Uzbekitstan

Uzbekitstan is a place I've wanted to visit for some time; I'm intrigued by its sparsely populated intersteces on the Silk Road, the stitching together of East and West. Recent reports have suggested that Uzbekitstan may be off the tourist trail for some time however.
The country's despotic President Islam Karimov, elected via a system where only those parties who support him can stand, has benefited from the support of the West by claiming to suppress Islamic fundamentalism and in no small measure because oil supplies from Siberia need to cross his territory. He succeeds in masking recent assaults on his own people by controlling all media within Uzbekitstan.
Ring any bells?
This is not the only parallel to which I'd like to allude. Newsweek recently published a story claiming interrogation at Guantanemo Bay routinely involved desecration of the Koran and that they could substantiate that fact. Following riots in Afghanistan where about fifteen people were killed and under pressure from the U.S. government, Newsweek apologised but did not retract the story. Donald Rumsfeld -- of all people -- savaged the magazine saying that they should get their facts right before taking actions that would result in the deaths of innocents. I kid you not. WMD anyone?
My point is that this is exactly what would have happended in the latter days of a Soviet regime. A story the government did not approve of may have leaked, but you could be sure that pressure would be brought to bear on the relevant source and it would have been swept under the carpet. The U.S. claims to fight for freedom across the world, but is nonetheless willing to control its own media with the same rigour as the Uzbeks.