Askar Akayev was the nicest of the Central Asian strongmen. Dissidents did not get immersed in boiling water in Kyrgyzstan; statues of Akayev and his family did not litter Bishkek and the country's other cities; he hadn't been the local Communist Party leader in Soviet times, as most other Central Asian leaders were. During the '90s, Akayev was even seen as a man with a commitment to democracy and civil rights. Maybe that's why he got overthrown.He deserved to be overthrown. By the time the crowds in Bishkek invaded his presidential palace on March 24, he was well on the way to turning Kyrg...
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