Word: uzbekistan
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...Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made no secret of the fact that he was setting out to calm some nerves in a lightning whip around the Middle East Thursday, stopping in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Oman before heading for Uzbekistan, the former Soviet Republic that may well become the key forward base for any U.S. military action in Afghanistan. And in what appears to be a parallel mission, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair - who has shouldered a good part of the coalition building responsibilities on behalf of the Bush administration - headed for Russia and Pakistan...
...Exempting Pakistan from too extensive a role as a staging ground raises the importance of Uzbekistan for U.S. operations inside Afghanistan. While the overwhelmingly Muslim former Soviet Republic run as something of a dictatorship by President Islam Karimov is not exactly a natural ally for Washington, there are sound reasons for making common cause. The Taliban and Bin Laden are intimately linked with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which is fighting to overthrow Karimov. And cooperating with the U.S. also offers Uzbekistan an opportunity to break out of its traditional geopolitical dependence on Moscow...
...prospect of U.S. military operations in what Russia considers its Central Asian backyard has sparked a fierce debate in Moscow's leadership echelons. One faction, believed to include defense minister Sergei Ivanov, resolutely opposes U.S. deployments in Uzbekistan, for fear that the Americans won't leave. But another faction holds that Russia has already lost some of its Central Asian possessions, and instead of trying to hold on against the tide should be cooperating with the Americans to advance Russian interests on a range of other fronts. President Vladimir Putin is believed to lean more to the latter view...
...Asia, where the central geopolitical question remains the route by which the lucrative Caspian Sea oil pipeline will run to the ocean, gives Russia, Iran and Pakistan a compelling interest in influencing the future of their Afghan neighbors. The Russians, through their clients in the former Soviet Republics of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, have supplied arms and on occasion even air support to the Uzbek and Tajik militias, while Iran has supported their fellow Shiite Hazaras in the west. But Pakistan, erstwhile sponsor of the Taliban and currently the West's most important ally in efforts to take down Bin Laden...
...UZBEKISTAN The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan wants a Taliban-style revolution here. That has led to bloody struggle that will make it a challenging base for any U.S. operations...