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http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/110102/dlfor22.asp [With permanent U.S. bases for bombing and surveillance missions, radar installations, and rapid deployment of special forces and Marine combat teams in Pakistan proper, in geographically important Baluchistan in particular, as well as in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan (on the Chinese border), the U.S. and its Western allies are within immediate striking distance of China, Russia, Iran and India, as well as, with the naval build-up in the Arabian Sea/Indian Ocean, of the Eastern entrance to the Persian Gulf. No small wonder that Russia and others are, as a headline in yesterday's Guardian delicately phrased it, edgy.] The Hindustan Times Pak urges US to vacate air bases for mobilisation ANI New Delhi, January 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan is said to have notified the United States that the bases that it was using in Jacobabad and Pasni might be needed to put the Pakistani air force on a war footing, a senior Pakistani military official said late last month. A report in the Washington Post says that the Pakistani government, faced with a fresh confrontation with India, has quietly been discussing with the US how long its military plans to remain at the four Pakistani air bases that have been key components of the war in Afghanistan. According to the report, Pakistani officials said their government at first indicated that it wanted the US to give up two of the four bases that it has been using to fight the war. In response, the US military is shifting its operations from Pakistan to other locations, such as newly obtained bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, officials said. Confirming the account a US general said, "There's been some talk of that." But he also said the US need for the bases is waning. "As we continue to improve the capabilities of the airport at Kandahar, staging from other bases in Pakistan might be less of a requirement for us," he said. "In other words, we could fly from other places directly into Kandahar." A senior Pakistani military official was quoted as saying that the two bases in question were partially reclaimed by Pakistani forces, before formal notice had been given to the United States. "It was such an emergency situation that the Pakistan air force was ordered to move straight into the airports while the discussions with the US officials on this subject were held later," the official said. "We are now co-sharing the two air bases with American forces." One reason for that rushed movement, he said, was that Pakistani officials realized they had incorrectly assumed that the US military presence in Pakistan would force India to restrain its military mobilization. However, Asad Hayauddin, a spokesman for the Pakistani embassy in Washington, denied that any Pakistani military aircraft were moved. Rather, he said, his government notified the United States late in December that if hostilities broke out with India, the Pakistani military planned to move forces onto some of the bases currently being used by US forces. According to a Pakistani official, the Pakistan military originally argued that it would need to evict the US forces altogether from the bases in Jacobabad and Pasni, but after extensive negotiations between senior officials, it agreed to let some US forces remain there. The United States has deployed Special Operations teams, Marine combat search-and-rescue teams, support aircraft and units of the 101st Airborne Division to four bases in Pakistan. Pakistani military officials said they plan to share the bases in Jacobabad and Pasni, but let the US military retain exclusive use of the less-developed airfields in Dalbandin and Shamsi. At the Jacobabad base, located 300 miles northeast of Karachi, the US military has carried out extensive construction and repair work and installed its own radar equipment. In the coastal town of Pasni, 180 miles west of Karachi, more than a dozen US military helicopters were seen parked last week. Pakistani officials said that if war comes with India, their air force may want to use the Pasni airport to interdict Indian naval activity. The two bases that are of less interest to the Pakistani military are in the province of Balochistan, near Afghanistan. The Dalbandin airfield, 170 miles southwest of Quetta, has been used as a forward refueling base for US Special Operations helicopters flying into Afghanistan. The smaller Shamsi airstrip is believed to be used by only a few Special Operations units. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
