A first test in foreign policy for the President?

Now that I've finally figured out how to contribute rather than just look at the blog...

On my way home Friday NPR was running a story about how the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrgyzstan) is likely going to evict the US from a base it uses to supply our efforts in Afghanistan. (http://www.manas.afcent.af.mil/) While many pundits feel it's a money issue since the Kyrgyzstan government stated that they wanted more money for us to rent the base, other pundits feel it's an issue of the Russians trying to eek us out of a role of influence in its back yard. The Central Asian Republics WERE part of the Soviet Union, after all.

It sort of reminds me of how the US was evicted from the base at Kharsi-Khanabad (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karshi-Khanabad) a few years ago, which I covered in breif in my term paper on US relations with Uzbekistan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbekistan) for Dr. Shirley's American Foreign Policy class last year. Basically, the Uzbekistan government gave us the boot, saying they didn't like us getting involved in their domestic affairs, after we protested the government's actions in suppressing a demonstration using deadly force. Again, many pundits saw it as the Russians reasserting influence in the region.

President Obama has an opportunity to gain a critical win here, both in the war on terrorism in support of our efforts in Afghanistan, and as a way to foil the Russians. In my view, the Obama administration should call the government of Kyrgyzstan on the rent issue, offering more money in return for a renewal of the lease. The current amount was cited by NPR on Friday at, I believe, $120 or so million a year. So, let me get this straight, we have $800 BILLION to toss about for a stimulus bill that's highly divisive, but not a few million more to help us win in Afghanistan, which the President has already stated he'd like to make a priority???

If we offer the kind of money the Kyrgyzstan government is saying they want, and they still refuse, there isn't really a whole lot we can do about that. The Russians probably offered something better. But if they take our offer, it could be seen as two important early wins for the Obama administration in the very first weeks of his Presidency. The first is we get to keep the base in Kyrgyzstan, which NPR reported sees about 15,000 troops move through it every month, as well as plenty of supplies, thus helping us regain control over Afghanistan. And let's face it, Pakistani land routes keep looking less and less of a sure thing, as the recent bombing of a bridge through the Khyber Pass demonstrates (though I think it was on the Afghan side). Secondly, it shows the Russians that Obama's not afraid to take them on, even in something seemingly so trivial as this.