'There is no longer freedom in the United States'

'Send Me Back To Uzbekistan'
Ruslan Sharipov, a U.S.-based Uzbek dissident and the only openly gay Uzbek journalist, says he is “disappointed with American democracy” and wants to return home.

In an open letter to Uzbek President Islam Karimov, the U.S.-educated, award-winning journalist pleaded with the president to allow him to go back to Uzbekistan to “escape threats, persecution, physical abuse, isolation, and humiliation” he claims he has faced in the United States.

Bullshit.

“I have no friends in the United States and I miss home,” wrote the 32-year-old journalist and gay rights activist.

Having no friends is a personal problem and has absolutely nothing to do with the US or her people. If people perceive that you're an odious schmuck, only you can change that perception.

In the ex-Soviet country, where homosexuality is frowned upon by the predominantly Muslim society, Sharipov had caused quite a stir for being openly gay.

With international funding, he set up a project to protect gay rights in Uzbekistan.

However, the project was short-lived, as Sharipov was sentenced to five years in prison on sodomy charges in 2003 -- although the journalist claimed he was punished for being an outspoken critic of Karimov’s regime.

Sharipov’s arrest was given extensive media coverage by international rights groups, who said the “opponent of the regime” had been singled out for punishment because of his “personal magnetism” and his ability to attract many followers.

After allegations of torture in prisons and under pressure from rights groups, Uzbek authorities set Sharipov free in 2004 and he triumphantly left for the United States leaving behind the regime he despised.

Sharipov has talked about his fondness for U.S. pizza, the Gap store, and a way of life where people could enjoy freedom regardless of their sexual orientation.

But it wasn't all smooth sailing.

In his 2007 interview with Ferghana.ru, Sharipov said he was briefly arrested for illegally crossing into Mexico.

Last time I checked, illegally entering Mexico was in the domain of the Mexican gendarmes and this asshat is lucky he isn't still in Mexico.

Sharipov said he hadn't been given a U.S. Green Card or permanent residency and that he has been assaulted and threatened by the police and others.

Sharipov said that he was “deeply disappointed with U.S. leaders, George Bush, and Barack Obama alike" and had asked Human Rights Watch to purchase him plane tickets to Sweden, a request rejected by the rights watchdog.

“There is no longer freedom in the United States,” said Sharipov in his open letter to Uzbek leaders and asked them to pay for his return ticket to Tashkent.

-- Farangis Najibullah

Maybe Barney Frank can hook you up put you in contact with someone -- if he's not too busy getting some book learnin' on what marijuana looks like. Or, uhh, you know, busy doing something else.

And once you do find someone else to pay for your return ticket to Paradise, please, by all means, don't let the door hit your sweet sorry ass as you leave.

Goddam ingrate.

Via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Islamic Jihadi Union Talking Smack

Looks like these clowns skipped Jihadi 101.

First rule: Don't talk smack until you've actually accomplished something.

Islamic Jihad Union Threatens Attacks Outside Germany

A known militant Islamist group has announced that it was behind the terror plot foiled in Germany last week. The Islamic Jihad Union claimed Tuesday it had intended to hit US and Uzbek targets in Germany by the end of the year and that it plans to attack other countries.

The German government is taking seriously claims by a militant Islamic group that it was behind a foiled terror plot. The Interior Ministry said Tuesday that an Internet announcement by the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) that it had plotted to bomb US and Uzbek targets in Germany was being treated as genuine. Three men were arrested on Sept. 4 in Germany (more...) on suspicion of planning to attack US and other facilities.

Now the authorities know that the specific targets were the US military air base at Ramstein and US and Uzbek consular facilities in Germany, and that the attacks were to have been carried out at the end of 2007. The aim of the planned bombings was to put pressure on Germany to close its air base at Termez, Uzbekistan, near the Afghan border. The base provides logistical support to the 3,000 German soldiers serving with NATO forces in the Afghanistan.

The IJU message was published at around 5 p.m. C.E.T. on Tuesday on a Web site that has been used by the group before. German intelligence agents quickly translated the announcement, which was in Turkish. According to SPIEGEL ONLINE sources, the document says that the United States and Uzbekistan had been targeted because of their "injustice and brutal policies toward Muslims and Islam." It also warned that other attacks were being planned outside of Germany: "What the three brothers intended to do is also being planned in other places in the world."

I'm hesitant to declare them a nonfactor in the terror war, but you can probably assume if the authorities rolled up the three suspects last year after surveilling them for two years, it's likely others are being tailed.