Should the U.S. use military bases in Central Asia, such as Uzbekistan, for possible strikes on Afghanistan?
As far as Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries are concerned, including Uzbekistan, they are sovereign states, and it is their right to decide. I understand well why [Uzbek President Islam] Karimov has spoken in support of the U.S. The Taliban is a threat to his country. So if sovereign Uzbek or other [former Soviet] states decide to provide such help, it is their right. But there are military agreements with all the member countries of the CIS, and any decision should be agreed [upon by] all the states of the CIS — or they should be at least informed of a decision. Q: Does Russia need to know the wider aims of the U.S. campaign — such as whether old friends of Russia’s, such as Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Libya will be targeted — before it can give its agreement to lend military bases? A: Russia can do a lot of work with the leaders of these countries, especially with Syria, to bring them into the fight against terrorism. It seems to me that the U.S. should rethink its pos
