The protestors are opposed to the US base? Huh. Normally the anti-government factions in these regions are pro-Western, unless they're Islamic radicals, which these guys don't look like

I always pegged Kyrgyzstan as the more stable Central Asian country, along with Kazakhstan (though Kazakhstan's semi-authoritarian in its own right. Nazarbayev was appointed by Gorbachev, so that tells you how long he's been around)

@Mr Khan. Not very stable, the rebellion is throwing out a government put in by a popular rebellion five years ago.

I lol'd.

As for those riots. That's pretty brutal.

Woooooooaaaaaah at civilian carrying RPG, Thats scary/ yet kinda bad ass

I guess there has been a lot of looting.

War veterans from the Afghanistan war (USSR-Afghan, not US-Afghan) have had form militias to defend themselves from looting. They had to hold themselves up in a shopping center to ensure it didn't get looted.

Sounds a little bit like Left 4 Dead

Go figure. No clue how to feel about this... other then upset about the loss of life and such. I suppose if an authoritarian government is kicked out, and they follow through with a democratic constitution it's a plus.

i was watching stuff earlier about this... didnt post anything because i havent decided which side i support. both groups seem like total jackasses.

I have heard of Kyrgyztan before, but I always thought of it like Mongolia, nothing big happening that takes global attention, I guess I was wrong.

Sad at the loss of life, but can't really say which side is right and not so just let it play out.

Having read as much as I can about the political climate in the country, I don't know if there is a 'right' side.

The last president was elected through a violent revolution similar to this one under the guise of democracy. However, he was just as bad as the last dictator, which has caused this mess.

Furthermore, the new interim leader, now that the old government has fallen, is a hardline communist....When makes me question if they will actually try for a real democracy, with real elections. From what I read, the revolt may just be to steal from the percieved rich people in the country, as opposed to demanding democracy.

Other accusations have been lobbied such as the revolt being backed by Russia, and things are just too strange and scary.

Throw in the fact that the country has litterally no value whatsoever, and its heading for further problems. You can't farm, there are no valuable minerals, and the population isn't well educated and its essentially another Afghanistan. The last president borrowed billions from foreign banks, and has no way of repaying the loans...From my understanding, he embezzled the money.

The saddest part is that there are a lot of countries such as this one. I mean when it comes to their resources. Even in the ones with a democracy, things are pretty dicey. People try to steal from each other at every possibility, rampant corruption, and the list just goes on. I have no solution to the problems that plague these countries, but things are pretty serious.

I also think the worst possible thing would be for someone to interfere in this conflict, especially Russia, the US, or China. The best case would be to let this play out, as evil as it sounds, because other involvement would probably lead to bigger problems down the line, as shown by the majority of countries which used outsiders as a crutch.