>Another indication that the USGs greatest concern re AfPak is
>maintaining the US public's somnolence on the matter.
If only that could be bought like the global support Doss keeps telling us about:
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Kyrgyzstan_changes_mind_on_US_Afghan_base_999.html
Kyrgyzstan changes mind on US Afghan base
US welcomes Kyrgyz base agreement
The United States on Tuesday welcomed a deal with Kyrgyzstan on the transit of supplies to Afghanistan that will effectively keep open a US airbase that Kyrgyz authorities had
ordered shut. "We're happy about the agreement," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters. The Central Asian state had thrown a wrench into US President Barack
Obama's plan to intensify the campaign against the Taliban when it ordered the closure of the Manas airbase, a key transit point for Afghanistan operations. But Kelly said: "I don't have
the details of... what was spelled out financially in the agreement," when asked to confirm whether the United States was now paying three times as much as before. Kyrgyz Foreign
Minister Kadyrbek Sarbayev said Washington would pay Bishkek 60 million dollars per year for renting the base, a significant increase on the previous annual rent of 17.4 million
dollars.... The United States would also pay Kyrgyzstan more than 36 million dollars for improvements in infrastructure at Manas and 30 million dollars for new navigational equipment,
Sarbayev said. On top of that, Washington pledged 20 million dollars for development in Kyrgyzstan; 21 million dollars for fighting drug traffickers; and 10 million for fighting terrorism, he
said. Sarbayev called the deal "temporary" and said it would be in effect for a period of one year.
[...]
"Kyrgyzstan has taken this decision because of the worrying situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan," Sarbayev said.
But many Kyrgyzstan watchers have long speculated that the government -- which repeatedly sent mixed signals on whether the closure was final -- had never intended to evict the base and was simply angling for more money.
The base is used to ferry tens of thousands of troops in and out of Afghanistan each year and also hosts planes used for mid-air refuelling of combat aircraft.
With its change of status to a so-called "transit centre" for non-military goods, it remains to be seen whether the base will operate as before or with a scaled-down function.
"If indeed there was no agreement on having fuel tanks based in Manas for inflight refuelling for Afghanistan, this would be a serious inconvenience for US forces," said Central Asia expert Paul Quinn-Judge.
"I don't think we've seen anything near the final form of this agreement," said Quinn-Judge, a Bishkek-based analyst for the International Crisis Group.
The loss of the airbase would have dealt a major blow to coalition military efforts in Afghanistan at a time when Obama has boosted the campaign there against the Taliban.
The Manas base, operated by about 1,000 troops, including small French and Spanish contingents, was set up to support coalition forces fighting to oust the Taliban in Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks