Pentagon Chief in Azerbaijan: Afghan War Arc stretches to Caspian and Caucasus by Rick Rozoff  http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/75377

"With Turkey increasingly adopting an independent foreign policy orientation not to Washington's liking; with the nearly nine-year-old war in Afghanistan reaching its apex; with the U.S. and its NATO allies ramping up pressure on Iran in Azerbaijan's "rough neighborhood";

and with the U.S. pursuing global interceptor missile plans that may include evicting the Russian military from the Gabala radar station in the north of the country, Azerbaijan is assuming a greater strategic significance with each passing day....That is why U.S. Defense Secretary Gates was there on June 6 and 7. It will not be his last visit."