US mulls options to keep military presence in C Asia

Now it has thousands in Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan — infantry, special operations air and ground troops, military police and intelligence analysts, along with fighter aircraft, refuelling and cargo planes, and reconnaissance and surveillance planes.

A less conspicuous toehold could be kept beyond the current war by, for example, working out long-term agreements with countries like Kazakhstan to allow access by the US military to some of their airfields or to periodically train with Kazakh forces, officials said.

Another possibility is agreements that permit the US military to store equipment for use in the event of a regional crisis. The Pentagon has had such deals with Persian Gulf countries for years.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Pentagon, with input from the state department and other agencies, is drawing up a plan for a long-term military ‘‘footprint’’ in central Asia. The plan has not yet been presented to Defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld.