Friends and allies in the struggle for freedom

The December 30 weekly news bulletin put out by the Embassy of Kazakhstan to the US and Canada describes a letter sent by Shrub to President Nursultan Nazarbayev on the anniversary of Kazakhstan's independence.

"The United States is also grateful[," Bush wrote, "]for Kazakhstan's steadfast friendship and solidarity in the Global War on Terrorism, particularly the outstanding service of the KAZBAT detachment in Iraq."

He also praised the ability of the populace to "enjoy expanding opportunities to participate in the civic life of their country."

Right. Then this from Reuters for January 6 must be a misprint:

A Kazakh court on Thursday ordered the dissolution of one of the country's main opposition parties, the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DCK), for breaching state security, the party said.

DCK has accused President Nursultan Nazarbayev of stealing victory in parliamentary elections in September in which the party was not credited with a single seat. ...

Prosecutors had said the party fell foul of state security laws by calling on its supporters to protest against the results of the parliamentary election.

So the "expanding opportunities" consist of expanding opportunities to support the existing regime. Yeah, that sounds like something Shrub would get behind.