Winners And Losers

I'm looking at this story from Uzbekistan :

A human rights group Tuesday called Uzbekistan's crackdown on protesters last month a "massacre" and urged Washington to suspend talks on long-term plans for the U.S. military base there until the Central Asian nation agrees to an international investigation. ......Human Rights Watch said it interviewed 50 victims and witnesses who testified that government troops fired repeatedly on demonstrators gathered in a square in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan on May 13 and killed many others as they fled. It said it couldn't give a precise number of casualties, but that hundreds had been slain. The Uzbek government has denied firing on civilians, and President Islam Karimov has branded the protesters Islamic extremists. But the rights group said the protesters had been civilians demonstrating against official repression, corruption and poverty.

One of my guiding principals is stick with the winners. These guys are losers. There is no freedom in a country like this. Why would we even think about supporting them if they violate our #1 goal...freedom and democracy "of the people, by the people" government. Just imagine if in our country people started shooting at prolife or prochoice protesters. Now imagine the GOVERNMENT doing it. When the former happens we are losing our grip on what it takes to be free. When the latter happens we've lost it.
I heard about a country somewhere that took protesters that opposed the leader and put them in a "protest area" far away from the event. In the same country whenever the big wig goes out to talk to the people he only lets in people that are big supporters of him. And in the same country they let the police state get away with more and more that demands no oversight. Pretty much losers. I hope we will again remember the meaning and value of this "freedom" idea. Sure some effective action is required, it's all about knowing when we've gone over the line.