The U.S.-Uzbek alliance serves both countries' short-term political and security interests. But the repressive Karimov's goal to use Washington's support to increase his power in Central Asia could create additional extremist threats for Washington to deal with in the future.

As part of its desire to mitigate security threats from Russia and the Taliban, Uzbekistan was the first country that offered concrete anti-terrorism assistance to the United States after Sept. 11. So far, at least 1,500 U.S. Air Force and Special Operations personnel are stationed at Uzbekistan's Khanabad Air Base, just over 90 miles from the Afghan border.

In Tashkent, Washington has found an able player for the role of regional ally. The country is the most populous and ethnically homogeneous of the five Central Asian republics.

It is strategically located, sharing borders with all of the other Central Asian states, including Afghanistan, and the government unofficially wants to roll back Russian influence throughout the region.

Uzbekistan also has the largest and best-equipped military in the region; cooperation with U.S. forces will only increase its capabilities.

Perhaps most important for the United States, Karimov views Islamic fundamentalist groups -- specifically the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) -- as the biggest threat to his regime. For this reason, the government would probably go along with any U.S. plans to bomb al Qaeda cells, even on its own soil.

The United States last year put the IMU -- members of which allegedly fought with al Qaeda forces during the recent U.S. assault in Afghanistan's Paktia province -- on its list of terrorist organizations. U.S. allied forces are also widely credited with killing Juma Namangani, the group's founder and leader, in November 2001 during the battle in Kunduz.