The violence that gripped Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, last week quickly turned into a dictator’s worst nightmare when the snowballing riots forced President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to flee for his life. But by week’s end most pundits agreed that the biggest loser was the United States. Kyrgyzstan is home to the Manas air base, a logistical hub for U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan. Ever since Bakiyev came to power in his own 2005 coup, the U.S. has plied him with money and access to keep the runways at Manas open. That support, which came despite allegations of the regime’s endemic corruption and human-rights abuses, did not endear Washington to the opposition leaders who have now seized power.