[Truth666]

Recent events have suggested that Kyrgyz-Russian relations are warming and Kyrgyz-U.S. relations cooling. President Askar Akaev vehemently condemned the Rose Revolution in Georgia and Orange Revolution in Ukraine -- events that Russian and Kyrgyz official media have consistently suggested were orchestrated with the help of U.S.-sponsored NGOs -- and has made it clear that he does not want to see any repetition in Kyrgyzstan, which holds parliamentary elections on 27 February and a presidential election in October. During a visit to Moscow in late January, President Akaev told "Nezavisimaya gazeta" that Russia is readying plans to invest $2 billion in the Kyrgyz economy. Not long after, Russian Air Force head Vladimir Mikhailov told ITAR-TASS on 10 February that Russia plans to double the amount of equipment and personnel, who currently number approximately 500, at the base in 2005. A few days later, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Aitmatov announced that Kyrgyzstan, after consultations with the CSTO and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), had decided against the deployment of U.S. AWACS surveillance aircraft at Manas.

[Bald Eagle777]

I have been watching this region for a few years. I would strongly recommend bookmarking all the airbases throughout the region and any "alleged" (and/or "denied") US and Russian involvement.

This is a volatile region that could cook up and get hot pretty quickly.