Eurasia Insight:
US AND GEORGIAN OFFICIALS MOVE TO NEXT PHASE OF MILITARY DEPLOYMENT
Jaba Devdariani: 3/04/02

Having gained Russia's grudging acceptance of the deployment of US military advisors to Georgia, officials in both Washington and Tbilisi are finalizing details of the training arrangement. Military officials and diplomats stress that the number of US military personnel deployed in Georgia will be relatively small, and have attempted to cast the development as part of long-standing security cooperation efforts.

Details of US military assistance to Georgia became clearer on March 1 after a telephone conversation between the US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov. According to a Defense Department statement, the first stage of cooperation -- which included the supply of military helicopters last October, and subsequent training for Georgian pilots and ground support personnel -- is already wrapping up.

The next phase will involve the creation and training of a Georgian rapid-deployment force specializing in anti-terrorist operations. Georgian Deputy Defense Minister Gela Bezhuashvili told the Kavkasia-Press agency that the training blueprint was drawn up in late 2001. About 1,500 Georgian officers and soldiers will go through separate training programs, staged at various military bases throughout the country, Bezhuashvili added. The United States will also equip the units that undergo training.

About 200 American military experts will conduct the training. Otar Shalikashvili, an advisor to Rumsfeld on Georgian security issues, is expected to arrive in Georgia later in March to coordinate the training program.

Since news of the US deployment first broke on February 27, both US and Georgian officials have worked to assuage concerns about the impact that the arrival of US advisors would have on regional security. Authorities in Tbilisi seek to project an air of continuity and suggest that the US deployment is an outgrowth of Georgia's involvement in the NATO Partnership for Peace program.

Despite such assurances, Georgian officials also admit that current conditions are prone to sudden shifts. Georgian Defense Ministry spokesman Mirian Kiknadze concedes that the initial plans for cooperation "could be accelerated in time and its details [could be] significantly changed."

Some observers remain concerned about stability in Georgia, saying the arrival US of advisors injects yet another volatile element into a highly explosive political situation in the Caucasus. Much of the concern is linked to the long-term Russian response to the presence of US troops in Georgia. Russia, local analysts point out, still maintains military bases in Georgia.

Russian leaders are unwilling at this time to oppose the US deployment outright, but they are clearly not enthusiastic about the arrival of American advisors. "The Caucasus is an area of special importance as far as Russian national interests are concerned, so any activities in the region cannot pass unnoticed by Russia," the Interfax news agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov as saying.

The US deployment appears to have already lifted morale in the Georgian military establishment. Analysts in Georgia say the army's current capabilities are the lowest of any state in the Caucasus, adding that the military suffers from a chronic lack of funding, as well as shortages of equipment and training. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Projected defense spending was only 0.5 percent of GDP in 2000 and it was almost halved by the budget cuts induced by the poor collection of revenues at the end of the year. Last May, National Guard units mutinied, driven in part by complaints about the poor living conditions experienced by troops. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The deployment also seems to be emboldening Georgian political leaders, who are staking out more aggressive stances towards the separatist-minded regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. For example, State Security Minister Valeri Khaburdzania has attempted to link suspected terrorists in Georgia to Abkhazia in an evident attempt to pinpoint this separatist province as a target for the future anti-terror operation. In a similar attempt, Gela Charkviani, an advisor to Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, told national TV that US-trained troops would be needed to tackle "not only the Pankisi problem."