Word: basely
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Some of the friction could just be cosmetic to appease both the progressive base and moderates. "It's the old routine of bad cop (Pelosi), good cop (Obama); partisanship vs. bipartisanship," says Stephen Wayne, a political science professor at Georgetown University. "It is also a bargaining tool to limit what the Republicans can expect from the legislation in exchange for their support...
...Last month, after visiting Moscow, U.S. Central Command chief General David Petraeus announced that the U.S. had reached a tentative agreement with Russia on using its territory to supply the Afghanistan mission. And Medvedev seemed keen to reaffirm that cooperation, even as Bakiyev made his announcement about the Manas base. "No one is trying to evade responsibility," Medvedev said, emphasizing that Russia and Kyrgyzstan would continue to cooperate with Western forces in Afghanistan. "But the forms of cooperation are to be agreed with partners." Translation: Russia will play ball, but only in the pursuit of its own interests...
...Russia's own security. But Russia will extract a geopolitical price for its cooperation - and the resulting bargaining process could be lucrative for those caught in between. That's the message of Tuesday's bombshell dropped by Kyrgyzstan: President Kurmanbek Bakiyev ordered the U.S. to close down an air base in his tiny central Asian country that is used to provide key air support for NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan...
...Pakistan blew up a key Khyber Pass bridge, cutting NATO's main supply line into Afghanistan and highlighting its vulnerability. Of course, Bakiyev happened to be standing alongside Russian President Dmitri Medvedev at a Moscow news conference when he served notice on the U.S. to vacate the Manas air base. Moscow, in fact, had just promised to give Bakiyev a vital $2 billion economic bailout package. Russia's motivations, and its intentions, are ambiguous. (See pictures of NATO's vulnerable Pakistani supply route...
...influence between Washington and Moscow has clear advantages. Bakiyev made clear that the Manas decision was a financial one - Russia was ponying up cash, and Washington hasn't been paying enough, as far as the Kyrgyz leader is concerned. But he gave the Americans six months to vacate the base, and, well, a lot can happen in six months. U.S. officials say negotiations on the base deal are ongoing. Given Russian indications - and the loopholes left by Bakiyev - the Manas base announcement may turn out to be just more muscle-flexing designed to remind Washington that it will have...