Georgia suffered its sixth combat loss in the Afghanistan campaign days before a February 25 parliament vote on sending 11 artillery instructors to the NATO-run mission, a contribution that Tbilisi hopes will eventually buy Georgia a ticket into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
A mine explosion in Afghanistan’s Helmand province killed Corporal Giorgi Avaliani, while two other corporals, Nikoloz Deisadze and Ednar Abuladze, suffered injuries, the Ministry of Defense announced on February 22.
The fatality is not expected to deter Georgia's parliament, dominated by the ruling United National Movement, from dispatching the artillery instructors, however. On February 6, party leader President Mikheil Saakashvili told the Munich Security Conference that Georgia would be beefing up its troop presence in Afghanistan “for the months to come.”
Domestic opposition to Georgia’s increasingly costly efforts in Afghanistan is feeble, as many hope that some day NATO will prove a solution for Georgia’s biggest problem, Russia.
But with Georgia's NATO membership plans facing steady headwind from heavy hitters within the Alliance, some critics say Georgia is now treading water in Afghanistan. Stronger democratic credentials will more easily cinch a membership deal with NATO than however many artillery instructors are sent to Afghanistan, they argue.
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
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