Uzbek expert: The US’s statement on bin Laden – well thought-out action by offended state

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The expert of the Uzbek Regional Politics Foundation Andrey Kim says that Washington’s statement that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden may be hiding in Central Asia is a well-thought-out, “clockwork” political step.

While commenting to REGNUM on the above statement by former US National Coordinator for Counterterrorism Richard Clarke, Kim says that this is just one more premeditated “nod” at Central Asia — an attempt to present this region as problematic. By saying problematic, the US means to say unstable, unpredictable, dangerous – adjectives that, hopefully for the US, will scare off potential investors.

The second possible reason the US has made this statement is that it has a grudge against Uzbekistan because this country has removed the American military presence from its territory. “On the one hand, this is a grudge because the Americans were forced to close their military base in Uzbekistan, while, on the other, it is a crying hint that it would not be bad if they came back to Uzbekistan and also enlarged their presence in Kyrgyzstan and the whole region,” says Kim.

Today the name of bin Laden has dual implication. "On the one hand, bin Laden is the ringleader of a militant terrorist organization, on the other, he is a good cover for the Americans, who are ready to use this ghost-hunting to “stir up” anti-terror trouble in any geo-politically profitable country. “Today, the US can’t help being annoyed to know there is some international anti-terror organization they are not involved in – Shanghai Cooperation Organization and its Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent – a structure that prevented dozens of terrorist acts last year.”

“Even more, the last SCO summit in Shanghai has given the RATS even more authority for ensuring security and fighting terrorism,” notes Kim. “Thus, to accuse the Central Asian republics means to shatter one of the pillars of the SCO’s activity – the fight against international terrorism.” “This statement is one more attempt to ‘kick’ an organization steadily growing into a powerful international structure for security and mutually beneficial economic cooperation.”