US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the United States would consider paying more rent to continue using a strategic Central Asian air base, according to AP. Gates, who is in Poland for NATO talks, said he considers talks still open with Kyrgyzstan over the future of the Manas base that the U.S. uses to resupply the Afghan war. Gates spoke Thursday, after Kyrgyzstan's parliament voted to evict the U.S. The former Soviet republic hasn't formally told the U.S. to leave. Gates said the base is not irreplaceable and there are talks with other nations about ways to get supplies into Afghanistan.
