Really? More examples of things I could've told you six months ago, a year ago, whenever. And yet everyone seems so surprised. It was obvious (to me, anyway) that after the US got kicked out of Uzbekistan they kissed Bakiev's ass in order to make sure they didn't lose their foothold in Kyrgyzstan. Meanwhile, these analysts seem a tad too late in their analyses. Also, I've seen numerous article (like this one) which try to make it out to be that the US presence at Manas was the reason for the ouster of Bakiev. Um, no. Certainly the fuel contract sending dollars directly into the Bakiev family coffers added to the anger and resentment of the Kyrgyz citizens against corruption in the government... but a key factor? No.
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Wanted to pass along another article about the connection between the U.S. & Mina:
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/declassified/archive/2010/04/28/pentagon-confirms-it-gave-1-4-billion-in-no-bid-fuel-contracts-to-mysterious-companies.aspx
Once again parts of our government apparently have taken to the notion that undemocratic efforts will aid the cause of democracy. No matter how many times that course comes back to bite us in the butt, the resiliance of its appeal carries on. Just my opinion.
Thanks for these posts on Kyrgyzstan, very informative.
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