Oil, freedom & Kazakhstan

Bush has praise for `free' Kazakhstan
Authoritarian state a U.S. ally in Asia

By Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times Service; Tribune news services contributed to this report
Published September 30, 2006


WASHINGTON -- President Bush took another step in his delicate foreign policy waltz with the authoritarian government of Kazakhstan on Friday, praising the oil-rich Central Asian country as "a free nation" while welcoming its president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, to the White House for lunch.

During a brief joint appearance in the Oval Office, Bush said the two presidents pledged to "support the forces of moderation throughout the world," while Nazarbayev, speaking through a translator, reiterated his commitment to ridding his country of nuclear weapons and said the two nations had "truly become close partners."

Neither man mentioned the sore points in that partnership: the absence of free elections in Kazakhstan, which became an independent state in 1991; state restrictions on the news media and its recent decision to shut down two prominent American democracy organizations.

"We talked about our commitment to institutions that will enable liberty to flourish," Bush said. "I have watched very carefully the development of this important country from one that was in the Soviet sphere to one that is now a free nation."

Despite that transition, Kazakhstan also poses a diplomatic challenge for Bush, who has made promoting democracy a central component of his foreign policy. On Friday morning, Bush touted his efforts to build a free nation in Afghanistan and to push Pakistan toward free elections.

The White House views Kazakhstan, a state that has abundant oil and gas reserves and whose population is predominantly Muslim, as a critical ally in promoting economic stability and security in that region.

One-third of all foreign investment in Kazakhstan comes from the United States, and administration officials say the country has also been a strategic partner in Iraq and Afghanistan. It has a small ordnance removal team working in Iraq, and has given the U.S. flyover rights so that military planes can bring equipment to Afghanistan.

An administration official, granted anonymity to talk about the meeting, said "the issue of democracy was raised" during the visit. The two leaders later put out a joint statement in which they agreed to "reaffirm the importance of democratic development" in institutions such as an independent media and free and fair elections.

"They're moving in the right direction," the official said, "and we think that bringing them in close will give us greater prospects of expecting quicker progress."

Bush invited Nazarbayev to a small lunch rather than holding a state dinner--a sign that Kazakhstan's leader is working his way into the president's inner foreign policy circle, but is not all the way there.

Also Friday, Bush acknowledged setbacks in Afghanistan against a Taliban resurgence but predicted eventual victory.

"The training of the Afghan police has not gone as smoothly as that of the army," Bush said, in a speech to the Reserve Officers Association. "The police have faced problems with corruption and substandard leadership. And we've made our concerns known to our friends in the Afghan government."

Bush noted that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has named a new team to lead the national police. "As the police become more capable . . . they will earn the respect of the Afghan people," Bush said.


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