US can’t afford to walk away from Central Asia
Luke Coffey
April 30, 2021 23:12
In this Dec. 23, 2015 file photo, a US soldier salutes her fallen comrades during a memorial ceremony for six Airmen killed in a suicide attack, at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. (US Air Force photo via AP)
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There has been recent speculation that the US is in talks with some countries in Central Asia about the possibility of locating American forces in the region.
The US has a history of basing troops there. Soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the subsequent military intervention in Afghanistan that began in October 2001, Washington established two air bases in Central Asia. One was at Karshi Khanabad in Uzbekistan, on an old Soviet air base, the other at Manas International Airport in Kyrgyzstan, near the capital Bishkek. These two bases helped the US and its NATO partners conduct military operations in Afghanistan.