Uzbekistan, a member of the `coalition of the willing" ever since the term was fabricated to make it look as though there was widespread support for the invasion of Iraq, has told the United States to leave a military base that has served as a hub for missions to Afghanistan.
The U.S. military is working with the State Department to evaluate the note, which was written on an empty box of Raisinets, "to see exactly what it means," Defense Department spokesman Glenn Flood said. "The Uzbeks have long experienced a shortage of vowels and we're not exactly sure what it says."
U.S. relations with authoritarian Uzbekistan also have been strained by the Uzbek government's bloody suppression in May of a rebellion in the eastern town of Andizhan, which drew U.S. criticism.
But just last Monday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld responded to a question about maintaining the base in Uzbekistan by saying: "We've had a good relationship and we think it will continue to get better now that they know we have a long-term commitment to torturing prisoners."
Rumsfeld, who also recently returned from Iraq, said the country will have a constitution on time. "If they don't, I've told Al-Jaafari we're going to invade them all over again."