Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has offered to send more troops to Afghanistan, on top of the 950 or so soldiers that are already there. Reports Civil.ge:
"We've offered to send more troops and for the months to come some more troops will follow from Georgia and we are willing to consider increase of our assistance in order to help the Afghan people achieve a sustainable peace and to prevent terrorists from again using that country as a base," he said.
In case the subtext -- that Georgia is doing this to curry favor with the West -- wasn't clear enough, Saakashvili spelled it out:
"For Georgia, a country of just 4.7 millions souls, whose territory is still partly occupied, such an effort underscores our determination to be a provider—and not just a consumer—of international security," he said.
He did not apparently give any other details, like how many and what kind of soldiers, and when they might go. Saakashvili was speaking at the Munich Security Conference, and Messenger.ge notices another interesting statement in his speech: “I came here to deliver one simple message: ignoring the ongoing military build-ups fuelled by well-known foreign hands can lead to future disasters." He did not, apparently, mention his sustained efforts to create a military build-up in his own country, fueled by the best known foreign hand of all, the U.S.
Messenger also quotes a Georgian military analyst who is not impressed with the proposal:
Military analyst and Editor-in-Chief of the military- analytical magazine Arsenali, Irakli Aladashvili told The Messenger those military forces which have already been sent to Afghanistan are more than is needed. “Therefore I think that sending more soldiers is not required at the present moment. I don’t know exactly how many soldiers would be sent. In general I agree more with sending instructors and analysts rather than soldiers, as they do not participate in assaults.”
Perhaps relatedly, another Georgian official has responded to the suggestion by some U.S. senators to site a NATO missile defense system in Georgia, rather than Turkey. But what exactly he said is open to interpretation, apparently.
Both RIA Novosti and Civil.ge use virtually the same quote (with immaterial differences in translation) by Deputy Foreign Minister David Dzhalagania. From RIA Novosti:
"This is a new initiative so I can't say the Georgian side has formulated a concrete position on the matter," Dzhalagania said.
"This initiative is interesting in and of itself and it deserves attention from the point of view of regional security and stability."
RIA Novosti headlines its story "Tbilisi 'interested' in U.S. missile defense radar," while Civil.ge goes with "Tbilisi Says 'Premature' to Comment on Calls for Missile Defense System Radar in Georgia." Both are really correct, I guess -- but RIA Novosti apparently left off the end of Dzhalagania's quote, as reported by Civil.ge: "It is premature to make any concrete comment on this issue at this stage." All in the eye of the beholder...
Joshua Kucera, a senior correspondent, is Eurasianet's former Turkey/Caucasus editor and has written for the site since 2007.
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