Neither the Russians or the Chinese want us in the area, and the logistics planners should have had a Plan B ready to roll. This shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but it probably did.
Drought, heat wave, and a series of tropical cyclones – your weather is certainly getting somewhat too interesting, Kryten.
]]>There is a deal struck with Russia (as the primary, mainly to take the focus), Iran (trade but mainly oil) and Afghanistan. 🙂 None of them want a US base anywhere near them. Kyrgyzstan is under a lot of pressure from neighbors to kick the US out, and there is a lot at stake for them. The US is broke and stupid, so I don’t see the US keeping the base there, the US really can’t offer what their neighbors can.
BTW, Turkey is also being put under pressure to kick the US out. Going to be an interesting couple years IMHO.
]]>In addition to a lack of thermostats, they are turned on and off based on the calendar, not the weather, and there are rumors that in a large city, perhaps named Moscow, it can take two weeks to get heat to everyone on the system, if the lines don’t break or get clogged with rust and hard water deposits. If you live on the top floor you are SOL.
I would note that the bloody military uses/used the same system at Eielson AFB in Fairbanks, and Rhein-Main AB in Germany. There are thermostats on at least one radiator in each of those locations, but the military didn’t provide it.
]]>Kyrgyzstan can’t afford to pay billions for the oil and gas needed to fire up those old Soviet central boilers, so the Russians are providing “free” oil and gas so that the Kyrgyz will at least not freeze in the dark (they’ll just boil in the dark, since those old Soviet central heating systems have no thermostats!). But the string attached appears to be that the Kyrgyz have to kick out the Americans. Like I said, if the U.S. really needs that base, they can simply out-bid the Russians. That’s just how the real world works. But the Busheviks lived in their own little bubble world, not the real world, so… sigh.
]]>Some of the current problems in Afghanistan are dunning notices from the Northern Alliance and others for US debts that weren’t paid from the campaign to kick out the Soviets. The “interest and penalties” on bad debts in that area can be fatal.
]]>Kyrgyzstan has been yelling for help for the past few months as the situation reached critical levels. The Russians are the first people to offer any significant help, but they seem to be attaching strings to it. Well, you know, if the U.S. really needs that base, they can simply out-bid the Russians. That’s just how the real world works. The Kyrgyz might not be fond of Islamic extremists, but they’re even less fond of freezing in the dark.
– Badtux the Geopolitical Penguin
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