Following up on my previous post, there is more bad news from Afghanistan and the region: Kyrgyzstan has ordered the US basd on its territory closed, citing insufficient compensation for the use of its territory. Those of us watching the news of late noticed that in the face of increasing Taliban attacks on the NATO supply routes through Pakistan (most recently, today [note the stunning picture]), Central Asia was supposed to be the safe alternative that would ensure the NATO mission is not compromised or undersupplied.
Does anyone think this might be Russia, acting behind the scenes, putting pressure on the US? Russia might be trying to push America into compromising on some key issues and by jeopardizing NATO supply routes at a time when alternatives are desperately needed, the Russians may have found a trunk card. What's this going to do to the war effort? "For the withdrawal of the US forces from the base Kyrgyzstan expects to have its debts (about $180 million) written off by Russia in return."
Also noted is that today Iran launched a satellite into orbit. Is this the first Muslim country to do so? This is Iran's first domestically produced satellite, and indicates the extent of Iran's military and technological development, "self-developed" minus the obvious technical assistance, over the years, of Pakistan (through A.Q. Khan), China and North Korea. Nevertheless it's surprising and will lend support to Americans arguing for a missile shield. Launching satellites into orbit... long-range ballistic missiles... the technologies are interrelated, after all.
This part is both funny and creepy:
For those of us who know the accent... who heard him at Columbia...
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Posted by: Nick Matyas | 05 January 2010 at 01:44 AM