Teodoro Obiang pales in comparison to Nursultan Nazarbayev

the rest of the world looks at this kind of massive hypocrisy and just shakes their collective heads...

In early 2004, President Bush issued a presidential proclamation barring corrupt foreign officials from entering the United States. Then, a few months ago, in spite of that proclamation, Washington was treated to the disgusting spectacle of an official visit by Teodoro Obiang, the corrupt dictator who rules over oil-rich Equatorial Guinea. But now the Bush Administration is preparing to roll out the red carpet for a man who, by sheer numbers, appears to have stolen far more than Obiang: President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan.

how much more is "far more...?"

This fall, James Giffen, an American business consultant, is set to be tried in the Southern District Court of New York on charges that he funneled more than $78 million in bribes to Kazakh officials. And guess who is alleged to have received most of that money? President Nazarbayev himself, along with his former prime minister, Nurlan Balgimbayev.

The government's indictment says the bribe money came from fees Giffen received from American oil companies that won stakes in Kazakhstan's oil fields. It charges that in addition to showering Nazarbayev with cash, Giffen bought his-and-her snowmobiles for the president and his wife, bought fur coats for Mrs. Nazarbayev and one of the president's daughters, and also paid the tuition at George Washington University for the daughter.

and that's just for starters...

Kazahstan also counts on support from the Houston-based Baker Botts law firm, which has advised energy companies seeking to invest in Kazakhstan and other Caspian countries. The firm's partners include James A. Baker III, who served as secretary of state under George Bush Sr. In late 1991, during the final days of the Soviet Union, Baker and Nazarbayev brokered the emerging U.S.–Kazakh relationship while enjoying a sauna at a villa in the mountains above Almaty.

can our behavior be any more hypocritical...? unfortunately the answer is, yeah, probably...

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