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In what would amount to opening a new front in its war on terrorism,
the United States is considering sending 100 to 200 U.S. special
operations soldiers to Georgia, adding to the U.S. helicopters
and handful of advisers already in Tbilisi to help the Georgian
military combat terrorists in the lawless Pankisi Gorge. Citing
senior military officials, The New York Times on Wednesday reported
that the Joint Chiefs of Staff is close to approving the mission,
in which U.S. forces would train the Georgian military but would
not be allowed to take part in combat operations except in self-defense.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer later confirmed the report.
U.S. officials have said they believe al-Qaida members and other
Islamic extremists could be hiding in the gorge, along with rebels
from Chechnya. Lieutenant Colonel Ed Loomis, spokesman for the
U.S. military's European Command near Stuttgart, Germany, said
the United States sent 10 UH-1H Huey helicopters to Tbilisi in
November, along with a military trainer and six civilian contractors
to train Georgian personnel. About 40 U.S. military personnel,
including special operations troops, visited Georgia this month
to assess Georgia's security needs, he said. In Tbilisi, officials
confirmed the presence of five U.S. advisers and said they were
there to help Georgia set up "an anti-terrorist subdivision"
for operations in the Pankisi Gorge, a hotbed of crime that has
long eluded the government's attempts to bring it under control.
"At this stage, there is no question of holding a joint anti-terrorist
operation of any kind," said Mirian Kiknadze, a spokesman
for the Georgian Defense Ministry, Reuters reported. Russian reactions
were mixed. Officials on the whole reacted cautiously to the reports,
saying Moscow would need to be consulted about any joint operations
in the Pankisi Gorge -- north of Tbilisi and close to Georgia's
border with Chechnya -- but generally did not object to U.S. forces
on Georgian soil.
A senior U.S. diplomat in Moscow said Washington had included
Moscow in its talks with Tbilisi over training and equipping Georgian
military forces. He added that the initiative has been on the
table for months and that the Russian media have overdramatized
the situation. "I don't think this will affect [President
Vladimir] Putin's calculations," he said. "This is not
about sending [U.S.] troops to Georgia," he said. "It's
about training the Georgians to better control their territory
and reduce the objectionable activities going on in the Pankisi
Gorge." The diplomat also said that sending U.S. troops to
Georgia would help shore up Georgia's sovereignty and help diffuse
tensions between Georgia and Russia. "When Russia talks about
'losing Georgia,' we have to say that it's not theirs to lose
in the first place." Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov was in
St. Petersburg for a meeting of CIS defense ministers. Both Ivanov
and his Georgian counterpart said they had learned about the U.S.
plan from the news. Later in the day, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov
said in televised statements that the planned deployment would
aggravate the situation in the Caucasus. "That is our position
and Washington is well aware of it," he added. Instead, he
reiterated Russia's offers to help Georgia deal with terrorism.
Putin, who met with his Security Council on Wednesday to discuss
the situation in Chechnya, made no public comments on the subject
Wednesday. But Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov said
the presence of U.S. military advisers in Georgia would not harm
Russian interests. "It's Georgia's sovereign right to make
those or other decisions on its own territory," Interfax
quoted him as saying. Another Federation Council member, Valery
Manilov, a former army spokesman and first deputy chief of the
General Staff, said, "The participation of these [U.S.] advisers
will help neutralize terrorists on Georgian territory," Interfax
reported. Federation Council member Mikhail Margelov, who heads
the upper house's committee on international affairs, said if
the United States had decided to send military experts to Georgia,
it must be sure of the presence of terrorists there, Interfax
reported. But he added that no troops could be sent to Tbilisi
without the approval of the Georgian parliament or agreement from
Moscow. Reactions from the State Duma were less accommodating.
Interfax reported Deputy Alexander Gurov, head of the security
committee, as saying that the arrival of U.S. forces in Georgia
might be seen as an "unfriendly" move by Tbilisi. Union
of Right Forces leader Boris Nemtsov accused Georgian President
Eduard Shevardnadze on Wednesday of conducting an "absolutely
crazy policy by orienting himself to the United States,"
Interfax reported. Moscow's response to reports that U.S. forces
may soon be sent to Georgia reflect conflicting issues. While
officials welcome the fight against Chechen rebels in Georgia,
many are wary of the increasing U.S. presence in the Caucasus.
Alexei Arbatov, deputy head of the Duma's defense committee and
a member of the liberal Yabloko party, said Washington must consult
with Moscow on possible troop deployments in Georgia if it wants
Russia's continued cooperation in the war against terrorism. But
he said Russia was in no position to object. In the Caucasus,
as in Central Asia, Russia is facing a choice, Arbatov said: "Either
Islamic terrorists operate there freely, or an American political
and military presence begins building up. "Since Russia today
is unable, unfortunately, to liquidate hotbeds of terrorism on
its own, there is no other choice," Interfax quoted him as
saying. State-controlled ORT television led its evening newscast
with a sensational claim about an agreement between Moscow and
Washington under which the United States would allow Russia to
control the situations in Georgia's separatist regions of Abkhazia
and South Ossetia in exchange for acceptance of a U.S. presence
in the Pankisi Gorge. The report cited unidentified sources in
Tbilisi and Washington. Washington and Moscow have jostled over
influence in Georgia during the last decade. Moscow sees the former
Soviet republic as part of its sphere of influence, while Washington
has sought to buffer Russia's reach by supporting Tbilisi with
financial aid and military cooperation. Alexei Malashenko, a Caucasus
specialist at the Moscow Carnegie Center, said sending U.S. troops
to Georgia would boost Shevardnadze's political position. "It
shows the United States didn't dump him," he said. But he
added that the move is also a humiliation for Tbilisi. "It's
a catastrophic situation," Malashenko said. "You can't
talk about Georgian sovereignty if the government can't deal with
a situation involving several thousand people on its territory."
Malashenko said that sending U.S. forces to Georgia would not
be a threat to Russia. "Georgia and Russia couldn't come
to terms because of mutual distrust and other reasons," he
said. Moscow has long maintained that rebels are hiding among
the thousands of Chechen refugees in the Pankisi Gorge, which
the Kremlin says is used as a staging area for attacks inside
Chechnya. Tbilisi for years shrugged off Russia's claims as an
attempt by the Kremlin to exert control over its southern neighbor.
But following the lead of the United States, Georgia has begun
to back Russia on this issue. Russia and Georgia also have moved
closer on another issue concerning the Pankisi Gorge. The Foreign
Ministry this month said Russia would not object to Chechen refugees
who refuse to go home staying in the gorge. Georgia meanwhile
said it would provide Russia with information about the refugees.
Staff Writer Andrei Zolotov Jr. contributed to this report.
See also:
the original at
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