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I am afraid it is too late for them to make a genuine complaint about it. They should have known that if they let the US establish bases in former Soviet republics, these would not be a temporary thing. After all, that is what imperialism does. But Putin was too busy taking advantage of the post-September 11 situation to crack down in Chechnya. Steve K. ___________________________________________ >From: Stasi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: Anti-NATO <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: BBC: Russia tension over US bases [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] >Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2002 00:59:41 -0000 > >HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK >--------------------------- > >Thursday, 10 January, 2002, 07:49 GMT >Russia tension over US bases > > >US promises rewards for support in Afghanistan >http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_1751000/1751454.stm > >The speaker of the Russian lower house of parliament, the Duma, has >expressed his opposition to the setting up of any permanent American >military bases in Central Asia. >The speaker, Gennadiy Seleznev, said during his visit to the Kazakh >capital, Astana, that such move would be undesirable for Russian interests. > >"As members of the Commonwealth of Independent States collective security >agreement, we should not take any unilateral decisions without mutual >consultations." > >American troops have been using bases in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and >Kyrgyzstan since the start of the US-led campaign in Afghanistan. > >New challenges > >Mr Seleznev's comments follow earlier statements by the Russian President, >Vladimir Putin, who said he was not against American military presence in >the region. > > > > Uzbek President Islam Karimov (left) is a close American ally > > >But analysts say the close co-operation of the US military with Central >Asia's governments over Afghanistan poses new challenges to Russia. > >Many in the Russian military and nationalist circles fear Washington's >growing influence in what Moscow traditionally regards as its sphere of >interests. > >But Central Asian states, and notably Uzbekistan, see the new post-Taleban >realities as a chance to lessen their dependency on Russia. > >They also regard it as an opportunity to tighten screws on radical Islamic >groups, such as Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which have been >operating from Afghanistan. > >The Uzbek Government has accused it of responsibility for planting a series >of car bombs in Tashkent in 1999. > >Central Asians also expect the US to provide significant political and >financial rewards to boost their struggling economies. > _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
