Related: Blessed Are the Peace-Makers
"Future US use of air base in question
MOSCOW - The president of Kyrgyzstan flew to Moscow yesterday, nailed down promises of debt relief and billions of dollars of aid - and promptly announced plans to close a US air base crucial to the war in Afghanistan.
The abrupt declaration from President Kurmanbek Bakiyev came as the United States prepares to deploy thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan in hopes of gaining ground against a resurgent Taliban. Kyrgyzstan has been home to the only remaining US base in the mountainous region to Afghanistan's north.
"The Kyrgyz government has taken a decision to terminate the rent of the base," Bakiyev told reporters in Moscow after meeting with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev. Bakiyev said the US military refused to pay a rent hike. The United States also failed to respond adequately to the 2006 killing of a Kyrgyz man by a US serviceman at the base, Bakiyev charged.
US officials said they have not received official notice, and some wondered if Bakiyev's announcement was a negotiating tactic. "We've dealt with this kind of issue with the Kyrgyzs before, usually in an effort to get money from us," a senior Pentagon official said on condition of anonymity because of the confidential negotiations.
Once again, the Pentagon will be proven a liar (keep reading)!
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MOSCOW - The Kyrgyz Parliament will vote tomorrow on a measure that will close a key US military base, potentially jeopardizing NATO supply lines to Afghanistan, the Kyrgyz government said yesterday. But American diplomats and military officials in the region said negotiations on the base's future were continuing.
A Kyrgyz statement released yesterday argued that the American mission in Afghanistan had outlasted its original goals, saying that the terrorist threat had "been removed," and that NATO airstrikes in Afghanistan had caused an unacceptable rise in civilian casualties.
THANK YOU for RAISING the issue of the MASS-MURDERING of INNOCENTS to the AmeriKans!
President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced the decision to close the facility on Tuesday during a visit to Moscow to seek financial support. The closure would be a victory for Russian leaders, who saw the base as an American attempt to assert control in the region.
Of course, that's exactly what all this is for, but don't expect the MSM to tell you that.
And by eliminating a refueling and transport point for NATO forces, it would present a challenge to President Obama's highest foreign policy priority: the war in Afghanistan.
In a statement yesterday, the US Embassy in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, said it had not received a formal notification of the decision, and that discussions with Kyrgyz authorities are continuing. If Parliament approves the law, Kyrgyz authorities must give Washington 180 days' notice before closing the base, according to the original treaty, which was signed in 2001.
The move could disrupt a fragile detente between Moscow and Washington that emerged after Obama took office.
And CUI BONO, 'eh?
Afghanistan has been seen as a jumping-off point for cooperation between the United States and Russia, which is wary of the spread of Islamic extremism.
The Russians should be wary of "Al-CIA-Duh!" They know what happened in Afghanistan in the 1980s!
"It's an extremely serious point, because the premise of American policy is that there is a common interest here," said Stephen Sestanovich, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, which is based in New York. "If they're trying to tell us otherwise, that message will get through."
Need I even say it?
The question of supply lines to NATO and American forces in Afghanistan has become increasingly acute with attacks on the centuries-old route from Pakistan over the Khyber Pass.
Need I even say it? WHO wants to get boots into Pakistan?
On Tuesday, Taliban militants blew up a bridge, forcing the suspension of road shipments. According to The Associated Press yesterday, militants then torched 10 trucks stranded in Pakistan as a result of the bridge destruction.
The uncertainties surrounding the supply lines have added urgency to American and NATO efforts to secure alternative supply lines through Central Asia.
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Of course, the U.S. always has a backup!!
WASHINGTON - The United States is considering resuming military cooperation with authoritarian Uzbekistan as a part of backup planning for the potential loss of a nearby air hub for troops and supplies in the widening Afghanistan war, US officials said yesterday.
Defense officials say they are examining options for supply routes through a semicircle of nations from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf that could be used in place of the strategic air base in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan.
Uzbekistan, a hard-line former Soviet satellite with rigid economic controls, is a surprise contender because diplomatic relations between the United States and Uzbekistan are rocky at best. After a brief 1990s rapprochement with the United States, the Uzbeks expelled American forces from a base there in 2005, and the two nations have traded accusations ever since.
Which means we don't give a shit about human rights, democracy, or any of that garbage we care to claim so much about. It's ALL ABOUT WAR in AmeriKa!!!!
Defense officials said planning to substitute for Manas is a preliminary hedge in case the Bishkek government makes good on a threat to expel the United States from a hub serving about 15,000 US personnel coming and going from Afghanistan each month, along with 500 tons of goods.
Defense officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans are preliminary and the United States is still negotiating with Kyrgyzstan about continued use of the base. Several officials said that dispute is likely to come down to money: Either the United States agrees to a significant increase in rent or Kyrgyzstan will yield to Russian pressure to kick the United States out.
Of course, the U.S. NEVER PRESSURES ANYBODY! Not like we withhold aid or anything (hi, Hamas).
Asked about the Kyrgyz situation in an appearance at the State Department, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it was troubling but would not impede US plans to expand its military presence in Afghanistan. She said the Pentagon was "conducting an examination as to how else we would proceed" in the event the Manas air base is no longer available.
"It's regrettable that this is under consideration by the government of Kyrgyzstan," Clinton told reporters, "and we hope to have further discussions with them. But we will proceed in a very effective manner no matter what the outcome of the Kyrgyzstan government's deliberations might be."
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs called the Manas base a vital hub for Afghanistan and said the United States is trying to "remedy" the problem with Kyrgyzstan. The United States set up Manas and a base in neighboring Uzbekistan in 2001 to back operations in Afghanistan. Uzbekistan expelled US troops from the base on its territory in 2005, leaving Manas as the only US military facility in the immediate region.
Besides opening new supply routes from Uzbekistan and other Central Asian nations, another potential option - although one with significant logistical problems - would be a new air supply route from the United Arab Emirates, one official said.
Yup, ONE WAY or ANOTHER we are going to KILL a bunch of Afghans who NEVER DID ANYTHING TO US -- no matter HOW MUCH FUEL (carbon footprint of?) and MONEY it costs!!!!
"It's just at the point of looking at it. There aren't cost estimates yet," or other crucial data that the new Obama administration would need, and no option has emerged as a preference, one official said. "We have to consider that now," the official said of the potential loss of the base, "and we are."
Seldom has a country fallen faster from Washington's grace than Uzbekistan, the result largely of the attacks by heavily armed government forces against peaceful demonstrators in the eastern city of Andijan in 2005. Hundreds are believed to have died.
Oh! So the West was trying to overthrow the dude's government, huh?
No wonder he kicked them out!
Uzbek President Islam Karimov, whom human rights groups call a strongman who tolerates no dissent, bristled at Western criticism after the massacre. A promising anti-terrorism partnership hatched after the Sept. 11 attacks withered, and Karimov booted the United States from the Karshi-Khanabad base near Afghanistan. Karimov edged closer to Russia after that, but he has recently indicated a desire to end the rift with the West.
Yeah, sure he has.
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"Russia grants transit rights to US for military supplies; Step comes amid Kyrgyz plan to close air base" by Mike Eckel, Associated Press | February 7, 2009
Did they? New York Times Lied About Russian Supply Route
MOSCOW - Russia granted transit rights yesterday for non-lethal US military supplies headed to Afghanistan, but only after apparently pressuring a former Soviet state to close an air base leased to the Americans.
The signal from Moscow: Russia is willing to help on Afghanistan, but only on the Kremlin's terms. Kyrgyzstan announced the closure of the Manas air base, but US officials suspect that Russia was behind the decision, having long been irritated by the US presence in Central Asia.
The Russian decision to let US supplies cross its territory opened an alternate route to those through Pakistan that are threatened by militant attack, but US officials were still left scrambling for alternatives to Manas.
Why? Russians got 'em by the balls, don't they?
Russia wants to open discussions on thorny policy issues that Washington and Moscow have clashed on in recent years - NATO enlargement, missile defense in Europe, a new strategic arms control treaty. More importantly, Russia's expectation is that Washington must go through Moscow where Central Asia is concerned.
Russia may also be showing Washington that its positions aren't immovable - particularly where Afghanistan is concerned. Russia fears Afghanistan is collapsing into anarchy, leading to instability or Islamic radicals migrating northward through Central Asia....
That would be an "Al-CIA-Duh" migration!!
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Any new transit routes are unlikely to make up for the loss of Manas, home to planes that refuel warplanes over Afghanistan as well as airlifts and medical evacuation operations. The Kremlin last year signed a framework deal with NATO for transit of non-lethal cargo for coalition forces in Afghanistan and has allowed some alliance members, including Germany, France and Spain, to move supplies across its territory....
Then why are we such pricks to them? Why order our proxy Georgia to attack them?
The United States has reached a preliminary deal with Kazakhstan to use its territory, and officials have said they are considering resuming military cooperation with Uzbekistan, which neighbors Afghanistan.
WTF? They have about SIX OPTIONS?
The WAR WILL GO ON no matter WHAT the WORLD THINKS!!!!!
That option is problematic for Washington: Uzbekistan kicked US forces out of a base there after sharp US criticism of the country's human rights record and the government's brutal repression of a 2005 uprising. Renewing those ties would also open the United States to new accusations it is working with an authoritarian government that tortures its citizens.
Well, WE TORTURE, so.....
Uzbekistan has also faced a low-level insurgency from Islamic radicals, though a government crackdown has quelled much of it.
With us or against us, right?
US officials have repeatedly said talks with Kyrgyzstan on the Manas base are still ongoing. US State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid suggested yesterday that Kyrgyz officials may be divided over whether to close the base, a source of income for the impoverished nation. "They've not told us they reached a final decision," Duguid said.
Just keep talking, pentagon flakker!
Kyrgyzstan's parliament delayed a vote on the government's decision until next week, and some Kyrgyz officials have indicated they may be willing to discuss the issue with the United States. But National Security Council chief Adakhan Madumarov said yesterday the decision to close the base was final.
"Frankly, we thought it was a negotiating tactic, and we were ready to call their bluff," an unnamed military official told the Wall Street Journal Thursday. “But it's becoming clearer that, no kidding, they want us out.”
See how the MSM is behaving like a wishful teenager?
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And now I understand why this particular item has been in the paper for four days running:
"Russia tests Obama
THE KREMLIN wasted no time hurling a brushback pitch at President Obama when Kyrgyzstan's president announced Tuesday - from Moscow - that his country will be closing the sole American air base in Central Asia. The Manas Air Base is a crucial transit point for supplies and NATO troops going to Afghanistan.
Notice of the base closing came just after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev granted Kyrgyzstan $2 billion in loans along with $150 million in financial aid. The Kremlin also agreed to write off $180 million of debt and to provide a loan for a $1.7 billion hydropower plant in Kyrgyzstan. Given Russia's cratering economy, this investment in the loyalty of a former Soviet republic is obviously something the Russian ruling class values highly.
Now compare that to the United States and its support of ISRAEL!!!
I'm WAITING fior an EDITORIAL, Globe!!!
These maneuvers are Russia's way of telling Obama that even though US and Russian interests in opposing the Taliban converge in Afghanistan, its cooperation will not come free of charge. Medvedev, and even more so Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, are warning they will not tolerate unauthorized foreign poaching on Russia's periphery.
Just as WE WOULD NOT TOLERATE IT in Mexico or Canada, folks!!!
Obama's response to this barely veiled blackmail needs to be cool and pragmatic. Both Kyrgyzstan's president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, and his Russian backers have hinted that the announcement about the air base is meant only as the opening move in what they hope is a bargaining session.
Bakiyev noted in Moscow that he has been telling the Americans they must be less tight-fisted in negotiations over the price for renewing rights to Manas. At present, he receives total payments worth $150 million from the United States; $63 million of that sum is earmarked as rent for the air base.
Think we could use that $150 mil HERE, Amurkn?
Bakiyev might well reverse his decision to close the base once the Americans meet his price. But the message Bakiyev and his Kremlin financiers sent Tuesday is that something more will be required. If NATO forces are to be resupplied without having to traverse the dangerous Khyber Pass in Afghanistan, Obama may also have to cut a more encompassing deal with Putin.
Please, please, please take me back! Please!
Putin wants Obama to cancel or postpone deployment of the defective missile defense system that President Bush wished to locate in Poland and the Czech Republic. Obama will also be expected to back off from Bush's support of fast-track NATO membership for the former Sovet republics of Georgia and Ukraine. And now Putin is trying to show Obama that all foreign dealing with the nations of Central Asia must pass muster with the Kremlin.
Russia wants these concessions badly. It will be up to Obama to exact the right price.Why must a PRICE be EXACTED when we are talking PEACE?
Shouldn't BOTH SIDES be BENEFITTING?
And IF NOT, then we are NOT REALLY TALKING about PEACE, are we?
We are talking about POWER and CONTROL -- and THAT is ALL AmeriKa cares about!!!
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