More Setbacks for Afghan War

The problem with chronicling a war like Afghanistan is that it's so easy to sound like you're somehow gloating over the setbacks.

There's nothing remotely pleasant in the way the Afghan war has been mismanaged under the Bush administration, nothing at all. A lot of lives, plus a great deal of effort and treasure, have been wasted for little if any gain.

Yesterday the president of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, announced he's shutting down a US air transport operation at one of his country's air bases. That's a route American forces depend on for resupply of troops and critical military supplies. More mundane supplies still roll in from Pakistan. Yesterday the Taliban there destroyed 10-trucks loaded with supplies and a bridge crossing into Afghanistan.

It's the airbase closure, however, that's the most worrisome and it seems to have been manipulated by Moscow. From McClatchey Newspapers:

Bakiyev made his announcement in Moscow, not in his own capital, shortly after the Russian government reportedly agreed to lend Kyrgyzstan $2 billion, write off $180 million in debt and add another $150 million in aid. The timing and place of the announcement indicated the Kremlin's involvement.

"It's a direct challenge to the new American administration. Russia is going out of its way to close an American base," said Pavel Felgenhauer, a Moscow-based military analyst.

Manas is the main transit point through which U.S. troops fly into and out of Afghanistan. As such, it is vital to plans to send 30,000 more American troops to stabilize Afghanistan. A U.S. Air Force Web site calls it "the premier air-mobility hub" for U.S. and allied operations in Afghanistan, with about 1,000 military personnel from America, Spain and France stationed there.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/117/story/61394.html