There is blame enough to go around for the hellish situation that has descended on Kyrgyzstan. Forces loyal to former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev are said to have provoked the violence that has affected 8 percent of the country's population. The government's response has been ham-fisted and there are allegations that the army joined violence against minority Uzbeks.
The United States and Russia have both used Kyrgyzstan, a small strategically positioned nation in Central Asia, as a pawn in a geopolitical chess game, largely indifferent to the consequences of their maneuverings. The price of those manipulations, that incompetence and that cynicism have now come due.
On June 10, violence erupted in southern Kyrgyzstan when riots exploded in Osh, the second largest city in the country. The exact cause of the outbreak remains unclear: Some blame Uzbeks for attacking students and Kyrgyz women, which prompted revenge attacks by other ethnic Kyrgyz.