U.S. still relying on Pakistan despite securing new supply exit routes from Afghanistan: the wages of a hasty retreat

The emphasis in the following report is mine.

U.S. Secures New Afghan Exit Routes
by Nathan Hodge
February 29, 2012
The Wall Street Journal

(WASHINGTON) The U.S. secured approval from several countries in Central Asia to move military cargo out of Afghanistan, the military's top logistics officer said, allowing for a withdrawal without relying mainly on Pakistan.Air Force Gen. William Fraser told lawmakers the U.S. had secured approval to move equipment through Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan and was exploring routes to move out armored vehicles as well as nonlethal supplies."We now have two-way approval to move equipment back out of Afghanistan," Gen. Fraser told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, referring to agreements to bring cargo both into Afghanistan and out through Central Asia. Russia and Uzbekistan also endorsed reverse transit routes, Gen. Fraser told lawmakers.

Military logistics in Afghanistan have been complicated in recent months by rocky relations between the U.S. and Pakistan. Planners were forced to reroute cargo into Afghanistan late last year when Pakistan closed border crossings to U.S. and allied supply convoys after a U.S. airstrike killed Pakistani troops.

Much of the traffic shifted to the so-called Northern Distribution Network, a system of overland supply lines that begins at Baltic and Black sea ports and winds across Central Asia. But that network primarily moves cargo in one direction, into Afghanistan. U.S. officials have sought to persuade countries in the region to reverse the route.

Gen. Fraser, who heads the arm of the military that oversees logistics, said that moving equipment out of landlocked Afghanistan is a daunting task, and that reopening overland supply lines across Pakistan would be crucial to withdrawal.

"We need the Pakistan [ground lines of communication] open, because of the large numbers that we're talking about that we need to bring out in a timely manner," he said.
U.K. defense officials are also pursuing new exit routes from Afghanistan. U.K. Defense Secretary Philip Hammond signed an agreement in Kazakhstan on Monday allowing overflight access to move military equipment to and from Afghanistan, and the U.K. and Kazakhstan agreed to start negotiations on overland transit.Mr. Hammond was also scheduled to hold a series of meetings on the subject in Uzbekistan, according to a statement from the defense ministry. U.K. officials are also visiting Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

"It's vital that we secure the supply lines we need to get our equipment home as combat operations finish by the end of 2014," Mr. Hammond said in a statement. "We have a major logistical operation to undertake to get around 11,000 containers and around 3,000 armored vehicles back from Afghanistan and we will need to work with our partners in the region to do so."
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