Russia MP: America reveal ‘true intentions’ for Caucasus
The Messenger, Georgia
March 11 2005
The Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports that the “United
States is keeping a close eye on the Caucasus.” Speaking at hearings
in the Senate Armed Forces Committee, American General James Jones,
the Supreme Allied Commander of the Unified Armed Forces (UAF) of
NATO in Europe, said that in terms of strategy, the top US military
leadership considers the Caucasus one of the most important regions
in the world. He also touched upon their interests, particularly, the
Caucasian air corridor which has become a critical lifeline between
the coalition armed forces in Afghanistan and our bases in Europe.
The paper writes that General Jones summarized yet another of
Washington’s priorities in this zone, Caspian oil. The general
expressed his wish that in order to increase their traditional lines
of communication, they are seeking access to new facilities and the
freedom to transit the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Near East, and
Africa to advance American national interests. The Caucasus, the he
said, is also a crucial “geographic point in the process of spreading
democracy and the market economy in the countries of Central and
Southeast Asia.”
The paper writes that U.S. plans for troops in the area until 2015.
“The European Command of the U.S. Armed Forces together with the
command of the American Special Forces is now working on a new plan
intended for the period until 2015 whereby the United States would
station its permanent and rotational special forces to new bases in
the southern part of Europe,” the paper states.
Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the Russian Federation State
Duma Committee on International Affairs, believes that these
revelations by the general do not match up with the statements by
American politicians that the American military presence in the
Caucasus region is linked to opposing the international terrorist
threat. “The general let slip and thereby confirmed the true
intentions of the Americans in this region, which up to this point
were carefully hidden,” the MP tells the paper.