Kyrgyzstan: US base closure ‘final’
By Fred Weir | Correspondent 02.06.09
Moscow – The Kyrgyz government’s order to close the Pentagon’s Manas air base, which is a vital link in the supply chain to NATO forces in nearby Afghanistan, is “final” and there’s nothing further to discuss.
So declared several top officials of the mountainous ex-Soviet state Friday, indicating that they expect the 1,000 or so US personnel who’ve occupied the sprawling facility for the past eight years to be gone, along with all the hardware they’ve parked there, by this summer.
Though Moscow officially denies any connection, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced his decision to close the base after receiving a generous aid package from the Kremlin, including a $2 billion loan, a $150 million gift, and a full write-off of Kyrgyzstan’s $180 million debt to Moscow. That compares with annual US assistance to the impoverished Central Asian nation of around $150 million, including $63 million for rental of Manas.
The closure could strike a serious blow to President Barack Obama’s plan to double US force levels in Afghanistan by the end of this year, and it comes just as sabotage threatens to cripple the main supply route used by NATO forces via Pakistan. The Monitor reported Friday on the growing tension resulting from the US presence in the region.
But it is probably no coincidence that a contradictory signal came out of Moscow on the same day.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists that Russia is ready to come to the rescue and provide the needed transport corridor. “We are waiting for our American partners to send us an official request listing the amount and the nature of the supplies,” Mr. Lavrov told Russia’s Vesti-24 TV station. “We will issue the relevant order as soon as this happens.”
Though some in the US say they’re perplexed by these differing signals, Russian experts say it’s not difficult to decode: Nowadays the Kremlin regards the former USSR as Russia’s sphere of influence, and if Mr. Obama wants to plan a supply route to Afghanistan through former Soviet territory, he’d better send his people to Moscow to discuss it first.
“The message is that if Washington doesn’t want to hold a constructive dialogue with us, then we can create very big obstacles for anything it wants to do in this region,” says Andrei Grozin, a central Asia expert at the official Institute of Commonwealth of Independent States in Moscow.
Though the Kremlin assented to planting the first-ever US bases on former Soviet territory during the brief honeymoon that followed the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, experts say it’s grown increasingly impatient as the Americans appeared to settle down permanently at Manas.
Closing down Manas is “a tough invitation to come and talk” with the Kremlin, says Mr. Grozin.
Or, put another way, an offer Obama can’t refuse.
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2. Drew | 02.06.09
If they want us out then do not leave any thing them nor the Russians can use. We should take everything back home, including the concrete for runways, pipes, electric wiring, and all the materials used to create the base. Also, lets take back the monetary assistance we have given them and put it to use on our country. Yeah, we have been in Afghanistan longer than needed, but don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
3. Rick Cain | 02.06.09
The Kyrgyz base is a legacy of an ineffective president. With a new president you have new policies. I think its good that Medvedev and Obama hammer out something new rather than cling to the past like its some sort of security blanket.
Change isn’t limited to domestic issues. The cold war is over. Bush may have not gotten the memo, but Obama has.
4. Matt | 02.06.09
This has nothing to do w/ the “incompetence” of the Bush admin and everthing w/testing the new Obama admin. Maybe they see Obama as being weak or to test how he’ll react to this? We shall see.
5. jm | 02.06.09
This isn’t good, but we have bigger fish to fry right now. Stabilizing Pakistan/Afghanistan and getting a resolution on Israel/Palestine will do much more to increase our influence in eurasia, since Iran is the big problem nowadays. I wonder if Russia is also trying to get money out of us, i.e. spend $3bn on Kyrgyzstan and get $5bn out of us later?
6. William Hall | 02.06.09
Political rhetoric aside, here’s an interesting thought:
(Politely) Ask the Iranian governments, secular and religious, if there is any way we could use some of their territory for a base. Then, if they refuse in an impolite fashion, we could respectfully decline to discuss any substantive changes in our current relationship, on the grounds of their unnecessarily uncivil refusal to even begin negotiations.
7. lh | 02.07.09
The Kremlin see the Obama administration as weak and now has an opportunity to exploit that weakness. The Democrats will always be weak on Americas national defense.
8. Joe | 02.08.09
Don’t blame Bush for this one. This is on the Obama watch. Not only that, but Biden is going to abandon our East European allies. And two Americans died in Afghanistan yesterday in a road-side bombing. This is Obama’s blood now. He could bring all the troops home right now. He has the votes and the power. Time to take responsibility and stop blaming Bush.
9. Homunculis | 02.08.09
Comments from posters like “Andy” just show pure ignorance. More leftie sniping that has nothing to do with the article, no meaningful thoughts. Just puerile sniping by liberal sycophants. ‘Bush bad, fire good”
Bush and Cheney achieved amazing results in wooing former client states to support our mission in Afghanistan. This while still pursuing our global strategic interests in opposition to Russian interference. A month in to the Obama administration and now we have beg Moscow to keep our supply chain open. You better believe the missile shield is out the window, and we will have to cede control to Russia over affairs from Kazakhstan to Ukraine.
10. Tad | 02.09.09
@ Andy:
So now that Obama is President (you do know that, I imagine), Russia strong arms one of our allies in the region and its Bush’s .. er Cheney’s fault? I had really hoped BDS would subside now that he’s out of office, but apparently not.
Obama’s weakness is evident to everyone around the whole world already. If anything is Bush’s fault, it lies in his contrast to Obama’s obviously weaker backbone (can’t we all just get along…?)
I can’t wait for Obama to apologize to Iran.
11. Hiero | 02.09.09
“Don’t blame Bush”; “Obama’s watch?” Are you kidding?
It’s hard to negotiate from a position of weakness, and this position didn’t develop overnight. It resulted from an series of strategic blunders, which are really quite astonishing now to think about.
On a more positive note, in Central Asia, no rarely means no; there’s usually room to negotiate. This is trouble (and expensive) for US policymakers, but nothing that can’t be handled without waxing hysterical. The US has been manoeuvred into a pretty ridiculous position–inappropriate to its size, strength, and depth of experience–and now we’ll have to manoeuvre out.
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1. Andy | 02.06.09
More evidence Cheney and his puppet Bush were completely incompetent and not acting in America’s interests.
While fighting the wrong war they make a diplomatic mess that makes it far more difficult to fight the right war now that we have a competent commander in chief.