Tag Archives: NATO

US cheerleads NATO’s supply chain to Afghanistan

OCT. 26 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US government has been cheerleading the positive impact that NATO’s supply chain to Afghanistan will have in Central Asia. A new north-south Silk Road, they like to call it.

But a report published this month by the New York-based Open Society Foundations suggested that in four key areas — building inter-state cooperation, tackling corruption, strengthening transport links and improving the lives of ordinary people — the so-called Northern Distribution Network (NDN) has yet to make any significant impact.

It’s an important report as it is possibly one of the first heavy-weight assessments of the NDN.

The Open Society Foundations report estimated that it costs $17,500 to shift a container to Afghanistan through NDN. At roughly 750 containers a week that’s $682.5m a year.

On top of this are transit fees paid to Russia and the Central Asian states of 500m. Nearly half of this goes to Uzbekistan, which holds the Soviet-era railway to Afghanistan that is bearing most of the load.

The NDN has made, and will continue to make, a significant impact on the politics and economics of Central Asia. The Open Society Foundations’ report, though, states that it is still some way off acting as a catalyst for a new Silk Road.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 110, published on Oct. 26 2012)

Georgian president visits Afghanistan

FEB. 20 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili flew to Afghanistan and, dressed in a military uniform, addressed Georgia’s 900 soldiers attached to NATO forces fighting the Taliban. Two days later Georgia’s defence ministry said a bomb had killed three soldiers. Fifteen Georgian soldiers have now died in the war.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 78, published on Feb. 23 2012)

Kyrgyzstan’s air bases earn well

FEB. 23 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan has developed a decent business in hosting foreign air bases.

It is the only country in the world where both the US and Russia operate separate air bases giving Kyrgyzstan strategic importance beyond its size.

But not only do the US and Russian air bases lend status, they also generate cash.

In 2009 Kyrgyzstan re-negotiated a deal with the US to allow it to keep its base at the Manas airport outside Bishkek open until the end of 2014, when NATO starts to withdraw from Afghanistan, for $60m/year.

Now it looks as if Kyrgyzstan’s new president, Almazbek Atambayev, wants to reconsider the contract with Russia. As well as the airbase at Kant, Russia also operates a torpedo testing site on Lake Issyk-Kul and two other earthquake measuring and communications centres.

In September 2010, Russia and Kyrgyzstan agreed a $4.5m/year rent for these bases but on Feb. 17 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that Mr Atambayev might now have other ideas.

During a speech to students in Osh, Mr Atambayev reportedly said the $4.5m from Russia only covered the rent of the Kant air base and that Moscow still owed cash for the other bases.

He may have been playing to the crowd but he also knows that the military bases are one of the few tools he has to generate extra income.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 78, published on Feb. 23 2012)

France says Central Asia is a costly NATO supply route

FEB. 9 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – France’s defence minister, Gerard Longuet, told the magazine L’Orient Le-Jour that NATO’s logistics route through Central Asia is too expensive. NATO has earmarked the route, dubbed the Northern Distribution Network, as the best way of withdrawing soldiers and kit in 2014 from Afghanistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 77, published on Feb. 16 2012)

Russia sends extra military aid to Kyrgyzstan

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JAN. 18 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan started to receive extra military aid from Russia designed to bolster is defences along its southern border before NATO withdraws from Afghanistan in 2014. The Central Asian states are worried about the Taliban moving north once NATO leaves Afghanistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 73, published on Jan. 19 2012)

Obama to meet Georgia’s president

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JAN. 18 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili will travel to Washington to meet US president Barack Obama on Jan. 30, a White House spokesperson said. Mr Saakashvili considers the US to be a key ally. Georgia has pledged to almost double its troop deployment in Afghanistan to 1,700, the most from a non-NATO member.

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(News report from Issue No. 73, published on Jan. 19 2012)

Another Georgian soldier dies in Afghanistan

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JAN. 6 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Taliban forces killed a Georgian solider in Afghanistan, the 12th to die supporting NATO operations, Georgia’s government said. The solider was the second Georgian solider to die in a week. Georgia’s troop deployment in Afghanistan is one of the biggest by a non-NATO member.

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(News report from Issue No. 72, published on Jan. 13 2012)

Blast on NATO supply route in Uzbekistan

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NOV. 20 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek media reported an explosion on a railway in Uzbekistan which is used for carrying supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan. Uzbek authorities said Islamic militants may have attacked the railway. Uzbekistan is considered vital to the US supply line running across Central Asia into Afghanistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 66, published on Nov. 23 2011)

NATO urges democratic reforms for Georgia

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NOV. 9 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia needs more democratic reforms before it can join NATO, the organisation’s Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a meeting in Tbilisi. Under President Mikheil Saakashvili Georgia has pushed hard to join NATO. According to local media, Georgia has nearly 1,000 soldiers in Afghanistan fighting with NATO forces.

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(News report from Issue No. 65, published on Nov. 16 2011)

Kyrgyzstan sets an end date for the US airbase

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NOV. 1 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – In his first policy statement after winning a presidential election, Kyrgyzstan’s pro-Russia PM Almazbek Atambayev said the US will have to quit an airbase outside Bishkek when its lease expires in 2014. The airbase has been vital to NATO efforts in Afghanistan which also wind up in 2014.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 63, published on Nov. 1 2011)