Beyond Ukraine: Bush sides with dictators.

• Author: Pal, Amitabh
• Position: George W. Bush

In the prolonged election battle in Ukraine, the United States cast itself as the friend of freedom and self-determination. The Bush Administration made strong statements in support of democracy and the electoral process in the country, and denounced the initial rigged election of ruling party candidate Viktor Yanukovich.

Do not think this is the norm, however.

In several instances in other countries of the former Soviet Union, the Bush Administration has backed dictatorships much worse than the government of Ukraine. It also hasn't had much of a problem with other recent elections that have been blatantly fixed. The occasional proclamations by the United States in favor of democracy aren't taken seriously by most ruling governments in the area. "The United States has a rhetorical commitment to human rights," says Rachel Denber, acting executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia division. "But its first priority is fighting the war on terrorism and drug trafficking. That's why there are no real consequences for governments in the region that violate human rights."

In Azerbaijan, a current favorite of the United States, presidential elections in October 2003 were marked by large-scale fraud. In monarchical fashion, Heydar Aliyev handed over power to his soft Ilham.

Heydar, who died two months after this crowning act of nepotism, had been warmly courted by the United States since the Clinton era due to his country's oil wealth. (Western oil companies have invested $4 billion in the country and are expected to put in $10 billion more in the coming years, according to Mother Jones.) During the Clinton Administration, Heydar's attempts to bolster relations with the United States were helped along by oil companies and a luminary of go-betweens that included Jim Baker, Brent Scowcroft, Zbigniew Brzezinski, as well as Dick Cheney and Richard Armitage.

The Bush Administration maintained the warm relationship with Heydar.

"Our common security interests, our commercial interests, and our interests in peace and prosperity will be strengthened with each length of pipe laid along this line," Bush said in a letter read aloud by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline in September 2002. (Two American companies, Unocal and Amerada Hess, are investors in the pipeline.) "All of us here today," Bush stated, "are part of a new, more promising chapter in a new, more promising history between our nations." For his part, Abraham lauded Heydar's "vision and determination."

Bush's high regard for the father was transferred to the son. Back when he was governor, Bush in 1996 had made Ilham an honorary Texan for facilitating the entry of Texas-based oil companies into Azerbaijan. When Ilham was chosen as the prime minister shortly before the presidential elections, Bush sent him a letter of congratulations through a visiting Congressional delegation.

The Bush Administration continued its friendship with the Ilham regime after the rigged October elections, even though not only were the elections set up, the aftermath was marked by a brutality not yet seen in Ukraine. At least one person was killed in protests, and security forces arrested hundreds of opposition members, many of whom were tortured, Amnesty International found.

Although the United States spent more than $2 million during the elections ostensibly to promote democracy, in its initial statement on the election, the State Department said that early indications were that the polling had gone...