U.S. gets base

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice secured a deal with Kyrgyzstan this week, giving the U.S. the right to keep using a Kyrgyz airbase. The new Kyrgyz government, which took power last spring in the so-called Tulip Revolution, had been reluctant to honor its predecessor’s agreement on renting the base. Under the new deal, Kyrgyzstan will get more money, plus U.S. help in tracking down the roughly $45 million the U.S. had been paying annually to use the base. The Kyrgyz suspect that the family of their former president, Askar Akayev, pocketed most of it. The U.S. military needs the base to support troops in nearby Afghanistan; neighboring Uzbekistan recently asked U.S. forces to leave its bases.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up