U.S. declares friendship to people of Pridnestrovie (Tiraspol Times)

In what is turning into the summer of peace and love, a gutsy State Department official has proclaimed his country's friendship with the people of Pridnestrovie. Washington's David Kramer says that the United States is a friend of the people who live there. Some of these people now want to know if this friendly attitude means that their opinions will finally be given a fair hearing.

By Jason Cooper, 10/Aug/2007

CHISINAU (Tiraspol Times) - U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Kramer pledged friendship to the people of Pridnestrovie during a recent visit to neighboring Moldova, the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty reported. ~snip~

According to the State Department official, the United States never had "a problem" with the people who live in Pridnestrovie. He did not clarify who, specifically, the United States have had "problems" with, but past statements from the U.S. State Department have included criticism of Russia as well as both Moldova and the government of Pridnestrovie over alleged human rights abuses.

" - Of course, these days it must be a bit difficult to be a Bush administration official who has to travel outside his own country and lecture the rest of the world about human rights," says Petru Gladchi, a civil society activist in Tiraspol. "Isn't it more like the pot calling the kettle black? On one hand, they have Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib and secret CIA-sanctioned torture. While here in PMR we have normal prisons which are open for inspections any human rights organization who wants to come and inspect the conditions."

" - On the other hand, the Americans are killing people in Iraq, where they are uninvited and where the majority of the local population wants them to leave," says Gladchi. "You must compare this with the situation here in Pridnestrovie. We have a very tiny number of Russian and Ukrainian peacekeepers, they work side by side with peacekeepers from Moldova and from Pridnestrovie, and it is a multilateral format which is established by a treaty signed by all the sides. They are not uninvited guests, and they are here because the local population wants them to be here." ~snip~

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