http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4332327,00.html
Russia edgy at spread of US bases in its backyard Ian Traynor in Moscow Thursday January 10, 2002 The Guardian
The US military build-up in the former Soviet republics of central Asia is raising fears in Moscow that Washington is exploiting the Afghan war to establish a permanent, armed foothold in the region.
The swift construction of US military bases is also likely to ring alarm bells in Beijing, although the central Asian states appear to be embracing the Americans to dilute Russian influence in what Moscow views as its strategic backyard.
In the latest sign of the US build-up, Galaxy transport aircraft landed at the Manas airfield outside Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, yesterday to prepare for the arrival of at least 3,000 American troops. (...) In Kazakhstan yesterday, the speaker of the Russian parliament, Gennady Seleznev, effectively claimed the power of veto for Moscow on US deployments in central Asia.
He pointed out that Russia has a collective security pact with the central Asian states, except Uzbekistan, and added: "They [central Asians] must not take any decisions without joint consultations in the framework of the treaty.
"Russia would not approve of the appearance of permanent US military bases in central Asia."
Russia's armed forces newspaper, Krasnaya Zvezda, complained yesterday of "the inexorable growth" of the US military presence in central Asia, even although the Afghan war was winding down. Washington now has 13 bases in nine countries ringing Afghanistan and in the Gulf (...) Hakki