23 September 2001
Uzbekistan and the United States
Uzbekistan - Shaded Relief (1994)
The monday Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that U.S. warplanes have landed in Uzbekistan in preparation for action against Afghanistan.
Using Uzbekistan for this purpose makes a great deal of sense for all parties, and somewhat more sense for the United States than using Pakistan exclusively (or maybe at all, though land ops could very well take place from Pakistan) for reasons I have described previously.
For the U.S., Uzbekistan is just as useful as Pakistan in terms of strategic command of the airspace of Afghanistan. It is also helpful to utilize a Central Eurasian nation that is all too happy to ally itself with the U.S., as Americans have long been accused of ignoring the problems of the former Soviet Central Eurasian republics. The congruence of strategic importance and political brownie points to be earned is rare. Never mind that the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (UMI) has direct ties to Osama bin Laden, and could very well be a target in its own right.
For the Uzbekis, President Karimov must be rejoicing. Despite his ever-present security measures, the UMI in just three years has become a significant threat to the Uzbeki regime (additional comments here and here), and one that the Uzbeki military has proven incapable of eradicating. Karimov is vehemently anti-Soviet, and therefore anti-Russian, but the growth of UMI was pushing Karimov to turn more towards the Russians for help with the threat. The Russians, for their part, would be all too happy once again to be intimately involved in Uzbeki affairs, much as the Russians are pleased to be intimately involved in the affairs of neighboring Tajikistan. U.S. involvement lets Karimov continue to hold the Russians at arms' length, while winning international (or at least U.S. and probably British) praise for helping in the fight against terrorism. And the UMI will no doubt be an eventual target of the U.S.
There is an odd logic about international politics. Sometimes it's easier to put together the pieces of the puzzle than others.
[Posted @ 11:14 PM CST]
