Heads are gonna roll over this....

Obviously, some sort of dreadful mistake has been made. Last week, the Christian Science Monitor reported:

Upset with the lack of political and economic reforms in Uzbekistan, the US State Department announced Tuesday its decision not to certify the country, effectively denying the renewal of $18 million in aid. ...

The Bush administration's decision to slash aid sends a signal abroad that despite the president's "with us or against us" formula, there is a point at which human rights abuses can overshadow military and diplomatic support for the war on terror.

Seriously, I don't really think this was a mistake. But I do think the "signal" is not from the US to any other dictators out there that boiling people is going a shade too far, but from the State Department to the rest of the administration that it's not willing to be completely cut out of foreign policy. Some others are of the same mind:

"I think this decision is the result of a battle in the administration between the State Department and the Defense Department," says David Lewis, the International Crisis Group's Central Asia director. "Decisive for this new sign was not so much that the human rights situation in Uzbekistan got slightly worse, but that the pressure was building on the administration to acknowledge it."

However, if the Pentagon is aware of such a battle, it gives no sign of it, gliding blissfully along, apparently confident of its continued dominance.

Despite the aid cut, there is no indication yet that the US will sever military ties beyond the ending of a training program for Uzbek officers. Indeed, Uzbek officials appear unphased by the rebuke.

"I am not disappointed by the State Department's decision," says foreign ministry spokesman Ilkhom Zakirov. ...

"The military cooperation will continue," Mr. Zakirov added.

A uniter, not a divider? Hell, Shrub can't even unite his own administration. But it's clear who has the upper hand here.

In an apparent attempt to mitigate the diplomatic blow, the US undersecretary of state for Europe and Central Asia met with President Karimov on a one-day visit to Tashkent Wednesday.

So the State Department takes a slap at Uzbekistan and not only do military affairs go on unaffected, but State's own ambassador is trotted out to make nice with a regime that both human rights organizations and the Department itself condemn.

Colin Powerless continues to merit the nickname.