“Uzbekistan formally evicted the United States yesterday from a military base that has served as a hub for combat and humanitarian missions to Afghanistan since shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Pentagon and State Department officials said yesterday.”

“Uzbekistan has been widely viewed as an important test for the Bush administration -- and whether the anti-terrorism efforts or promotion of democracy takes priority. "We all knew basically that if we really wanted to keep access to the base, the way to do it was to shut up about democracy and turn a blind eye to the refugees," said the senior official, on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive diplomacy. "We could have saved the base if we had wanted."
(washingtonpost.com)

Once again, a Islamist ally has become a little less friendly when we don’t dance to their tune. This unexpected development happens after we did not turn over approximately 450 refugees. This after we were pressuring them to allow investigators into the alleged killing of 500 Andijan protestors.

The only difference between this one and the others is that it strategically affects our operations in Afghanistan.