Source: FT.com

The US military provided combat training to 80 Georgian special forces commandos only months prior to Georgia’s army assault in South Ossetia in August.

The revelation, based on recruitment documents and interviews with US military trainers obtained by the Financial Times, could add fuel to accusations by Vlad­imir Putin, Russian prime minister, last month that the US had “orchestrated” the war in the Georgian enclave.

The training was provided by senior US soldiers and two military contractors. There is no evidence that the contractors or the Pentagon, which hired them, knew that the commandos they were training were likely be used in the assault on South Ossetia.

A US army spokesman said the goal of the programme was to train the commandos for duty in Afghanistan as part of Nato-led International Security Assist­ance Force. The programme, however, highlights the often unintended consequences of US “train and equip” programmes in foreign countries.

The contractors – MPRI and American Systems, both based in Virginia – recruited a 15-man team of former special forces soldiers to train the Georgians at the Vashlijvari special forces base on the outskirts of Tbilisi, part of a programme run by the US defence department.

MPRI was hired by the Pentagon in 1995 to train the Croatian military prior to their invasion of the ethnically-Serbian Krajina region, which led to the displacement of 200,000 refugees and was one of the worst incidents of ethnic cleansing in the Balkan wars. MPRI denies any wrongdoing.

US training of the Georgian army is a big flashpoint between Washington and Moscow. Mr Putin said on CNN on August 29: “It is not just that the American side could not restrain the Georgian leadership from this criminal act [of intervening in South Ossetia]. The American side in effect armed and trained the Georgian army.”

Full Story…

Related Blogs

• Related Blogs on Georgia
• Georgia’s day of prayer: who can save country now?
• Contemplating Georgia, Part 4: Scrutinizing the Russian Military

Related Items

• Russia aims to corner energy market: U.S. official
  Source: ReutersRussia aims to extend its control over energy deliveries to the West and it is important that European countries push forward on effort...
• Russia fails to secure regional backing
  Source: FT.com Dmitry Medvedev, Russian president, failed on Thursday to win support from China or the former Soviet republics of central Asia in his...
• Military help for Georgia is a ‘declaration of war’, says Moscow
  Source: This is LondonMoscow has issued an extraordinary warning to the West that military assistance to Georgia for use against South Ossetia or Abkh...