Nuclear Weapons Free Zone in Central Asia

Cheryl at Whirled View reports on something I had completely missed. I think, from the looks of it, almost all of us did.

Here's some good news! Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and even the bizarre dictatorship of Turkmenistan signed an agreement on September 9 to make their countries a nuclear-weapons-free zone. They join several other groups of countries with similar agreements.

The United States, England and France have pointed out an inconsistency in the treaty's wording, which commentators outside those countries find less disturbing...

She also suggests...

Perhaps it would be wiser diplomacy on the part of the United States to encourage this new nuclear weapons free zone to help in talks with Iran, or to encourage the new government of Afghanistan to join, rather than to carp about the treaty. Or were there some plans for the US airbases in that area that might not be consistent with a nuclear-weapon-free zone?