|| -----Original Message-----
|| From: Chris Doss
|| (...)
|| Putin is taking a LOT of domestic flak for his new pro-Western
|| attitude. The
|| military is not happy at all, and the Communists are furious. Bizarrely,
|| Zhirinovsky has become pro-American!
||
|| Chris Doss
|| The Russia Journal
||
Thanks, you make it very clear why pundits are saying that Russia won the war. Here's a Guardian story about anti-US reaction and US gains:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4332327,00.html (...) 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.
An American officer at the Manas base being built in Kyrgyzstan told the Interfax news agency yesterday that up to four aircraft were landing daily, that 17 US planes had arrived since December, and that the base would hold 3,000 troops living in 10-man tents.
This base is 250 miles from the western Chinese border. With US bases to the east in Japan, to the south in South Korea, and Washington's military support for Taiwan, China may feel encircled. At a meeting in Beijing this week of Chinese, Russian, and central Asian officials, aimed at dovetailing their "counter-terrorism" strategies, Russia and China urged an end to outside interference in Afghanistan.
But the central Asians, particularly the Uzbeks, appear happy to welcome the US as a foil to the big regional powers.
The American troops moving to Kyrgyzstan will enjoy diplomatic status, as they do in Tajikistan, under deals negotiated with the host countries. The US is also allowed to control a three-mile security cordon around Manas base. (...) ----------------------------------------------- Re Udugov: According to Turkish daily Hurriyet, Yastrzhembsky said Ugudov was seen in Afghanistan and had probably left Turkey. A Turkish police spokesman also said yesterday he wasn't here. So the handover is probably going to be Ocalan-style in a 3rd country.
Hakki