SMART POWER: Obama Cedes a Critical Base in Asia as Russia Continues Its Aggressive Expansionism

By Investor's Business Daily

Global Power: The U.S. hands over control of its only central Asia base to Russia's old ally, Kyrgyzstan, continuing our retreat from the world stage as Vladimir Putin patiently reassembles the "evil empire."

In something of an ironic trip, President Obama is in Poland, one of the countries he betrayed in 2009, along with the Czech Republic, by scuttling missile-defense plans in Europe to celebrate the country's 25th anniversary of its break from communism.

Undeterred by this example of President Obama's "flexibility" with the Russians, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that the U.S. should open a major base in Poland.

Our advice to Sikorski, after our precipitate withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan, and Obama's decimation of U.S. military strength, is — don't hold your breath.

"For the first time since the Second World War, one European country has taken a province by force from another European country," Sikorski said, speaking of Ukraine and Russia's annexation of Crimea.

"America, we hope, has ways of reassuring us that we haven't even thought about. There are major bases in Britain, in Spain, in Portugal, in Greece, in Italy. Why not here?"

Perhaps because America under Obama doesn't want bases anywhere. Our commander-in-chief is neutering what he considers America the bully, while Russia and China happily fill the strategic vacuum we are creating.

The latest example is our exit from our air base in the former Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic.

The United States on Tuesday handed back its only central Asian air base by vacating the Manas Transit Center.

It has served U.S. operations in Afghanistan since 2001, when access was granted after 9/11 as we launched our war on the terrorists responsible.

The Kyrgyz government first moved to evict us from Manas in 2009, acting under a mix of pressure and incentives from Russia and allies increasingly hostile to the U.S. presence in the region.

The Obama administration, eager to retreat from Afghanistan, did not protest.

Kyrgyzstan voted a year ago to give Washington until July 11 to vacate Manas. After his election in 2011, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev promptly assured a resurgent and increasingly belligerent Russia that the Manas base would be shut.

The base, at the main civilian airport in the former Soviet republic, moved more than 5.3 million servicemen into and out of Afghanistan and handled tens of thousands of cargo shipments and refueling missions.

It's fair to say that it was a highly significant base for the U.S. in that region.

"We literally moved 98% of all ISAF and coalition forces into and out of Afghanistan," said Colonel John Millard, Manas base head and the commander of the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing, referring to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

Now, instead, Kyrgyzstan and its bases will be a staging area for Russian forces.

In December 2012, Kyrgyzstan ratified a 15-year base lease deal with Russia. Next-door Tajikistan also receives Russian economic aid and ratified a deal in October to extend by three decades Moscow's military presence on its territory.

Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan recently signed a treaty to create the Eurasian Economic Union.

All are seen as examples of Putin's attempt to reassemble the old Soviet Union.

"Russia is testing the strength of the international system set up by the United States after World War II," Sikorski noted. "She tested it in Georgia, which was an implied ally of the United States. She has now tested it in Ukraine. And I don't think we can discount the possibility that she will test it again."

As we leave Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan amidst a bevy of foreign-policy failures and Russia advances, we have no doubt of that.

Neither do we think President Obama will pass this test, as he has failed so many others.

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