Central Asian States Want To Play A Greater Role As NATO-Afghan Supply Route

Kazakhstan Seeks Greater Role As NATO Route -- Al Jazeera

New plans indicate Central Asian state wants to boost position as supply route into Afghanistan.

Kazakhstan is seeking to play a greater role as a supply route for NATO into Afghanistan.

A significant portion of non-lethal goods in NATO's northern distribution network, in which cargo is transited from the West to Afghanistan through Central Asia, already passes through Aktau, a key Kazakh sea port.

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My Comment: Uzbekistan is also being cultivated to provide a stable supply route to and from Afghanistan. Considering the amount of money that is involved .... I am not surprised by this development.

On a side note .... it would explain why Pakistan hurried to reach an agreement to re-open NATO's supply lines this past week. They saw the handwriting on the wall .... i.e. U.S./NATO seriousness in finding alternative supply routes.

Afghan Insurgency Spilling Into Central Asia: Russia

From Reuters:

KABUL (Reuters) - Islamist militancy is spreading north from Afghanistan into Central Asia, threatening to disrupt NATO supply lines snaking through the former Soviet region, Russia's ambassador to Afghanistan said.

A string of clashes between troops and militants in Central Asia this year has prompted talk of Islamist fighters infiltrating the volatile and impoverished region used by the United States to ship supplies to its troops in Afghanistan.

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My Comment: Poverty, mixed with repression, foreign interference, and a history of Islamic militancy .... yup .... this is a prime area for an insurgency to start.

When the Soviet Union was formed, the Communists spent almost a decade trying to quell the Islamic militants in this part of Asia. I guess it was only a temporary measure.

Central Asia Sounds Alarm on Islamic Radicalism

From The New York Times:

KOSH-KORGON, Kyrgyzstan — The three men were locals who were said to have once crossed into nearby Afghanistan to wage war alongside the Taliban. They then returned, militant wayfarers apparently bent on inciting an Afghan-style insurgency in this tinderbox of a valley in Central Asia. By late June, they were holed up in a house here, stockpiling Kalashnikov rifles and watching pirated DVDs of martial arts movies.

Their exact plans will most likely never be known. The Kyrgyz security services tracked them down a week after their arrival and stormed the building, according to officials and village residents. All three men were killed, including one who blew himself up with a grenade after being wounded.

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My Comment: The Chinese regard this part of the world on their border as extremely unstable, and probably the most dangerous from their point of view. Their own Muslim citizens are exhibiting the same traits and rebellions as the Central Asian region, and they are only a border away.

Russia has been able to put a lid on their side of the border .... but this is a situation that everyone is skeptical can last.

Should we be alarmed .... yes, but the rise of Islamic radicalism in this part of the world will impact Russia and China more than how it will impact us in Afghanistan.

Afghan, Pakistani Conflicts Spilling Into Central Asian States?

From The Christian Science Monitor:

Dushanbe, Tajikistan - A spate of militant clashes in Tajikistan may indicate that the conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan are spilling beyond their borders – a top concern for neighboring Central Asian nations and Russia.

The rise in violence comes as Pakistan wraps up an assault on militants in the north and Western forces intensify a campaign against insurgents in Afghanistan ahead of an Aug. 20 election. The offensives may be pushing foreigners fighting in either country to flee the conflict and return home.

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My Comment: It took the Communists almost 15 years to quell its Islamic insurgencies when the Soviet Union was first established at the beginning of the 20th century. The fact that the old animosities and religious/ethnic conflicts are coming back should not be surprised. Like Yugoslavia and the Caucasus, the Communists suppressed these historical conflicts, but when the Soviet Union fell so did the authority and resources that were used to enforce the "peace".

Expect things to "heat up" in Central Asia as the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan also start to expand, and the bloodshed starts to get worse.