The same month, February of this year, the Joint Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces announced that it was "conducting a formal process to derive Lessons Learned from the August 2008 war," which would confirm that "one of the main priorities of Georgia's foreign and security policy is integration into NATO....From this standpoint, improving NATO interoperability and compatibility with a view to developing NATO-standard deployable forces is an important GAF priority" and that "A team from NATO's Allied Command Transformation will advise on this effort," as it later did.
(5)
On March 30, the day before the USS Klakring arrived in Georgia, so did the Pentagon's second major commander, General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He met with President Saakashvili and Defense Minister Davit Sikharulidze and inspected the "town of Gori, according to the Georgian MoD [Ministry of Defence], and visit[ed] the Gori-based first infantry brigade and the first artillery brigade."
(6)
Gori was occupied by Russian forces at the end of last August's war and Cartwright's tour of inspection was a blunt message to Moscow. And to Saakashvili and his defense minister. One of confrontation with the first and uncritical support to the other.
During Cartwright's visit Saakashvili reminded him - and Russia and the world - that "Recently, I have met with General Petraeus [Commander of US Central Command] who also spoke highly of the Georgian army's prospects....Earlier, we trained our army for police and peacekeeping operations and not for large-scale military actions."
(7)
What the Georgian strongman was alluding to was that the US was transitioning its American-made army from war and occupation zone training in NATO interoperability to preparations for "homeland defense" aimed at Russia.
During the meeting with the Pentagon's number two commander he reminded listeners and readers that "Since 2001, Georgia [has performed] peacekeeping missions in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. However, in August last year during the Russian aggression there were withdrawn the last 2,000 Georgian soldiers from Iraq.
"Earlier, Georgia declared its readiness to send 300 soldiers to Afghanistan."
(8)
And: "'Earlier we were preparing the army for police peacekeeping operations, but not for large-scale military action," Saakashvili stressed, expressing confidence that the Georgian army "will continue to grow both quantitatively and qualitatively and will be equipped with all necessary weapons."
(9)
At the time of Georgia's attempt on August 7, 2008 to advance its armored columns to the Roki Tunnel which connects South Ossetia to the Russian Republic of North Ossetia, thereby blocking off Russian reinforcements and capturing some 1,000 Russian peacekeepers - a humiliation for Russia in the eyes of the world had it succeeded - the US flew the 2,000 Georgian troops in Iraq (near the Iranian border, the third largest foreign contingent) on American military transport planes back to Georgia, a move that were the situation reversed, say in a hypothetical conflict between the US and Mexico, would have been treated as an act of war by Washington.
That airlift began the process of shifting battle-ready Georgian troops from supporting US and NATO operations abroad to what six years of the US Train and Equip Program and comparable NATO assistance had intended them for: War with Russia.
"Cartwright said that the United States will train the Georgian armed forces, with the main focus of the training being 'the defence of Georgia.'"
(10)
What the "defense of Georgia" entailed was spelled out by Saakashvili, while Cartwright nodded approbation:
"Our struggle continues and it will end after the complete de-occupation of Georgia's territory and expelling the last soldier of the enemy from our country. I am absolutely sure of that."
(11)
Cartwright added, "I want to say that you have a very good army and we know what they have done.
"We are glad that we will continue to cooperate with them in the future as well. Our strategic partnership is very important."
He also "highlighted that after the August war it became easier to understand the Georgian armed forces's training priorities and what new types of equipment were needed for defending the homeland."
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