Myers: U.S. Weighs Long-Term Afghan Bases

[cthrumatrix]

Myers: U.S. Weighs Long-Term Afghan Bases

6 minutes ago World - AP Asia


By STEPHEN GRAHAM, Associated Press Writer

KABUL, Afghanistan - America's top general said Wednesday that Afghanistan (news - web sites) is secure and the United States is considering keeping long-term bases here as it repositions its military forces around the world.

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Taliban religious militia was "essentially in disarray" since failing to disrupt Afghanistan's landmark presidential election last year.


He stressed that a hard core was likely to fight on and Afghanistan remained "a target" for al-Qaida, but he said a reconciliation drive aimed at "non-criminal" Taliban could further weaken the militia.


"Security is very good throughout the country, exceptionally good," Myers told reporters at Kabul airport after talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. commanders

snip

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=516&ncid=731&e=1&u=/ap/20050316/ap_on_re_as/afghan_us_military

Security is sooo good Karzan can't leave Kabul while the "war lords" grow crops for heroin use in record amounts.

WTF does anybody not call these liars out?

[bowens43]

1. Long term bases in

Afghanistan and Iraq. How fricking convenient.

[mike_c]

2. but we're not imperialists....

No indeed.

[mmonk]

3. Empire of bases

like the neocon plan calls for. Permanent drain on the treasury, permanent danger of blowback, etc. as history has always proven.

[mmonk]

4. ....and of course

the first casualty of any move from republic to empire is civil liberties.

[msongs]

5. repubs have to protect those poppy growing opium sellers so

bush can maintain his status as world's biggest drug dealing enabler.

heroin kills poor people.....for the most part. and those people either do not vote or are more likely to vote democrat.

creationism has led bush to be the anti-christian.

(Don’t blame me, I voted for Howard).

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[Cocoa]

6. "considering"

"weighing" etc.

What a joke. They're fucking INTENT on bases, and they will destroy anyone who tries to stop them.

[concord]

7. "as it repositions its military forces around the world"

"Around the oil" would be a more accurate statement.

I'm surprised there aren't already "long term bases" in Afghanistan.

[cliss]

8. Here's where it gets ugly:

Forget that weasel "General" Myers. Now I'm wondering -

a) How many bases do we have worldwide?

b) How much does this cost the US per year?

c) How many troops are stationed by these bases?

In fact, I'm not going to wait for the answer. I'm going to find out for myself, and I bet I'll be pissed when I find out.

[mmonk]

9. I think

we have military personnel in 36 countries now, but I'm not sure.

[chlamor]

16. 725 Military Bases in 132 Countries

That is the stated figure by DOD. Actual figure is another 300 outposts etc. all over the world. Read "Sorrows of Empire" by Chalmers Johnson for more details.

Actual Pentagon spending is around $700 billion/yr.

[cliss]

17. Thanks, Chlamor.

It's worse than I thought. Much worse.

Unbelievable (shakes head).

An even uglier fact: the US represents 3.8% of the world's population. And we're going to jerk around the other 96%??????

[Moderator]

10. kick to combine

[chlamor]

11. Afghanistan Secure: U.S. Considering Long Term Bases

Myers: U.S. Weighs Long-Term Afghan Bases

By STEPHEN GRAHAM
Associated Press Writer



KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- America's top general said Wednesday that Afghanistan is secure and the United States is considering keeping long-term bases here as it repositions its military forces around the world.

<snip>

Myers said no decision had been reached on whether to seek permanent bases on Afghan soil. "But clearly we've developed good relationships and good partnerships in this part of the world, not only in Afghanistan," he said, also mentioning existing U.S. bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

"That'll all be considered as we go forward with the whole global basing construct," he said. "Clearly the United States has an interest in the long-term security and stability in Afghanistan, so we'll be discussing that future relationship."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AFGHAN_US_MILITARY?SITE=CARED&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[XemaSab]

12. What a terrible idea

n/t

[htuttle]

13. Situation Normal: All Fucked Up

Does anyone else think the headline is slightly self-contradictory?

[paineinthearse]

14. If Afghanistan is so secure...

1. Why does it continue to be the world's opium supplier?

2. Where the fuck is OBL?

[rooboy]

15. In 50 years' time...

the tour guide will be standing at the front of the bus with a microphone saying "and to your left you can see the remains of an American military base. This was built during the final days of the American empire..."

[leftchick]

18. Here is an article from 2002. This has been the plan all along

http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2002/020209-attack01.htm


and it will happen in Iraq as we speak....


<snip>

Footprints In Steppes Of Central Asia

New Bases Indicate U.S. Presence Will Be Felt After Afghan War

By Vernon Loeb, Washington Post Staff Writer

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan -- In a remote corner of Central Asia in a country that didn't even exist a decade ago, the U.S. Air Force is building a base that within months will be home to 3,000 personnel and nearly two dozen American and allied aircraft.

While the intensity of the war in Afghanistan has slowed, the base going up outside Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, tells a much different story. It embodies what senior U.S. defense officials say is a major commitment to maintain not just air operations over Afghanistan for the foreseeable future but also a robust military presence in the region well after the war.

Just how long the United States plans to remain is anyone's guess. Senior military officials say they have no plans for a permanent American presence. But if the construction here at Manas International Airport is any indication, the Pentagon, rather than searching for an exit strategy for Afghanistan, is focusing on the opposite: establishing a foothold.

"I think it's fair to say there will be a long-term presence here well beyond the end of hostilities," said Air Force Col. Billy Montgomery, commander of a team of engineers, technicians and planners that is proceeding apace with construction of a tent city, surgical ward, gym, hot showers and kitchen facilities at the airport.

[MisterP]

19. Junta Leader Chipmunk Cheeks, that's what he is!

he's amazingly stupid

[chlamor]

20. 50,000 US military forces on ships & bases from Turkey to Oman-Map

In addition to Kyrgyzstan, the war has led to basing agreements with Uzbekistan, where about 3,000 Americans are deployed near the Afghan border, and Tajikistan. Discussions are underway with Kazakhstan for use of an airfield there, according to Kassymzhomart Tokaev, the Kazakh foreign minister. The Defense Department also has been using three bases in Pakistan and across the Gulf region, most notably in Oman and Kuwait, which have emerged as major centers of U.S. military operations.

All told, more than 50,000 U.S. military personnel now live and work on ships and bases stretching from Turkey to Oman and eastward to the Manas airport, 19 miles outside of Bishkek and 300 miles from the Chinese border.

"The imperial perimeter is expanding into Central Asia," Thomas Donnelly, deputy executive director of the Project for the New American Century, wrote in a recent e-mail circulated among leading military analysts.

Noting the lessons of Bosnia and Kosovo, where the United States still has several thousand troops stationed years after the Balkan wars ended, Donnelly says the Pentagon appears to be moving into Central Asia for the long run. "This commitment strikes me as even greater than the Balkans, in all kinds of ways: farther, nastier neighborhood, closer to China," he wrote. "Setting up shop in Tashkent and Bishkek is not something I would do without careful consideration."

From article posted above by leftchick

http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2002/020209-attack01.htm