Thursday, September 03, 2009

DTN News: U.S. Resumes Training Of Georgian Armed Forces

DTN News: U.S. Resumes Training Of Georgian Armed Forces *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON, USA - September 3, 2009: A year ago, the Georgia's brief, disastrous war with Russia froze American training operations. Georgian soldiers participate in NATO training exercises at Vaziani military base outside Tbilisi, Georgia. Russia has sharply criticized the war games, saying they raise the threat of renewed conflict in the country 13 months after the Russia-Georgia war. The United States is resuming a combat training mission in the former Soviet republic of Georgia to prepare its army for counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan, despite the risks of angering Russia, senior Defense Department officials said Thursday. The training effort is intended to prepare Georgian troops to fight at NATO standards alongside American and allied forces in Afghanistan, the Pentagon officials said. Russian officials have been informed, American officials said. The training should not worry the Kremlin, they said, because it would not involve skills that would be useful against a large conventional force like Russia’s.

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