Kyrgyz plan to boot U.S. air base surprises Pentagon

[biopowertoday]

I am not sure sending in thiry T. more troops is the answer as Obama has announced. It is LARGE tribal country.


http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/feb/04/1n4kyrgyz002658-kyrgyz-plan-boot-us-air-base-surpr/?uniontrib



Kyrgyz plan to boot U.S. air base surprises Pentagon

THE WASHINGTON POST

2:00 a.m. February 4, 2009

MOSCOW — The president of Kyrgyzstan said yesterday that his government had decided to close the last remaining American air base in Central Asia, a move that could present a significant setback to U.S. plans to send more troops to Afghanistan and to open new supply routes that would allow NATO to reduce shipments through a dangerous corridor in Pakistan.

Speaking after a meeting here in which Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to extend $2 billion in loans to the impoverished former Soviet republic, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said the decision was prompted by U.S. refusals to pay more for the base and by growing public hostility to the U.S. military presence in his country.

The announcement came as the Obama administration prepares to deploy as many as 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, and appeared to catch the Pentagon off guard.

Senior U.S. military officials in Washington said they had received no official notification from the Kyrgyz government about closing Manas Air Base, which was established in late 2001 at the start of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. One official described Bakiyev's statement as “posturing” and an attempt to extract more money. ....................

[rpannier]

1. It was on Television in Tokyo this morning

Found it interesting that the Kyrgi gov`t made this announcement in Moscow, shortly after meeting with the Russian president and getting billions in loans and aid

[leftstreet]

2. Yeah, what's up with that?

Just two days ago the Kremlin announced they'd allow the US and NATO to move "non-military" cargo through Russia.