The US Senate has decided to include Obama’s proposition to resume military cooperation with Georgia into the country’s military budget for 2012. This decision was welcomed by Tbilisi, as it implies sales of defensive weapons. According to some experts, this decision is more of a political move than a military necessity.
The Senate calls on the President to prepare a specific plan of ‘normalization of US-Georgian military cooperation’, and it doesn’t exclude the possibility of a classified clause in this future document. Senators suggest that the US should support the reforms currently being carried out in Georgia, as well as help Georgia protect its territorial sovereignty and give it an opportunity to become more involved with NATO projects. The US Senate also called on other NATO members to resume their sales of defensive weaponry to Georgia. At the same time, the Senate’s decision suggests that the Georgian government is preparing a list of services and equipment needed to ensure the country’s national security.
The amendment to the 2012 US military budget coincided with the Georgian Defense Minister’s statement about the country’s plans to enlarge its military contingent in Afghanistan. It also coincided with a wrangle between Vladimir Putin and Senator John McCain, who initiated the amendment to the budget. During his recent press conference, Mr Putin said that McCain’s hands ‘are covered with blood of innocent Vietnamese people’ and that he himself ‘lost his mind in Vietnamese captivity’.
According to Mr McCain, who is believed to be the main lobbyist for Georgian interests in the US Senate, US military cooperation with Georgia was suspended after Russia’s encroachment upon this country three years ago. The Senator suggested that Georgia sends more soldiers to support the US mission in Afghanistan than any of the USA's NATO allies, but still nothing has been done to help Georgia protect its own government and borders.
The Georgian authorities have appealed to the US government, asking for missile defense systems on many occasions. However, at least according to WikiLeaks materials, Washington refused in order to maintain the ‘reboot’ policy towards Russia.
The ruling party of Georgia took the latest decision of the US Senate as a good sign. As one of the leaders of the “United National Movement”, MP David Darchiashvili, told VK correspondent Georgy Kalatozishvili, this decision shows that the US government finally understood how important it is to protect Georgia from Russian aggression. “Americans believe that this answers not only Georgian interests, but US and European interests as well,” Darchishvili said.
Independent experts stress, however, that the document will have legal power only after it is officially approved by the President. As the editor-in-chief of Georgian independent military-analytical journal ‘Arsenali’, Irakliy Aladashvili, told VK, this decision of the US Senate is more of a political demonstration than an actual practical military plan. “The President may not sign it as it is now, but in any case this document is very important as a demonstration that the US is ready to resume military cooperation with Georgia regardless of Russian opinion,” the expert explained.
The Georgian Defense Ministry hasn’t yet given any official response to the document, however, its press secretary, Salome Makharadze, told VK that this document didn’t come as a surprise to the Ministry: “We are very close allies with the US in many fields, and such a close partnership had to bear fruit sometime.”
Georgy Kalatozishvili, exclusively to VK
