Posted on 05/09/2010 8:42:13 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Governments with foreign military bases tend to shy away from publicity about their colonial outposts, and recent events in the post-Soviet space shine an unwelcome spotlight on US and Russian military establishments
The US Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan and Russia’s lease extension on Ukraine’s historic port of Sevastopol are presently earning much unwanted attention, which is serving to agitate the local populations in both countries.
Furthermore, Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenko, who provided sanctuary to ousted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, has used the opportunity to berate Russia for failing to pay for its early warning missile base near Baranavichy and a Russian navy communication base near Vileyka.
While the Manas facility remains the sole US military base in Central Asia outside of Afghanistan, Russia in fact has a number of facilities scattered across the former USSR. In an era of rising nationalism, Russia and the US will pay a high political price to maintain these bases.
Manas, asset or liability?
Resentment against the Manas Transit Center and Washington’s cozy leasing arrangements with Bakiyev’s corrupt regime was a substantial element in the popular unrest that eventually deposed him.
Pentagon concern about maintaining its access to Manas at any cost has already produced congressional inquiries in Washington centering on shady fuel deals the US Department of Defense (DoD) signed for the facility.
On 12 April, House of Representatives Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs Chairman John Tierney requested documents related to fuel supply contracts for Manas and the Bagram air base in Afghanistan from the DoD, the Department of State, the FBI, Red Star Enterprises, Ltd., and the Mina Corporation.
(Excerpt) Read more at oilprice.com ...
That, as well as the whole USSR thingy...
The Russians must be offering something to keep their base at Kant.
Interesting Fact:Kyrgyzstan is unique in that it is the only country to have both a U.S. and Russian military base on its terrority
Russians are in control there for a simple reason. All of these post-Soviet states (including Ukraine and Georgia) have up to 20% of population working in Russia illegaly. That money they are sending home are making up to a half of these nations’ wealth. Russians are not eager to use their migration laws on that people until they are ok with their governments. As soon as the government are to get nasty to Russians they are fast on trigger to pick illegals of exact nation raiding their communities day and night without giving them time to dress up just to put in a military cargo planes as a cattle and send back home. They are explaining their actions to illegals saying ‘thanks for your job but your government is hostile to us so me can’t have a potential enemy agent on our soil’. Tons of angry people and their families left out of money are usually angry at their governments not Russians since they can’t do a thing to them. It once happen to Georgia back to 2004. If there wasn’t billions from US taxpayers to pay Saakashvili’s economy losses his people could start a revolution and just kill him.
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