#12
The Globe and Mail (Canada)
14 January 2002
Presence of U.S. in ex-Soviet nations raising Russian ire
By GEOFFREY YORK
MOSCOW -- Dozens of U.S. warplanes are landing at airports in Central Asia, symbolizing the collapse of Russian power in a region dominated by Moscow for centuries.
For the past decade, Moscow has fiercely guarded its traditional sphere of influence in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. But the United States is establishing bases in three of the former Soviet republics as part of its antiterror campaign.
Russia's military and political elite are increasingly unhappy with the growing U.S. presence in Central Asia, but most analysts acknowledge that Moscow is too weak to prevent it.
"It will be difficult for the Russian elite to reconcile itself to this, but Russia is not strong enough to do anything except express its discontent," said Yevgeny Volk, a Moscow political analyst. "It will be a source of long-term tension between Russia and the United States."
Last week, about 200 U.S. troops began building a barracks for a base on a 15-hectare site at an airport near Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan.
U.S. cargo planes, fighter jets and refuelling planes will use the airport, and the troops are building accommodation for 3,000 soldiers. Up to four U.S. planes land at the airport every day. A Pentagon official said the U.S. presence "is going to be longer than temporary."
Washington has stationed about 2,000 troops at the Khanabad airbase, near the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. And it has Tajikistan's approval to use an airfield at Kulyab, 300 kilometres south of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.
Russian parliamentary speaker Gennady Seleznyov voiced the concerns of many when he criticized the U.S. presence. "It is not desirable that permanent U.S. bases be established in Central Asia."
A Russian newspaper warns that the United States had "stormed" into Central Asia. It says Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was obliged to visit the region last week "to probe how far Russia is behind the United States in the drive to influence Central Asian states."
Russian President Vladimir Putin, enjoying an 80-per-cent approval rating in opinion polls, has nudged much closer to the United States recently. He has accepted the U.S. bases in Central Asia, adopted a conciliatory stance on the U.S. antimissile defence system and announced the shutdown of Russian bases in Cuba and Vietnam.
Many top members of the Russian military elite are infuriated by these moves and by the U.S. presence.
More than 20 retired generals and admirals signed a letter of protest against the base closings.
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