NP Kirghiz

[Doug Millison]

http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav012302.shtml

EURASIA INSIGHT  January 24, 2002
US MILITARY FORCES BUILD UP STRENGTH IN KYRGYZSTAN
Daan van der Schriek: 1/23/02

A US task force is scheduled to conduct joint military exercises with
Kyrgyz troops on January 24, outside Bishkek. In the first of several such
planned exercises, US and Kyrgyz soldiers will practice anti-guerrilla
operations in mountainous terrain. The joint maneuvers, along with a
January 23 visit by Gen. Tommy Franks to Bishkek, the US commander of
anti-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, provide further evidence that the
United States is engaged in a rapid military build-up in Kyrgyzstan. [...]
Around 3,000 soldiers are expected to be stationed in Kyrgyzstan. To
accommodate them a 37-acre base is expected to be built. This base will
also serve as administrative headquarters and contain warehouses to store
humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, during the recent visit of a US delegation
headed by Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota democrat,
Kyrgyz officials announced that they had granted the United States the use
of Manas Airport for 12 months. [...] Given that the US build-up in
Kyrgyzstan is coming at a time when the anti-terrorism operations in
Afghanistan are moving into the reconstruction phase, it appears likely
that the US military is settling in for an extended stay in Central Asia.
Local analysts say that with Russia's grip on the region loosening, the
United States is aiming to check the expansion of Chinese influence in the
region.  [...] "