Kyrgyzstan threatens to evict (US) Air Force

[donsu]

http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2441183.php

A diplomatic flap between the U.S. and Kyrgyzstan has escalated to the point that Kyrgyz lawmakers are threatening to evict the U.S. Air Force from Manas Air Base, the only remaining U.S. base in a central Asian country other than Afghanistan.

-snip-

The U.S. has flown refueling and airlift missions supporting Operation Enduring Freedom out of Kyrgyzstan since 2001, but the relationship between the two countries has grown increasingly strained.

The most recent disagreement stems from the Dec. 6 shooting of a Kyrgyz truck driver by an airman from the 376th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron at Manas.

-snip-

Recent incidents include a Sept. 26 collision between a KC-135R Stratotanker and a Kyrgyzstan commercial airliner, the expulsion of two U.S. diplomats in July and the Sept. 5 disappearance of Air Force Maj. Jill Metzger, who was found and quickly flown out of the country despite Kyrgyz requests for more access to her.

Oliker, an expert on central Asia, said Kyrgyzstan is unlikely to expel U.S. forces in part because the U.S. pays the Kyrgyz government about $150 million per year for the right to operate the base.
-snip-
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wondering two things:

do the neo con kidnap and torture planes use this base?

whatever happened to Jill and where ever is she now?

[havocmom]

1. Wondering a third thing:

What would closing this base do to covert drug smuggling to pay for who knows what sort of vile operations?

[rustydog]

2. Isn't this the "war on terror" ally whose leader boils enemies alive?

[Eugene]

3. No, that was Uzbekistan. They kicked the U.S. out

after the State Dept. criticized the massacre of dissidents.
That left the U.S. with Kyrgyzstan.