When Saakashvili attacked South Ossetia on August 7-8 of 2008, 2,000 Georgian troops were in Iraq - the third largest contingent after those of the U.S. and Britain - receiving war zone experience, and they were flown home on U.S. military transport planes for the war with Russia. The Georgian soldier killed in Afghanistan had earlier served in Iraq. In all three of the nation's soldiers were killed in Iraq and 19 were wounded.
Like Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, Georgia borders southern Russia and like the two other nations has an advanced NATO integration program; in fact two, an Individual Partnership Action Plan and an Annual National Program.
On the eastern sector of Russia's southern flank, last month U.S. Pacific Command led the latest of annual Khaan Quest military exercises conducted since 2003 to train Mongolian troops for deployments to, first, Iraq, and lately Afghanistan. This year's war games included forces from the U.S.'s NATO allies Canada, France and Germany and Asian nations India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea, all of whom except for India - officially - have provided troops for or in other manners assisted the war effort in Afghanistan.
Along with the Pentagon's recent deployment of a Patriot missile battery and over 100 troops to eastern Poland, 35 miles from Russian territory, to be followed by the stationing of a land-based version of Standard Missile-3 anti-ballistic missiles and radar in Romania and Bulgaria across the Black Sea from Russia, NATO has expanded and modernized the Soviet-era Amari Air Base in Estonia which will now be able to accommodate 16 NATO fighters, 20 transport planes and 2,000 military personnel daily. The base will complement one in Lithuania, the Siauliai Air Base, used by NATO aircraft to patrol Baltic airspace since Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia joined NATO in 2004.
The four-month rotation started on September 1 is being conducted by the U.S. with F-15C Eagle warplanes.
The U.S. led the 12-nation, two-week Sea Breeze 2010 Partnership for Peace maritime exercise in Ukraine's Crimea in July, the largest maneuvers in the Black Sea this year with 20 ships, 13 aircraft and over 1,600 troops from Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Moldova, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and U.S.
On September 14 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned against a NATO build-up to Russia's north, in the Arctic Ocean, and the following day Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated, "We do not see what benefit NATO can bring to the Arctic....I do not think NATO would be acting properly if it took upon itself the right to decide who should solve problems in the Arctic."
When Pentagon chief Robert Gates, who has a doctorate degree in Russian studies from Georgetown University, met with his opposite number this week, Defense Minister Serdyukov would not have been out of line asking his counterpart to genuinely push the reset button and cease U.S. and NATO military encroachment on his nation from almost every direction.
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