeking a massive $60 billion, 20-year weapons sale to the Saudis, which would reportedly include 84 F-15 fighter aircraft and almost 200 helicopters, as well as trainers, simulators, generators, spare and repair parts, and other related elements of program support. Meanwhile, the Saudi government has maintained an abysmal human rights record. Human Rights Watch summarized the situation in its annual report: "Authorities continue to systematically suppress or fail to protect the rights of nine million Saudi women and girls, eight million foreign workers, and some two million Shia citizens. Each year thousands of people receive unfair trials or are subject to arbitrary detention. Curbs on freedom of association, expression, and movement, as well as a pervasive lack of official accountability, remain serious concerns.
Not to forget their very special brand of Islam (Wahabism) which happens to be the very branch of Osama bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda terrorists, but conveniently for the Saudi Arabians the western hypocrisy even fears mentioning this fact, for fear of rising Oil prices. The US rather hunts shadows of bin Laden in Afghanistan and tests its latest weaponry on Afghanis and Pakistanis while at home they beat the drums of a really non-existent war about a non-existent threat and spreads medals of honour for non-existent braveries.

Jordan, the United States gave Jordan, another Middle Eastern monarchy, hundreds of Millions in military aid in 2010. In response to recent protests, King Abdullah II of Jordan this week dismissed his cabinet and appointed a new prime minister(how convenient) . In addition, according to Human Rights Watch, violations of basic freedoms are more than common in Jordan. The group said in its annual report: "Torture, routine and widespread in recent years, continues, in particular at police stations, where complaints about ill-treatment increased in 2009 and again in 2010."(very much like Egypt, another US sponsored Dictatorship) There is also no freedom of speech in Jordan, with steep penalties for criticizing the king or the government.
To better understand the Jordanian system, consider a society that is declared free except internal politics and foreign relations. The USA has many underground facilities there to bring in their regional suspects for interrogations. The Jordanians have absolutely no say whatsoever in their social and political system.

Turkmenistan, the Obama administration, like the Bush administration before it, has been pursuing closer ties with Turkmenistan, which both borders Afghanistan and has some of the largest proven gas reserves in the world. The USA sends supplies for the Afghan war through Turkmenistan, which is part of the northern corridor into Afghanistan, a crucial alternative to dangerous supply routes through Pakistan. Turkmenistan received millions in military aid in 2010 and 2009. Because of its strategic importance in Central Asia, the country has been graced by visits from top U.S. officials, including Gen. Petraeus. It seems not to matter to U.S. policymakers that Turkmenistan is run by one of the most repressive regimes in existence. Its current president, “Ghorban-gholi Berdymukhamedov”, was the dentist of the previous president-for-life, who died in 2006. The regime, alternatively described in the press as "Stalinist" and "hermit-like,".
One can distinctively see the selective handling of human rights issues by Hillary Clinton, especially when meeting the Turkmen President in 2009.

Uzbekistan, Like Turkmenistan, this Central Asian nation is important to the United States because of its border with Afghanistan and its energy resources. Its president since 1991, Islam Karimov, was “re-elected” in 2000 with 92 percent of the vote and again in 2007 with 88 percent; political opposition has been repressed. Torture is common, and the Guardian reported in 2003 that two prisoners were even boiled to death. The Bush administration began to woo Karimov as an ally after Sept. 11 and the invasion of Afghanistan, including with aid to the police and intelligence service. The U.S. imposed sanctions in 2005 after a much-publicized massacre of protesters but were quick to remove them and repair relations
The country is currently a key supply route to Afghanistan from the north.
Here is what Human Rights Watch says about Uzbekistan's human rights record: "Authorities continue to crackdown on civil society activists, opposition members, and independent journalists, and to persecute religious believers who worship outside strict state controls. Freedom of expression remains severely limited. Government-initiated forced child labor during the cotton harvest continues."

Equatorial Guinea, President “Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo” has ruled Equatorial Guinea since he took over in a coup in 1979. Starting in the 1990s, American companies discovered large oil reserves in waters belonging to the West African nation. The Bush administration presided over a concerted effort to improve relations with Equatorial Guinea, including high-level meetings between Obiang and Bush and the reopening of the American embassy in the capital city of Malabo. Seen as an alternative to Arab oil, Obiang won praise from Condoleezza Rice in 2006 as a "good friend" of the United States. While Equatorial Guinea does not receive direct military aid, it has taken part in the American International Military Education and Training program.
Human Rights Watch reports that Guinea is "mired in corruption, poverty, and repression under the leadership of" Obiang and that "the government regularly engages in torture and arbitrary detention." Oil revenues are distributed to the president's family and allies, with his son reportedly spending more on luxury goods between 2004 and 2007 than the country's annual education budget.


The list is much longer. We have left out the obvious, the likes of Mobarak, and the now ousted Bin-Ali, Azarbayjan,Yemen and the notorious Ghaddaffi of Lybia . Israel is also not a democracy, what we keep seeing in Israel, are the same names and faces constantly rotating and passing the powers to each other until one of them falls in a coma (Sharon) and replaced by a spitting image (Lieberman). Policies never change… like a good dictatorship, but “that” is the Israeli trick in imitating democracy and legitimacy.(thanks to J.Elliot)