The Bug Pit
The Indian military is continuing its recent flurry of activity in Central Asia, announcing a new proposal to build and test torpedoes in Kyrgyzstan's Lake Issyk-Kul. From The Hindu:
After the Armenian government in Nagorno Karabakh said they shot down an unmanned Azerbaijani drone last week, Baku quickly denied that it was theirs, but didn't provide any additional information.
The U.S. has announced it is funding a project to eliminate intestinal parasitic worms among schoolchildren in Tajikistan. Sure, you're saying, agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development do that sort of thing all the time. Well, but in this case, it's not USAID or another aid agency who's doing it, but the tough guys at U.S. Special Operations Command.
A week ago, after Human Rights Watch issued a statement criticizing the White House for seeking to ease restrictions on military aid to Uzbekistan, a State Department spokesperson promised to provide me with more information on what exactly sort of aid was being sought. After repeated inquiries, I still haven't heard anything, so it's safe to assume there will be no information for now.
Armenian forces in the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh have shot down an Azerbaijani unmanned drone aircraft, they say. Azerbaijani officials thus far have been silent on the issue, but the Armenians have produced photos and video of the wreckage.
According to Armenian Reporter:
Russian, Central Asian Militaries To Practice Counterinsurgency, Naval Warfare
Upcoming military exercises between Russia and several Central Asian countries are targeted both preventing the spread of the "Arab Spring" into Russia's near abroad, and the possibility of Islamists destabilizing Central Asia after U.S. troops leave Afghanistan.
Turkey's collapsing relations with Israel over the past week or so have occasioned a new round of hand-wringing about whether the West is losing Turkey. But that drama has overshadowed another, countervailing, development: Turkey's agreement to host a NATO air defense radar.
Human Rights Watch: White House Softening On Uzbekistan For Sake of Military Cooperation
The White House is getting soft on Uzbekistan for the sake of access to military transport routes to Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch charges:
The U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi believed that the Georgian government was "overly focused" on getting American weapons, according to a cable written in February 2010, in advance of then-Afghanistan envoy Richard Holbrooke's visit to the country, and released by Wikileaks: