Other newly released U.S. diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks characterize the post-Soviet state of Uzbekistan as a nightmarish world of “rampant corruption,” torture, indentured servitude and organized crime. However, the cables also reveal that the United States makes special efforts to pander to Uzbek President Islam Karimov because he allows a crucial U.S. military supply line to run into Afghanistan. U.S. Ambassador Richard Norland warned in a cable to Washington: “Clearly, pressuring [Karimov] could cost us transit.”