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Asked to go - so will they go ?
Topic Started: Jul 31 2005, 09:52 AM (224 Views)
somerled
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Admiral MacDonald RN
US asked to leave Uzbek air base
Quote:
 
Uzbekistan has reportedly given the US six months to move out of a key base used for operations in Afghanistan.
The notice to leave Karshi-Khanabad air base, known as K2, was given to the US embassy in the Uzbek capital on Friday.

A Pentagon spokesman said the US was "evaluating the note to see exactly what it means". :headscratch:

Uzbekistan has been an ally of the US in Central Asia, but correspondents say relations were strained over the bloody suppression of a protest in May.

Earlier this month, Russia, China and four Central Asian states demanded a timetable for US troop withdrawal from the region, saying military operations in Afghanistan were coming to an end.

Washington's rivals for regional dominance, Russia and China, have made it clear they do not want to see US forces in the region on a permanent basis.

Kyrgyz backing

The Uzbek government requested in its letter that the US terminate all its operations in Uzbekistan, Pentagon spokesman Glenn Flood said.

He said he did not know why the request had been made and the US state department was assessing the note.

The Washington Post reported that the US had been given six months to move aircraft, personnel and military equipment from the base in southern Uzbekistan.

Mr Flood said the request had not come as a complete surprise, as Washington had always been aware that Tashkent could end the arrangement.

But he said the base had been important for US military operations in neighbouring Afghanistan and that those operations were continuing.

The eviction notice came days after US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld returned from a visit to Uzbek neighbours Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Officials in Kyrgyzstan affirmed that US forces could continue to use Manas air base for as long as the Afghan war requires.

Mr Rumsfeld said he did not believe US operations in Afghanistan would be hurt if Tashkent denied continued use of K2, because there are other options in the region.

Andijan dispute

Flights into the K2 base had been reduced at the request of the Uzbek authorities, after the US criticised the government over events in Andijan.

Earlier this month, the US signalled that it may withhold $22m of aid to Uzbekistan, unless it allows a full inquiry.

There are still disputed versions of exactly what happened on 13 May, when troops fired on a crowd of people.

The government says the violence was the result of an attempt by Islamic militants to seize power, and puts the number of dead at 173.

But leading human rights groups say many hundreds of civilians were killed, with Human Rights Watch describing the incident as a "massacre".

Washington has already withheld $8m of aid to Uzbekistan in protest at President Islam Karimov's record on human rights.



Pretty obvious I would say - they want the US military to leave , has the USA worn out its welcome in Uzbekistan ?
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24thcenstfan
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Something Wicked This Fae Comes
Since this is more political, relating to US Foreign Policy/military matters and you provide commentary, I moved this to the UPIR Forum.
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Swidden
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Adm. Gadfly-at-large; Provisional wRench-fly at large
somerled
Jul 31 2005, 07:52 AM
Quote:
 
Andijan dispute

Flights into the K2 base had been reduced at the request of the Uzbek authorities, after the US criticised the government over events in Andijan.

Earlier this month, the US signalled that it may withhold $22m of aid to Uzbekistan, unless it allows a full inquiry.

There are still disputed versions of exactly what happened on 13 May, when troops fired on a crowd of people.

The government says the violence was the result of an attempt by Islamic militants to seize power, and puts the number of dead at 173.

But leading human rights groups say many hundreds of civilians were killed, with Human Rights Watch describing the incident as a "massacre".

Washington has already withheld $8m of aid to Uzbekistan in protest at President Islam Karimov's record on human rights.



Pretty obvious I would say - they want the US military to leave , has the USA worn out its welcome in Uzbekistan ?

I have bolded a couple of segments from the article you linked that might have more to do with the reason for the US being asked to leave.

I believe the colloquial term is: "Shakedown."
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somerled
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Admiral MacDonald RN
Swidden
Aug 1 2005, 01:22 AM
somerled
Jul 31 2005, 07:52 AM
Quote:
 
Andijan dispute

Flights into the K2 base had been reduced at the request of the Uzbek authorities, after the US criticised the government over events in Andijan.

Earlier this month, the US signalled that it may withhold $22m of aid to Uzbekistan, unless it allows a full inquiry.

There are still disputed versions of exactly what happened on 13 May, when troops fired on a crowd of people.

The government says the violence was the result of an attempt by Islamic militants to seize power, and puts the number of dead at 173.

But leading human rights groups say many hundreds of civilians were killed, with Human Rights Watch describing the incident as a "massacre".

Washington has already withheld $8m of aid to Uzbekistan in protest at President Islam Karimov's record on human rights.



Pretty obvious I would say - they want the US military to leave , has the USA worn out its welcome in Uzbekistan ?

I have bolded a couple of segments from the article you linked that might have more to do with the reason for the US being asked to leave.

I believe the colloquial term is: "Shakedown."

Maybe.

But - if they are serious (and it sounds so) , will the USA military leave ?
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Swidden
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Adm. Gadfly-at-large; Provisional wRench-fly at large
somerled
Jul 31 2005, 08:22 PM
Swidden
Aug 1 2005, 01:22 AM
somerled
Jul 31 2005, 07:52 AM
Quote:
 
Andijan dispute

Flights into the K2 base had been reduced at the request of the Uzbek authorities, after the US criticised the government over events in Andijan.

Earlier this month, the US signalled that it may withhold $22m of aid to Uzbekistan, unless it allows a full inquiry.

There are still disputed versions of exactly what happened on 13 May, when troops fired on a crowd of people.

The government says the violence was the result of an attempt by Islamic militants to seize power, and puts the number of dead at 173.

But leading human rights groups say many hundreds of civilians were killed, with Human Rights Watch describing the incident as a "massacre".

Washington has already withheld $8m of aid to Uzbekistan in protest at President Islam Karimov's record on human rights.



Pretty obvious I would say - they want the US military to leave , has the USA worn out its welcome in Uzbekistan ?

I have bolded a couple of segments from the article you linked that might have more to do with the reason for the US being asked to leave.

I believe the colloquial term is: "Shakedown."

Maybe.

But - if they are serious (and it sounds so) , will the USA military leave ?

If they are serious (and it is a big "if") what choice do we have?

No, I suspect this is how they hope to get us to cough up the money they want.
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24thcenstfan
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Something Wicked This Fae Comes
^^Exactly. If it came down to it, we would have little choice but to leave.

However, I suspect that they just want money from us too.
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who
Have light saber. Will travel.
I do not know enough about the specifics of this situation. It would be interesting to see if Condi Rice has commented on it publicly as she is an expert in the area. I often hear reports in the US when bases close because of the decreased economic activity. I often hear protests of our bases overseas. The world has changed much since the end of the cold war.

I am not a foreign policy expert, but I would like to see almost all foreign bases closed (except for current commitments) and foreign aid dramically changed and reduced. I think the money could be spent in better ways.
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Admiralbill_gomec
UberAdmiral
This is nothing more than a shakedown.

Yes, the US will leave if asked, and we'll take our support and logistics, and our technology too. Their loss.
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WayneSTOSfan
Lieutenant
Perhaps this will provide a more interesting reason. BOLDING (if it worked is MINE)

The Christian Science Monitor
Mon Aug 1, 4:00 AM ET

The Name of the Great Game

The "great game" for influence in the old imperial playground of Central Asia took an important twist last week.



Uzbekistan handed an eviction notice to the US to exit an air base that's been used to track down terrorists in neighboring Afghanistan and to rebuild that country after the US-led ouster of the Taliban in 2001.

The eviction notice is no big deal, the US claims. Its forces already have access to bases in two other "stans," Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. And besides, perhaps the notice is only an opening gambit by the Uzbek regime of President Islam Karimov to negotiate for more money in renting out that key real estate.

What's more, does Uzbekistan really want to throw itself back under the shadow of Russia? Both Moscow and Beijing have lately stepped up pressure on Central Asia nations to keep the US out of their backyard.

Just the same, the eviction notice is an important sign that the US is quite willing to antagonize a dictator and possibly lose a military base used in fighting terrorism in order to achieve a broader aim: establishing democracy in Islamic nations.

That decision was forced on the US last May when Uzbekistan's forces killed a few hundred protesters in an uprising against the Karimov regime, which has not tolerated dissent.

The killings were a gross human rights violation the US could not ignore, even if Karimov claims, rather dubiously, that he was merely suppressing Islamic radicals.

On Friday, more than 400 people who had fled to Kyrgyzstan after the uprising were flown to Romania. They were wanted by the Uzbek regime, and their rescue is a clear sign where the US stands. The next step for Washington is to withhold as much as $22 million in aid to the regime in Tashkent if it fails to move toward democracy with political reform.

While the US "war" on terrorists remains a priority, the other goal of spreading democracy should sometimes trump it. Perhaps that's why the White House last week announced that the term "global war on terrorism" will now be called the "global struggle against violent extremism."

Definitions matter, and in Central Asia, the name of the game is not just to kill or capture terrorists, but for the US to struggle for democracy as a way to suppress any terrorism.

During the cold war, the US took a long time to learn that its befriending of anticommunist dictators often ended up helping communists. The US has now made a strategic choice with Uzbekistan to not abandon long-term American ideals on democracy for the sake of short-term tactical advantage in combating terrorists.

I found this especially interesting as SOME on this board had indicated it would NEVER happen................AND had indicated we were contaminating ourselves with dictators

ok, MIN, since I don't know how to LINK and other attempts failed...
Lets see if this works....
HOPE that's sufficient
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Minuet
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Fleet Admiral Assistant wRench, Chief Supper Officer
Administrative Comment

Wayne you need to provide a source for your article or we may have to remove it.
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