Yankees, go home ...

Off-Topic Off Topic - Militaria
#1

http://en.rian.ru/world/20090203/119963381.html

Kyrgyzstan says will close U.S. base, secures Russian loan, aid
Kyrgyzstan will demand the closure of a U.S. military base on its territory, used to support antiterrorism operations in neighboring Afghanistan, the Central Asian state’s president said on Tuesday.

Kurmanbek Bakiyev is on a two-day visit in Moscow, where he also secured deals to write off Kyrgyzstan’s $180 million debt and to receive a $2 billion discounted loan and $150 million in financial aid from Russia.

“The Kyrgyz government has taken a decision to terminate the rent of the base,” Bakiyev told a news conference after talks with Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev, citing Washington’s refusal to discuss a higher rent and reluctance to address the 2006 killing by a U.S. officer of a Kyrgyz man in an incident at the base.

“If we fail to ensure our citizens’ security, unresolved problems will cause legitimate public discontent,” Bakiyev said.

New U.S. President Barack Obama has announced plans to considerably increase troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. airbase was set up in 2001 as a transit point for NATO supplies to the international coalition in Afghanistan and now houses more than 1,000 military personnel.

Russia backed the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan, but its relations with NATO have deteriorated since over the bloc’s ongoing eastward expansion and most recently an armed conflict with Georgia. Russia also has a base in Kyrgyzstan under a post-Soviet security pact.

The deal to write off part of the Central Asian state’s debt and settle the other part by selling some real estate and enterprises to Russia was signed in the presidents’ presence.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said in Bishkek last week that the Russian government was entitled to a former defense sector plant in Kyrgyzstan and a building in the capital to accommodate a Russian cultural center.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, President Medvedev said: “Russia will give Kyrgyzstan a $2 billion loan and non-refundable $150-million grant … to stabilize the budget and finance key infrastructure projects, including the construction of a hydroelectric power plant.”

Medvedev said a separate agreement had been signed to build the 1,900 MW Kambaratinsk hydro power plant. Earlier reports said $1.7 billion would be invested in the project.

The money is vital for the impoverished state, which is plagued by instability. This year, Kyrgyzstan will have to pay $240 per 1,000 cu m for Uzbek natural gas, up from last year’s $145.

I/m interested how really much the US needs the base in Kyrgyzstan to support their troops in Afganistan?
I mean will the closure of this base be the critical for US military operation in that region?

#2

I’d rather ask myself if the closure of the base is a mandatory requirement of the Russian government before granting financial support to Kyrgyzstan…

#3

So is the Russian gov’t apparently, and it is seen as a test of Obama’s resolve…

A rather childish one since I can hardly see Russia benefiting from a Taliban victory in Afghanistan…

Oh well, there’s always Uzbekistan…

But yes, the US needs an alternative to Pakistan, which is very unstable and the gov’'t never bothered to establish any sort of sovereignty in Waziristan because they were more fucking worried about the Indian control of Kashmir than their own control of their own fucking country!

#4

Apparently the Kyrgyzstan made this announcement without consulting the prime minister or any other lawmakers. The decision in the end will be theirs…

The Kyrgyzstan prime minister was quoted as saying that the deal with Russia had nothing to do with the U.S. base but the timing is just too convenient. Interestingly Russia extended a request yesterday to participate more actively in Afghanistan. The whole deal sounds like a little saber rattling from Russia and an attempt by Kyrgyzstan to get more money for the lease on the base to me.

#5

It’s definitely a case of Kyrgyzstan looking for more cash, they done this before.

#6

Can’t blame them,it’s not like it’s the richest country in the world.
I had the chance to work with a couple from Kyrgyzstan,they were some decent people,hard workers and proud but they would admit their country wasn’t very strong economically.
If this help,then why not?
And Russia with their knowledge of Afghanistan could be an asset to the allied troops.

#7

I think the ‘Allies’ are learning enough all by themselves about losing that conflict without help from the last major nation to cop a flogging in Afghanistan.

#8

And isn’t it their good right? For a change, they have something the US want (a location for their planes) and the Russians want (a way to become more important in the world stage again).

Obviously they’ll try to make the best out of it, they’re a sovereign country with its own needs, too.

What they obviously don’t care about is that all this is going to strain the US-Russian relations even more!

#9

Looks like the true for me.

#10

Yeah the Pakistan can be losed for US controll through soon probably.
If the Islamic radicals once will have got the power here - we will see the much fun;)

#11

Once the radicals get to full power, there will probably be a war with India. Which would become nuclear, unless the Pakistani president is smart enough to order their nukes destroyed before he loses power…

#12

They’ve had the power there within various factions of the Pakistani gov’t as many in the ISI at least are partially sympathetic to Islamic radicals and they created the Taliban as a means to influence, control, and prevent Afghanistan from ever creating a stable state. I doubt they’ll ever control the gov’t that seems intricately beset by factionalism…

#13

You can bet every nuclear power is crunching the numbers in their models of this possibility. Pakistan needs to have an escape route for their nukes to some safe place. I’m sure that all the nuke powers will argue to be that safe place. I have always believed that a nuclear exchange would not be between any of the major powers, but by some little snot nosed faction, who have managed to get their mitts one one. I would place them in a vault at Banque Swiss, or at least Gringott’s .

#14

I see 3 elements in the mix, none of them particularly stabilising or helpful.

A> Uzbeks need cash fast, and like any nation in such a case, will attempt to extract as much as possible from the available sources : USA and Russia.

B> Pakistan is in some ways less stable than Uzbekistan, but then in truth none of the “|X|stan” nations have ever truly been stable in the last 100 years. Neither of the nations that tried to induce stability in the “|X|stans” truly succeeded. Which, unfortunately, does tend to load the odds towards Pakistan letting loose with nukes (Gee, Thanks, France, for teaching them the how of it). That in turn means severe economic/political stability issues for the entire Asian central subcontinent and thereby, the rest of the world, eventually.

C> The need for a warm water port may nowdays be “less” for Russia, but that would not stop her from taking steps to build towards gaining access to one, via a diverse number of means and routes, of which Uzbekistan and Afghanistan are (after 90 years) almost traditional.

Regards, Uyraell.