Bellicosity in Belarus

The recent arrest of Alyaksandr Zdzvizhkou, deputy editor-in-chief of Zhoda newspaper in Belarus, should not surprise anyone familiar with this black hole of a European country.

His crime? Reprinting Muhammad cartoons that appeared in a Danish newspaper two years ago and which were copied from a Web site. The editor, accused of inciting ethnic and religious enmity was sentenced to five years in prison.

The purpose of this incarceration by President Alexander Lukashenko, often referred to as "the last dictator in Europe," was to show the country his support for Muslim fundamentalism. And no doubt to draw more ire from the West, which has called for the president, recently included in Parade magazine's roundup of the world's worst dictators, to stop illegal arms sales to terrorists. The outspoken, anti-Semitic president, who altered the constitution years ago to effectively make him dictator-for-life, threatens to become the most dangerous leader in the world.

The regime in Belarus — a small country of 10 million — is as corrupt and evil as they come. Syria, Iran and North Korea are strategic allies. Belarus, during 2001 alone, secretly sold $500 million in arms to Syria and its terrorist faction, the Hezbollah, that used the deadly Katyusha rockets against Israel.

After the fall of Saddam Hussein, his henchmen were found carrying Belarusian passports. If another terrorist attack succeeds in the United States, it will be because of Mr. Lukashenko, unabashedly clinging to his Stalinist tactics and disregard for international law.

Belarus inherited a stockpile of weapons after the fall of the Soviet Union and has supplied them steadily to countries that sponsor terrorism, including North Korea, Iran and Syria. There has been little diplomatic intervention and indeed, the Mad Man of Minsk relishes his image as the arms dealer of choice among the ruthless and deadly defenders of radical Islamism, who would die happily if they had another chance to attack innocent Americans.

Iran became the main partner of Belarus after Saddam's ouster. Large sums of money were necessary for the president to maintain authority in his own country, and weapons were readily salable. Mr. Lukashenko has since become a veritable Shopping Home Network for 9119 anti-tank guided missiles for Syria, T-55 tanks for North Korea and aviation engines for SU-27 (Russian-made bomber airplanes) to Iran. Belarus also sells "Mi" and I-76 military airplanes to Iran. In 2003, Belarus sold 100 of the planes to Iran.

Both presidents share a deep and ugly hatred of Jews and the United States. Not one to mince words, the president of Belarus described his feelings in a live radio broadcast last October in the country's central port city of Bobruisk. "This is a Jewish city and the Jews are not concerned for the place they live in. They have turned Bobruisk into a pig sty. Look at Israel — I was there." How the civilized world in 2008 could accept that sentiment is beyond understanding.

There's more. Because of NATO, customers in Eastern Europe joining the organization have a hard time with Mr. Big. But not with rogue states who continue to thumb their noses at America's efforts to stem the arms trading. And it's not really about cartoons. It's about the dark and painful era of Stalinism versus a broad and hopeful future. The current U.S. administration has done little to help the Belarusian people to overcome this tyrant. It is to be hoped the White House's next occupant will address this wrong.

You may not know where Belarus is on the map. But you will.

Tsotne Bakuria, who lives in Washington, D.C., is a former member of the Parliament of the Republic of Georgia and is writing a book on post-Soviet emerging democracies.