The US and Kyrgyzstan made an agreement on Tuesday which allowed for the US to transport supplies to Afghanistan via Kyrgyzstan. The agreement came after the government of Kyrgyzstan had closed the US air base in Kyrgyzstan. Ian Kelly of the State Department stated, “We’re happy about the agreement.” Originally the Manas airbase was ordered to be closed by the Kyrgyzstan government. Such an order would have placed a damper on the US effort to fight terrorism. The primary purpose of the Manas air base has been to transport supplies to troops in Afghanistan. Without that supply station, the troops would be incapable of occupying Afghanistan.
It is speculated that the United States is now paying up to three times as much for the airbase rent. Ian Kelly denied such claims stating that he does not have the financial information yet. However I would be willing to bet that the United States is paying a pretty penny for this base. Kyrgyzstan knew how important the base was to our operations in Afghanistan and they leveraged that. In all honesty I think it is ok even if we are paying three times as much, this is an essential base to have. Granted the timing is not perfect, with the recession and all. However it is still positive news in the war against terror.
Originally the base cost 17.4 million dollars per year to rent. Now the base will cost as much as 60 million per year to rent. Was there anything else we could do?
