A rchive Date
[ 15-10-2001 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Uzbekistan ]
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[http://www.msnbc.com/news/642880.asp
U.S. troops dispatched for search and rescue, but role may expand
By Jim Maceda
NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT
TERMEZ, Uzbekistan, Oct. 14 - Of all the countries surrounding Afghanistan, Uzbekistan has emerged as America’s key military partner. But increasingly, the Uzbek people fear there’ll be a high price to pay.
ON THE BORDER between Afghanistan and its neighbor to the north, Uzbekistan, Uzbek soldiers are on high alert and fortifying security. Just beyond the river that divides the two countries is the territory of the ruling Taliban, accused by the United States of sheltering Osama bin Laden, who Washington says was behind the Sept. 11 suicide attacks on locations in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
So far, the border area at Termez remains quiet, but the Uzbek Army is taking seriously the Taliban’s threats of revenge attacks on the country for aiding the United States in its campaign against the Taliban and bin Laden.
Uzbekistan has allowed U.S. access to an airbase at Qarshi - about 120 miles northwest of Termez.
The base is still off limits to the international press, but sources say at least 1,200 combat soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division are now in place there. Their stated mission is search for and rescue of downed U.S. pilots inside Afghanistan.
MAY BECOME STAGING AREA
And the Uzbek government insists, publicly, that American troops will keep a low, defensive profile here, but military sources tell NBC News that, in fact, Uzbekistan could become a major staging area for U.S. special forces in the weeks ahead.
Expanding that mission remains under consideration, it was confirmed at a recent meeting between Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov.
Indeed, for the past year, U.S. forces here have trained Uzbek border guards to capture terrorist infiltrators and drug smugglers. With the ongoing war, the U.S.-Uzbek partnership is growing deeper.
Most people in Termez - a desperately poor town of 100,000 - say they like the idea of American troops nearby. “I think it’s great,” said one woman, a dentist. “If we fight terrorism together, we can eliminate it.” But others fear the United States will launch combat missions from here, making Uzbekistan a target for terrorism.
The new threat of war spilling over into Termez only makes a difficult life even harder, according to another woman named Natasha. “There’s no work here,” she says. “No money, nothing, and now this - more war, so close. Of course I’m afraid.”
NBC’s Jim Maceda is on assignment in Uzbekistan.
WashPost: Covert U.S.-Uzbek alliance
 World Fact Book (CIA]
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