Associated Press
October 18
he stationing of U.S. soldiers and planes at bases once used by the Soviet army is a stunning change for Uzbekistan, but one that comes after years of warming ties between Washington and the former Soviet republic.
Uzbekistan has long tried to chart an independent course from Russia and U.S. officers and intelligence officials for years have been traveling to the country, training border and custom guards, holding joint maneuvers, sharing intelligence and helping in the fight against drug smuggling from neighboring Afghanistan.
``For the last three to five years we have been very active with the United States in areas like anti-drug cooperation,'' said Abdujabar Abduvakhitov, head of the international department of the Academy of State and Social Construction and a leading contributor to its 25,000-page encyclopedia on terrorism. ``After Sept. 1l it became a new level of cooperation.''
Uzbek-U.S. cooperation has developed quickly.
In May, Gen. Tommy Franks, head of U.S. Central Command and now the officer leading the U.S. fight in Afghanistan, met with Uzbek President Islam Karimov to discuss Uzbekistan's fight against Islamic insurgents.
In 1998, U.S. soldiers parachuted into Uzbekistan's cotton-growing Fergana Valley as part of a training exercise with Uzbek soldiers. In 1999, experts from the U.S. Defense Department toured a Soviet-made chemical weapons plant that is being dismantled with U.S. funding.
But allowing U.S. warplanes and infantry to use its bases is a huge step for a country run by a former Communist boss who allows no dissent - and one that may come at a cost for Washington.
For years, Washington has been publicly critical of Uzbekistan's abysmal human rights record and lack of economic reforms, but those issues are likely to be put on the back burner as cooperation in the fight against terror becomes more important.
``It certainly does not make sense to hammer on issues of domestic policies when we are all faced by such a common international threat,'' said Nancy Lubin, president of JNA Assoc. Inc., a Washington-based research and consulting group that focuses on Central Asia.
Uzbekistan has ruthlessly suppressed dissent. Some 5,000 to 10,000 people are believed to be in jail on charges relating to political activities.
The crackdown, mostly against Islamic dissidents, is so harsh that agents monitor every mosque. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright warned during her visit to Uzbekistan last year that what she called ``government repression'' might be pushing peaceful opponents toward extremism.
That type of criticism may disappear now, with Uzbekistan a crucial ally in the fight against terrorism. The bases are particularly prized by Washington because they are located in remote areas and are considered safer than bases in other countries such as Pakistan.
In a recent agreement, Uzbekistan said the United States could use an Uzbek air base while Washington pledged to protect the Uzbek border with Afghanistan.
At least 1,000 soldiers of the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division are already in Uzbekistan.
This cooperation is expected to draw Washington closer to Uzbekistan, the military and political heavyweight in the region. Uzbekistan, with 23 million people, has almost half the population of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, and with its rich soil and gold deposits, holds the greatest economic promise.
U.S. officials also have been courting Uzbekistan's Muslim leaders, as was evident from Wednesday's meeting between U.S. Ambassador John Herbst and Mufti Abdurashid Bakhromov, a top Islamic cleric. Bakhromov came out sharply against the ``evil forces of terrorism'' and Herbst said such support was vital.
``Uzbekistan is historically one of the great centers of Islam,'' Herbst said. ``When religious leaders of Uzbekistan say that terrorism is counter to Islam, that has great authority in the Islamic world.''
But Washington is trying not to alienate Russia, another key ally in the fight against terror.
In an interview published Monday in Russia's Izvestiya newspaper, U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice tried to reassure Moscow by saying that Washington was not aiming to undermine Russia's interests in the region.
The U.S. campaign in Afghanistan comes as Uzbekistan is battling its own radical group, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, an organization based in Afghanistan that has fought with the Taliban. Unlike many other Muslims, some Uzbeks appear to favor the strikes on Afghanistan, hoping that domestic rebels - believed to number in the hundreds - could also be targeted.
After the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack, ``the United States is likely to be more interested in crushing the base of these terrorists,'' Abduvakhitov said. ``Most Uzbeks support this solution to our problem. We are solving the problem of our stability for today and for the future.''