-Caveat Lector- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64366-2002Feb12.html
WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Official: U.S. Should Leave Asia By Vladimir Isachenkov Associated Press Writer Tuesday, February 12, 2002; 3:06 PM MOSCOW –– Russia's defense minister said Tuesday that the United States should abandon its military presence in former Soviet republics in Central Asia once the war in Afghanistan is over. Sergei Ivanov said the U.S. troop deployment in Central Asia was necessary for the success of the anti-terrorist operation and "largely positive." But Russia, he said, assumes that "these bases are there on a temporary basis and only until the end of the anti-terrorist operation." President Vladimir Putin's decision to welcome the U.S. troops into Central Asia dramatically bolstered Russia's relations with the United States and other Western countries, but has provoked concern at home. Some representatives of Russia's political elite have voiced fear that the United States might use its military presence to end Russia's sway over the region, which was conquered by the Russian Empire in the 19th century. "I wouldn't raise the degree of our concern to an unnecessarily high level," Ivanov said at a news conference, pointing to statements by U.S. officials who have said that no permanent bases are planned. Assistant Secretary of State Beth Jones said Monday in Washington that military-to-military ties with countries of the region are growing but that the United States is not interested in having its own bases in Central Asia. "We want access to bases for as long as we need them," she said. With Russia's blessing, U.S. troops have been deployed at an air base in Uzbekistan and at an airport in Kyrgyzstan, and other allied forces are expected to move to bases in Tajikistan and Kazakstan. Ivanov, flanked by visiting Afghan Defense Minister Mohammed Fahim, said Russia would help bolster Afghanistan's military capability by providing spare parts for its Soviet-built weapons and other assistance. "We aren't talking about weapons, enough of which have piled up there during 20 years of war, but about organizational assistance, supplies and spare parts," Ivanov said. He said Russia was also ready to provide training aircraft and transport helicopters for the Afghan air force. Ivanov said that Russia had no immediate plans to send military experts to help train the Afghan army and wasn't seeking to gain any influence there. "We aren't going to enforce our will on anyone, especially as we know the history of Afghanistan quite well," he said. "We will provide assistance only when we are asked for it." Still, the daily Izvestia said that new weapons supplies would "push Kabul back into Moscow's political embrace." Following the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the Kremlin was a key arms supplier for the anti-Taliban forces in the late 1990s. Last year, Moscow supplied an estimated $34 million worth of Soviet-era weapons to the Afghan forces fighting the Taliban. "We have enough weapons and don't need to buy more, but we need assistance in repairing them," Fahim said. Neither Ivanov nor Fahim would put a price tag on Russian supplies, but some Russian media noted promises by the United States and other countries to allocate tens of millions of dollars to upgrade the Afghan military. "Fahim hasn't come to Moscow with empty pockets," said the daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. 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