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Report: US Army To Stay In Central Asia For Long
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| Central Asia - a permanent base for US Army |
WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The United States, which has just established a foothold in Central Asia, is preparing to consolidate its military presence in the region and extend it for years, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
Washington and its allies are building an air base in Kyrgyzstan, which will be used as a "transportation hub", house up to 3,000 troops, accommodate warplanes and support aircraft, the report said, said Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"The job is still not done," said Rear Admiral, Craig R. Quigley, senior spokesman at the United States Central Command in Tampa, Florida, reported the paper.
The Pentagon has also approved a request by General Tommy R. Franks, the commander of the military operation in Afghanistan, to station two aircraft carriers and thousands of marines aboard ships in the northern Arabian Sea through March, officials said. Navy officers expect that request could be renewed every three months, added the New York Times.
In another sign that American forces are settling in, each branch of the armed services has adopted policies to rotate troops through the region, typically every 90 days to six months, General Franks said.
However many troops the Pentagon ultimately stations in Afghanistan and nearby, General Franks and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are looking to expand American military engagement by increasing technical support and training exercises with their counterparts in the region, the paper reported.
"Their function may be more political than actually military," the deputy secretary of defense, Paul D. Wolfowitz, said in an interview to the Times. He said bases and exercises would "send a message to everybody, including important countries like Uzbekistan, that we have a capacity to come back in and will come back in — we're not just going to forget about them."
Engineers are also improving runways, lighting, communications, storage and housing at bases in Uzbekistan and Pakistan where American forces are stationed, signaling a long-term commitment, or at least the ability to re-deploy forces quickly, the Times said, citing military sources.
Many military analysts argue that a significant American military presence is needed around Afghanistan because the interim government does not seem intent on rooting out the remnants of Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces, the report said.
But too large or too long-term an American military presence could alarm Russia and China to the north, and anger the Afghans, who often bridle at foreign military activity in their nation, The Times pointed out.
According to the report, the recent arrival of the 101st Airborne Division at Kandahar airport to relieve about 1,500 Marines there could presage a long U.S. commitment to the base.
Unlike the Marines, Army troops are typically dispatched to hold territory for long periods -- months, if not years, the report said.
Similar encampments have already been established at Bagram air base north of Kabul and at Khanabad air base in Uzbekistan, where more than 1,000 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division have been helping to guard and repair runways.
About 200 American, French and British troops have been building a tent city near Manas International Airport, outside the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, to house 2,000 to 3,000 troops by next month and prepare for air operations by month's end, according to the Times.
Manas would give U.S. warplanes a northern route into Afghanistan if tensions between India and Pakistan shut down southern air corridors for carrier-based warplanes, the report said.
"What remains to be seen is whether the encampments at Kandahar and Bagram will become as permanent as those in Kosovo, for instance, where the United States has 5,400 troops, or in Bosnia, where there are 3,100 American soldiers.
"Two and a half years ago, Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo was little more than a village of tents. Today it is a small, self-contained city with wooden barracks and command centers, helicopter maintenance buildings, a water-treatment plant, a movie theater, gymnasiums and a hospital.
"The military is patterning its deployments in Central Asia on that [Kosovo] model," said the New York Times.
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