Seneste nyt fra Centralasien

Khyber er en bro mindre:

Militants blew up a bridge in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, cutting the major supply line for U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan with an explosion that turned the narrow span into a jagged metal "V." (...)

The latest attack on the famous Khyber Pass highlights the urgent need NATO and the U.S. have for alternative supply routes to landlocked Afghanistan through nations to its north, especially as the U.S. plans to double its troop numbers in the country this year.

Så, ja, når forsyningerne til en styrke på 70.000 mand afhænger af en enkelt bro langt væk, så ... ja. I mellemtiden forstår de omliggende lande at presse citronen:

Kyrgyzstan will close an air base used by the U.S. as a staging point for operations in Afghanistan, potentially undermining U.S. President Barack Obama’s planned troop increase aimed at defeating the Taliban.

For three years, the Kyrgyz government tried to renegotiate the amount paid by the U.S. to use the base, “but we encountered no understanding from the U.S. side,” Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev told reporters in Moscow today. The decision was made “in the last few days,” he said.

Læs: Flere penge, tak. Og fra Rusland:

Russia could help NATO re-supply its forces in Afghanistan if the alliance restores contacts with Moscow that were put on hold over the war with Georgia, a senior Russian envoy was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Det var så efter Petraeus havde annonceret en aftale om samme...

Og Iran? Mildere toner fra USA - men ikke fra Israel. Det ville jo dog være den letteste løsning, men der er mange på begge sider, der ikke gerne ser det ske. Gates, f.eks.:

"I'm concerned about the level of frankly subversive activity that the Iranians are carrying on in a number of places in Latin America," Gates said in response to a question from Sen. Mel Martinez, a Florida Republican.

"They're opening a lot of offices and a lot of fronts behind which they interfere in what is going on in some of these countries," Gates said, without elaborating.

Iran er det nye USSR: De åbner kontorer i Sydamerika. Kontorer! Og de blander sig i andre landes affærer - ganske uhørt! Så går det jo ikke at diskutere rapprochement, selv om NATO står med håret i postkassen, eller hvad de unge kalder det nutildags. Det er jo realpolitik, og det går ikke.

Gates har også en fortid mht. Iran. Jeg ved ikke, om det betyder noget. Men det er spøjst at tænke på.

Endvidere: Uanset hvilke lande, som den nye forsyningslinie til Afghanistan vil løbe over, så vil de pågældende lande have et fast greb om nosserne på NATO. Det kan jo så være Rusland eller Iran, eller måske Uzbekistan eller endda Kina.

Det var så det seneste fra det logistiske mareridt kendt som "indsatsen i Afghanistan".