The strangers of Samarakand.

A cacophony of shots of a cacophony of people of Samarkand, shot at various locations in the city of Samarkand. Mostly Babushkas, their faces hide unknown stories, unknown terror, the times of Stalin through to Karimov were not good. They are survivors.

The wonderful architecture the sights and sounds of an ancient trading post, a joy to see, but what lies behind the history of the 20th century?

I have just finished this book, in two days! It was that engrossing a read and it opened my eyes to see beyond the sights the traveller gets to see.

It builds upon what I already knew about the neo-nazi g w bush and his lap dog tony (baby killer, father of isis and convicted sexual deviant) blair.

In their anti-islamic so called war on terror,(lies lies lies) how they turned a blind eye to the horrendous abuse and appalling human rights within Uzbekistan under its first independent president, Islam Karimov, so as to curry political favour and to establish forward military bases in Uz.

Read this book if you get the chance, these three bastards need to rot in hell for all eternity.

Cotton, a major export and commodity in Uz. It is known as the "white gold" it paints a wonderful innocent picture does it not?

What stories these faces could tell us

During Karimov's tenure forced child labour in the cotton industry was rife and accepted and demanded in Uzbekistan, the government employing children as young as nine years of age to pick the cotton in the fields

Even from an early age children are brought up to look forward to harvest time and to enjoy slaving away in the fields an "opportunity for them to contribute to their nation's prosperity". It was also seen as the norm to beat the children if their efforts were not up to the required levels.

Many farmers were forced to produce cotton, with the state reaping the profits, a one state owned agri-product society.

State run forced labour which annually saw about a million children and adults, which included closing schools and hospitals with the professionals coerced into harvesting cotton, hard labour and for little or no pay. If government workers or professionals refused to work they can be penalised with a lower income....or worse.

Rape of both women and men was seen as an acceptable form of torture, as was being boiled to death.

With an informer around every corner, corruption rife in all areas of national and local government this was not happy place to be born methinks

"The look of love is in your eyes. A look your smile can't disguise"
©Burt Bacharach