More than 1,000 foreign soldiers are stationed at the US airbase in Manas, Kyrgyzstan
Kazakhstan helps out US on Afghanistan (click here)
1 hour ago
ASTANA (AFP) — Kazakhstan on Monday became the latest nation to offer its territory for the transit of supplies to coalition troops in Afghanistan, following Kyrgyzstan's shock decision to shut a key US airbase.
"Kazakhstan has given its consent to the transit of cargo by land for the logistical material for the US contingent in Afghanistan," Kazakh foreign ministry spokesman Yerzhan Ashikbayev told reporters.
"We will work out the technical and commercial parameters with the US side separately," Ashikbayev said.
"We are only talking about non-military materials," he emphasized.
The announcement from Kazakhstan comes days after Kyrgyzstan's government ordered the closure of a US airbase that serves as a vital supply route for US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.
The administration of US President Barack Obama has made Afghanistan a top priority and has pressed hard to secure overland transit agreements from Russia and Central Asian nations amid security problems on the Pakistan route....
Still President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai seeks to include peaceful citizens of all ethnicities to join in rejoicing at the return of their nation. (click title to entry - thank you)
THAT, is his place. President Karzai should be vigilant for any of the citizens of a war torn nation, still uncertain about its future.
There is no doubt that a struggle for the defeat of al Qaeda will be a burden to everyone, including the Afghan citizens and those in the USA that have sacrificed so much for a "W"rongful war in Iraq that should have never occurred.
But, defeat al Qaeda we must, there is too much at stake. Hasn't anyone, besides me, asked themselves what the world would be like today if the Bush/Cheney administration didn't displace the priorities of defeating al Qaeda? If Osama bin Laden were in prison or dead? Haven't you asked yourselves that? Has everyone been so involved in defeating Bush/Cheney and reclaiming the USA that all lost sight of a world safe from terrorists?
The USA has been used and abused by Power Brokers and Greed Merchants. We need to regain our priorities for National Security and I dare say is it too much to ask to return to the war that should have been fought in the first place? In all sincerity, I doubt the struggle for Afghanistan will be that overwhelming once NATO is better balanced with the increased placement of troops by the USA. NATO has been struggling with the current troop deployment, it is time to reclaim our rightful place to our own security.
Russia has returned as our integral partner. We again align with a country that helped defeat Hitler. Can bin Laden be more of a foe? I don't think so.
...Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (click here) announced Friday that Moscow and Washington had reached an agreement on reinstating transit routes through Russia of U.S. nonmilitary freight intended for Afghanistan. The transit agreement between Russia and NATO was actually signed last April, and Moscow never closed this corridor. It was NATO that temporarily froze relations with Moscow after the Russia-Georgia conflict in August. In any event, the reinstatement of U.S. and NATO nonmilitary shipments through Russia is one of the most positive developments in U.S.-Russian relations that we have seen in years....
The Nay Sayers can lurk about, but, the USA has been absent from this fight and if one recalls the 'waltz' into Kabul many years ago was far more easy than we ever anticipated.
I believe the USA military overstates its case. The real challenge is Pakistan and stabilizing the borders with Afghanistan, Kashmir and India. I hold far more optimism than our military leaders do.
If one recalls Afghanistan in 2001, it fell like a house of cards. Can the capture and justice FROM bin Laden be that far away? It is Pakistan and its anarchic intelligence / military complex that offers so much chaos to the issue. It is Pakistan that needs to come to terms with its own citizens and the hostility that lies within its borders POST Musharraf.
Poll: US, allies, Kabul government losing ground (click here)
By BARRY SCHWEID – 4 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Support for the Kabul government and the United States and European troops trying to bolster it against insurgents is plummeting among the Afghan people, a new poll reports.
The decline is striking particularly in the last year, the poll shows, even as the Obama administration and NATO allies weigh moves to strengthen forces in the struggle with Taliban and other radical groups.
President Barack Obama has assigned high priority to the conflict and the administration is weighing whether to send another 30,000 U.S. troops there, almost doubling the 32,000 present....
