11 September 2008
Georgia Security Aid No Threat to Russia, Defense Official Says
America will join NATO allies to help Georgia rebuild its military
Washington — U.S. security cooperation with Georgia has never been aimed against Russia, says Under Secretary of Defense Eric Edelman.
“The reality is something quite different,” Edelman told a congressional panel September 9, from recent claims by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that the United States is “arming Georgians to the teeth.”
Since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States has worked closely with both Georgia and Russia to promote mutual security and counterterrorism interests through military-to-military contacts and NATO’s Partnership for Peace and similar programs.
These efforts received a significant boost following a 2001 diplomatic crisis in the Caucasus area, when Russia threatened to invade Georgia over Moscow’s claims that Tbilisi was allowing militants to use its Pankisi Gorge region as a safe haven for forces fighting in nearby Chechnya.
The Bush administration responded with the Georgia Train and Equip Program in the weeks after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, sending military instructors to give Georgian forces the necessary skills to confront the militants, whose links to al-Qaida made Georgia one of the earliest, although frequently overlooked, counterterrorism missions.
After Georgian forces secured Pankisi, the Georgian training plan continued to promote military modernization and institutional reform until 2004, when it was replaced by the Georgia Sustainment and Stability Operations Program. This program is an effort to prepare Georgian forces to more effectively take part in international peacekeeping operations.
At the time of the Russian attack August 8, U.S. military trainers were in Georgia to help the army’s 4th Brigade prepare for an upcoming deployment to Iraq. Contrary to unsubstantiated claims repeated throughout Russia’s state-owned broadcast media, these U.S. military and civilian personnel had no role in the conflict, Edelman said.
America’s $190 million investment has helped Georgia become a leading troop provider to international coalitions, Edelman said, providing 7,800 troops in Iraq and 50 in Afghanistan.
Edelman said that at the time of the Russian invasion, 1,800 of Georgia’s best-trained military troops were serving with coalition forces in Iraq, where it currently is the third-largest national contingent behind the United States and Britain.
Given the previously excellent working relationship between the United States and Russia in security cooperation, the Pentagon has consistently shown its sensitivity to Moscow by not only making information about U.S. security assistance programs to Georgia readily available in detailed, publicly available documents, but also making the programs a leading agenda item whenever and wherever senior American and Russian defense officials meet, Edelman said.
“The U.S. deliberately avoided training capabilities such as artillery, armor and attack aviation since they were seen as too provocative,” Robert Hamilton, a defense analyst at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies and former head of U.S. military training programs in Georgia, said in a September 4 article. “At no time did the U.S. attempt to train or equip the Georgian armed forces for a conflict with Russia.”
Edelman expressed regret for Russia’s systematic destruction of Georgia’s military infrastructure, a tactical decision which may have serious security implications for all three countries, he said.
“The actions of Russian military units to systematically eviscerate the Georgian armed forces appear in part to be a revenge action for these capacity-building efforts by the United States,” Edelman said.
UNITED STATES WILL CONTINUE GEORGIAN PARTNERSHIP
As a sovereign country, Georgia has a right to defend itself, Edelman said, and a U.S. military team heading to Georgia will help rebuild its military.
“We’ll be looking carefully and responsibly at Georgia's needs over the coming weeks and months,” Edelman said. “The U.S. has a responsibility to support Georgia, and we'll be doing just that in the weeks and months ahead.”
The assessment team’s deployment follows a visit from General John Craddock, head of U.S. European Command, who joined U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Henrietta Fore August 21 to meet with Georgian officials to assess the country’s humanitarian and security needs. (See “United States Will Help Rebuild Georgia’s Military.”)
Regardless of Russia’s actions, the United States will also continue to support Georgia’s NATO membership bid, Edelman said. The aspiration was further strengthened by the alliance’s unanimous decision August 19 to create a NATO-Georgia commission.
“We will review how the United States will be able to support the reconstruction of Georgia’s economy, infrastructure and armed forces,” Edelman said. “These steps will be sequenced and will continue to show U.S. support for Georgia’s security, independence and territorial integrity.”
The transcript of Edelman’s remarks is available from America.gov.
For more information, see Crisis in Georgia.
