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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Kyrgyzstan moves to shut US-run Menas air base |
| 2010-04-10 |
| Kyrgyzstan's new leaders have said they intend to remove a US military base, which currently serves as the premier air mobility hub for the US-led forces in Afghanistan, from their soil. The interim government led by ex-foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva, has said it wants the US base, Manas, closed down for security reasons. The remarks came amid growing uncertainty over whether the new Kyrgyz authorities would allow the US to use the base. Russia, which itself maintains an air base at Kant, just 20 miles from Manas, has been keen to block US military presence in the region. Moscow has been increasingly concerned about US military's prolonged presence in the geo-strategically important Region. This is while the opposition has taken power and dissolved the parliament. Otunbayeva has promised a new constitution and a presidential election at some point in the next six months. She says a care-taker government will serve as both presidency and parliament for now. The ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev has refused oppositions demands to resign. Meanwhile, protestors in the capital Bishkek have demolished and burned the house of the toppled president. The opposition claims to be in full control of the capital, the armed forces and the media. Earlier, the interim government allowed police to use firearms and shoot looters across the Kyrgyz capital. Wednesday's unrest that toppled the government claimed at least 75 lives with over 1000 others injured. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #7 And with Barry the Retreater, that may be just a single year. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2010-04-10 16:12 |
| #6 ed: Manas pumps about $250M/year into the the economy. This actually beats $2b in Russian loans, since the Russian loans are tied to purchases of Russian stuff, whereas the $250m is in cold hard cash, every single year. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2010-04-10 16:03 |
| #5 The roll-back is beginning. I expect more of this as the Zero's moonbeam/butterfly policies mature. |
| Posted by: SR-71 2010-04-10 11:47 |
| #4 Just because we were paying $250 mil doesn't mean that the people were seeing any of it. I'd check the Swiss and Cayman accounts of the suddenly ex-President. I'd also offer to continue that quiet and lucrative arrangement with the new president. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2010-04-10 11:05 |
| #3 This was seen coming - it has been inevitible. Need to find and payoff another nation in the stan's / cacus to mobilize out of or pull out of Afghanistan. No Logistics, no war. |
| Posted by: newc 2010-04-10 08:19 |
| #2 Premature whacking off by the ayatollahs' toe jam lickers. The last statements were: Omurbek Tekebayev, a former Kyrgyz opposition leader who took charge of constitutional matters in the new government, said that "Russia played its role in ousting Bakiyev." "You've seen the level of Russia's joy when they saw Bakiyev gone," he told Reuters. "So now there is a high probability that the duration of the U.S. air base's presence in Kyrgyzstan will be shortened." and Roza Otunbayeva, a former foreign minister now heading the interim government, said there were no plans yet to review the lease agreement for the Manas air base, which runs out in July. She said her government would meet U.S. diplomats for talks in Bishkek. "Give us time, it will take time for us to understand and fix the situation," Otunbayeva said. At this time I will place more weight on the statement from the new leader, Roza Otunbayeva. Manas pumps about $250M/year into the the economy. That's 5% of GDP and the only bright spot in a nation with a crippled economy. It will be even more this year. Something the Russians won't replace year in, year out. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-04-10 08:16 |
| #1 a POTUS with 'nads would've seen this coming (thanks CIA!) and not even bothered with the Nuke treaty BS and Missile Defense giveaway. We have a pansy as POTUS |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-04-10 00:45 |