Ruskie Base Goes Dark

Vlad the Impaler Putin can rattle his saber all he wants, but it might be more productive for him to rattle his panhandling can instead:

The Russian garrison at an air base in Kyrgyzstan has been left without power after failure to pay the bill, local electricity company Severelectro said Tuesday.

The company said the barracks for 300 servicemen at the Kant base, near the Central Asian country's capital Bishkek, were cut off on Monday, but added that the air strips were not affected.

The Russian military promised that the unpaid bills of 13,000 dollars (9,500 euros) would be paid by the end of the week. (AFP)

You can bet George Bush is paying the electric bill for our base in Kyrgyzstan.