Post-Soviet nations to form military force

[MacBeth]

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A Russian-led bloc of post-Soviet nations has agreed to establish a rapid-reaction military force to combat terrorists and respond to regional emergencies, Russian media reported Wednesday.

The decision came a day after reports that Kyrgyzstan is planning to close a strategically important U.S. military base that Washington uses to transport troops and supplies into Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, the Collective Security Treaty Organization -- made up of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan -- decided on the rapid-reaction force at a Kremlin summit, the Russian news agency RIA-Novosti reported.

The group's security council "spent a long time discussing the central issue of forming collective reaction forces and, generally, of rapid reaction to possible threats," said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, according to Russian news agency Interfax.

"Everyone agreed that the formation of joint forces is necessary," he said.

Officials told Russian media that all the members had signed the agreement, though Uzbekistan submitted a special provision.

Uzbekistan doesn't mind contributing military units to the rapid-reaction force "but does not consider it necessary for the moment" to attach emergency responders, drug-control forces and other special services, organization spokesman Vitaly Strugovets told Interfax.

Russian media reported that the force will be used to fight military aggressors, conduct anti-terror operations, battle regional drug trafficking and respond to natural disasters. The force will be based in Russia under a single command, with member nations contributing military units.

On Tuesday, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced at a Moscow news conference that "all due procedures" were being initiated to close Manas Air Base, RIA-Novosti reported. The announcement was made after news reports of a multimillion-dollar aid package from Russia to Kyrgyzstan.

Gen. David Petraeus, who oversees U.S. operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, including Afghanistan, was in Kyrgyzstan last month, partly to lobby the government to allow the United States to keep using the base. He said he and Kyrgyz leaders did not discuss "at all" the possible closure of the base and said local officials told him there was "no foundation" for news reports about the issue.

The United States is planning to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan to halt a resurgence of the Taliban. Petraeus described Manas as having "an important role in the deployment of these forces" and in refueling aircraft.

The relationship between the United States and Kyrgyzstan was damaged when a Kyrgyz citizen was killed by a U.S. airman in December 2006. The airman was transferred out of Kyrgyzstan, and the dead man's family was offered compensation. Petraeus said in January that the investigation was being reopened.

As he announced the base closure Tuesday, Bakiyev said he was not satisfied with the inquiry into the accident and his government's "inability to provide security to its citizens" was proving a serious concern.

Medvedev also weighed in on the issue Wednesday, saying the base closure shouldn't hamper anti-terrorism operations, according to Interfax.

"It would be great if their numbers meant there were fewer terrorists, but such action depends on other things as well," he said.



www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/04/russia.collective.military/index.html

[Calluna]

It makes sense. All those countries are individually so small that they are quite vulnerable without such an agreement. Though, it is a bit ironic that after duking it out amongst themselves to form all those separate countries, they decide it is better to stick together afterall anyway.

On an unrelated note, can someone give me a phonetic pronunciation of Kyrgyzstan? All the others, I can reasonably pronounce, but I'm still lost on that one. Is it something like Ker-ji-stan?

[MacBeth]

Name: Kyrgyzstan

Phonetic Pronunciation: keer-gih-STAN

Audio Pronunciation: inogolo.com/pronunciation/d247/Kyrgyzstan

[cooter50]

The "Bear" growls and stirs once again; could this be a foreboding of a return to an all powerful Eastern Bloc? Could this be a future enemy of the Western Aligned Nations(NATO), time will tell.

[oskar]

Or a reaction to "Western Aligned Nations (NATO)" running amok?

[MacBeth]

Or both.....everyeon seems amok lately

[Pax]

I thought a number of them were trying to enter NATO?

I dunno. "Russian-led," huh? I have a feeling there's more to this.

[joethree56]

Cooter,The concept of the Russian bear and the idea of an all powerful Eastern Bloc was far more useful to the USA Military industrial complex than ever it was to describe reality. This is why there is such nostalgia for it today. The 'War on Terror' has nowhere near the same ring as a rallying cry as the 'Communist threat to World Peace' especially to get the wheels of industry turning.
If this whole initiative turns out to be no more than a bit of cross border policing I have no doubt it will be hyped in the USA as a return to the much loved Cold War.

[Pax]

Yeh, JoeThree, that reminds me... after USSR fell apart, there was a rush of joy in the United States for having "won" the Cold War, of course, but that joy was short-lived; after that, for several years, there was a palpable feeling of, "Ok, what do we do with ourselves now?" We didn't have any particular enemy. Suddenly 9/11 happened, and there came a hurricane-force sigh of relief from our "leaders," plus the joint chiefs and the military supply chain. The F-22 was a program that was nearly killed, designed as it was as an anti-Soviet superweapon, but hey, we have another enemy, we can still use all of our old toys, never mind that such a weapon is worse than useless against terrorists. And that's just one example. Prior to eight years ago, I would have rejected most parallels to 1984 to our country, but now, they can't be ignored. Every day there are new attempts by our leaders, their surrogates, and/or other "independent" groups with their own agendas, to keep the bejeesus fully frightened out of us so we'll keep the cash coming. It doesn't matter who the enemy is, as long as there is an enemy, and if there's an enemy who'll cooperate by actually blowing things up once in a while, hell, that's a bonus.

I'll say it again: I'm glad I'll be dead in 40 years. I just pray that the country won't get too bizarre before that happens. George Carlin was right: It's all a joke. And "The Comedian" from the upcoming movie "The Watchmen" is right in there with him.

[Peltigera]

United we stand, divided we fall. There is a growing trend in the world for countries to join up - even the USA wants closer ties with Canada and Mexico. Putin and the Russians will be getting nervous about the size and power of the EU and the fact that the ex-Warsaw Pact countries that have not already joined the EU are desperately trying to. If Turkey is allowed to join as well (which it will be in the not too distant future) then Russia will be surrounded on three sides by the EU. Russia needs these six countries to be allied with Russia, not Europe (particularly seeing as Belarus and Armenia are in Europe).

Thankfully, the next step is for Russia to join the EU as well (not soon, but in my lifetime - i.e. the next thirty years).

[cooter50]

Why not that Russia join the EU, how better to control the markets than be the dominant partner in them? Rather than spend the currency to fight them, join them and be the force to direct them.

[joethree56]

There are no dominant partners in the EU. Its constitution specifically excludes this.

[Peltigera]

Joe is right. In most debates, each country gets one vote. In Parliamentary votes, decisions are made by what we call 'qualified majority'. That means the decision needs a majority of countries and a majority of the population.