Russia is again undermining U.S. foreign policy in Central Asia, straining our operations in Afghanistan and forcing U.S. Gen. David Petraeus to seek plan-b alternative agreements with U.S. partners in the region.
U.S. General David Petraeus met yesterday with Kazakh Military officials, pushing for more options to supply U.S. troops if its current partners back out on our base agreements and cowtail to Russian influence. (Photo Courtesy: defesanet.com)
As the New Europe reports today, Kyrgyz and Russian officials are glowing over their strengthened military partnership, but there’s much more below the surface, and it’s not good for the U.S. In the past few days, it appears that Russia is offering billions in aid to countries like Kyrgyzstan in exchange for their agreeing to not renew U.S. leases on bases in their countries. It has the U.S., in response, working with neighboring partners like Kazakhstan in hopes for alternatives. The goal: keep Russian influence from disrupting key supply routes and support infrastructure for U.S. military operations in Afghanistan.
The former Central Asian Republics surrounding Afghanistan are all key partners to the U.S. in the war on terror and in hopes of re-stabilizing the region. They're also Russia's back yard, and Moscow is very territorial.
Eurasianet, a great news source on Central Asia, released a well-reported update on this issue yesterday, here. The dynamics are complex, and Russia’s financial lever over Kyrgyzstan is a driving factor in the equation. Moscow has the Kyrgyz by the balls with over $180 Million in debt, according to this piece. With the U.S. paying $17 million for annual rent on the base, and the lease expiring in 6-months, Russians are pushing for a cancellation (even though Moscow’s base lease agreements receive rubber stamp renewals each time, see.) Thus, the motivation for the U.S. to seek a second-track option through Kazakhstan, and likely, other neighboring Central Asian states as well.
As we’ve posted about before, here, and here, U.S. supply routes to Afghanistan remain a key objective of our foreign policy efforts in the region to combat terrorism in Afghanistan, support our troops in that effort, and refurbish the region’s crumbling infrastructure. Russia knows this too.
(Did we mention Moscow’s PM and ex-pres and ex-KGB head, Putin is a boy lover? Oh, we didn’t. Maybe you should check out this clip on Youtube.)
Aside from Moscow’s pension for little boys and crushing Central Asia’s economy, another underlying factor we think no-one should overlook, is their strongly held belief that the former Central Asian Republics are within Moscow’s sphere of influence. This sentiment motivates many of their moves in energy markets, and military presence in the region. They’re weakening our positions on security issues from the Middle East to Central Asia as a result, as we discussed in a post here. To help western audiences understand why, imagine if Russia had military bases in Central America, and was cutting troop presence agreements and running oil pipelines across the country to ship crude to other markets. This is similar to how Moscow views our presence–both overt and covert–in Central Asia. Remember Bay of Pigs. Yeah.
What’s our take? Remember, the war on terror isn’t just about commandos in the Mountains. It’s about supplying those commandos through a safe transportation and equipment storage infrastructure, and it’s also about using diplomatic channels to gain support from Afghanistan’s Central Asian neighbors. Those neighbors, in turn, all benefit from the work we’re trying to do there. But they’re not the only ones to gain.
With Countries like China looking to re-vamp their economic trade links with the Middle East and Europe–both of which are trying to do the same–and the U.S. looking to secure more sources and shipment routes for oil via pipelines through these countries (like the BTC, ala the big J-III), the former Central Asian republics are a vital interest to the world’s major economies, from East to West.
Russia, eager to keep Central Asia as the economic and environmental toilet it’s been for the last century, is trying to take a great big sh*t on those efforts, and their weakening U.S. diplomatic partnerships in the region is just one little chunk of that poo they’re trying to take.
Sorry Moscow, but you guys had your chance and did nothing but f*ck the place up and kill and torture all the brown people in sight–not nice.
On a lighter note, have you ever seen Putin play ping pong in a thong? No? Well …
One of our favorite images: Putin (left) in his KGB days, playing ping pong in a thong. Machismo indeed.
Tags: Afghanistan, Central Asia, China, Financial Diplomacy, Gen. David Petraeus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Putin, Russias takes giant Sh*t on U.S. Diplomacy, U.S. Base Agreements, U.S. Troops, War on Terror
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