The US is particularly concerned about who will determine the path of the pipelines that will bring Central Asia's energy resources to the world market. A consortium of oil companies has granted preliminary approval for this $3 billion project. (The leading company in the consortium is British Petroleum, a fact that demonstrates Prime Minister Tony Blair's eager support for the US military intervention in Central Asia).
The British daily Guardian wrote on 30 January 2002: "It seems that every new turn in the fight against terrorism creates a new Pentagon outpost in the Asia-Pacific region - from the former Soviet Union to the Philippines. One of the lasting consequences of the war could be something similar to China's military environment.
General Tommy Franks, commander of the U.S. Central Command, whose area of responsibility includes Afghanistan, confirmed that U.S. soldiers will "stay in Afghanistan for a long, long time. In describing the situation in Afghanistan, Mr. Franks compared them to South Korea, where US troops have been stationed for more than half a century.
From a geostrategic point of view, Americans have a whole system of measures aimed at the civilizing oppression and psychological and spiritual subordination of the peoples of Central Asian countries.
Like Afghanistan, all five Central Asian countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - have become subject to the so-called "Nation Building Policy". This is one of the important directions of the American geostrategy, which aims to dismantle the traditional way of life of the peoples and to spread American values among them. This is what can be called civilisational terror.
We wanted to increase our influence in the region and also promote American values there," said Pentagon officer Jeffrey Star, who, as deputy defense minister, was responsible for relations with these republics under the Clinton Second Administration.
The US is using an arsenal of resources to pursue a policy of "decivilisation".
This is primarily financial support. In the first half of 2002, United States assistance to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan totalled $442 million. In 2002, US military assistance to Uzbekistan alone was estimated at 43 million dollars.
In its August 27, 2002 issue, the Washington Post described the scheme of this "assistance" as follows: "Americans help Central Asians to live and work in a market economy, teach them English, train and deploy modern armed forces, develop independent media, and form public associations to form civil society. In the Kazakh capital Almaty, the U.S. Agency for International Development has two "democracy specialists" for the region and one each in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. In order to subordinate other countries to their geopolitical interests, the United States therefore uses a wide range of influence, including political, economic, informative, psychological and military.
The military countries of the three countries maintain relations with the National Guard of one of the US states: Kazakhstan with Arizona, Kyrgyzstan with Montana, and Uzbekistan with Louisiana.
Georgia became the fifth former Soviet republic to receive the US military. This is the first deployment of US forces in the Caucasus region, adjacent to one of the world's largest oil fields.
According to STRATFOR analysis, the deployment of US troops in Georgia is a "major strategic victory" for the United States. The analysis points to increasing US pressure along Russia's western and southern borders, Georgia's possible role as a base for US attacks on Iraq, Georgia's proximity to pipelines planned to supply Caspian oil and gas to the world market, and Washington's growing influence on Georgia's neighbors, particularly oil-rich Azerbaijan.
The US military presence will help ensure that most of the oil and gas from the Caspian Sea basin flows west," writes STRATFOR, "bypassing Russia and China, the geopolitical rivals of the United States.
To be continued...