US out of central Asia

From AP:

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which groups Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, urged a deadline be set for withdrawal of the foreign forces from its member states in light of what it said was a decline in active fighting in Afghanistan.

The alliance's move appeared to be an attempt to push the United States out of a region that Moscow regards as historically part of its sphere of influence and in which China seeks a dominant role because of its extensive energy resources.

U.S-led military forces have been deployed at air bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to back up the anti-terrorist campaign in neighboring Afghanistan.

According to the U.S military, Uzbekistan hosts at least 800 U.S. troops, while 1,200 U.S.-led troops are in Kyrgyzstan.

This is all a charade, of course. I'm sure that the Russians and Chinese know that the bases in central Asia were one of the main goals of the war in Afghanistan and the "war on terror" in general--far more important (and successful) to the Bushies than capturing the tall bearded one. They're not going to give them up, just like they haven't given up the bases in Korea and Japan and Germany and Italy and Kosovo and Qatar and Kuwait and Iraq and...

Empire is as empire does.