Is US Going to Turn Soviet Central Asian in a Protectorate? --

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Date Posted: 13:29:21 09/21/01 Fri
Author: Nikolai von Kreitor
Subject: Is US Going to Turn Soviet Central Asian in a Protectorate?

Ex-Soviet states will accept US fighters

BY RICHARD BEESTON, DIPLOMATIC EDITOR

AMERICA has reportedly won approval from two former Soviet Central Asian states to deploy combat aircraft from their bases north of Afghanistan. According to The Washington Post, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have both agreed to allow the US Air Force to use its facilities to mount patrols and even combat missions against Osama bin Laden, the fugitive terrorist, and his hosts, the Taleban religious authorities. If the deployment goes ahead it would mark the first time since the collapse of Communism a decade ago that American warplanes have been allowed to use facilities in the former Soviet Union on combat missions. When the move was first proposed, in the wake of last week�s bombings, Russia�s military chiefs angrily condemned the idea, fearing that America would gain a toehold in a region that Russia has considered its backyard since the 19th century. However, President Bush is known to have held direct talks with President Karimov of Uzbekistan. The Kremlin�s approval was regarded as necessary for the use of Tajik bases, where thousands of Russian troops are based. Spokesmen for the two countries yesterday denied that any deal had been made, but it is entirely possible that the American deployment will take place in total secrecy. A similarly secret deployment of American airborne troops is expected in Pakistani air bases near the Afghan border. Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, said that he would not comment on details about any military deployments. �We are trying to get ourselves arranged in the world, with our forces, in places that we believe conceivably could be useful in the event the President decided to use them,� he said. The Pentagon made it clear that its mission would be a show of American military might involving thousands of soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines. The US Air Force will move first, sending up to 130 aircraft to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Diego Garcia, the British island colony in the Indian Ocean where the US bases its B-52 bombers. The plan is to create an air bridge within the coming week allowing the Americans to coordinate and refuel combat aircraft half way around the world. The US Navy is also being deployed in force. One aircraft carrier battle group led by the USS Enterprise is the Arabian Sea. Another group headed by the USS Carl Vinson is nearby in the Gulf and a third under the USS Theodore Roosevelt left Norfolk, Virginia on Wedneday. The Norfolk armada included an Amphibious Ready Group, led by the assault ship USS Bataan, with a force of 2,100 Marines. Thomas White, the US Army Secretary, said yesterday that it his troops were also preparing for �sustained land combat operations�. The build-up coincided with the arrival in the Middle East of the biggest British expeditionary force since the Falklands War nearly 19 years ago. A Royal Navy task force of about 24 surface ships and two submarines is passing through the Suez Canal to take part in military excercises in Oman next month called �Swift Sword II�. It will involve 20,000 military personnel, and there is speculation some could be diverted for operations in Afghanistan.

The Times. UK

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US Wants Afghanistan as US/NATO Protectorate -- Nikolai von Kreitor, 13:35:05 09/21/01 Fri