NATO TAUGHT GEORGIA A LESSON
Georgy Dvali
WPS Agency, Russia
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
June 3, 2009 Wednesday
NATO’S MILITARY EXERCISE ENDED IN GEORGIA; Military exercise of the
Alliance in Georgia is finally over.
International military exercise within the framework of the Partnership
for Peace NATO’s Program in Georgia officially ended, yesterday. The
war game in Georgia lasted almost a whole month despite bitter
protests from Moscow. Russia is convinced that the West abets the
Georgian leadership and President Mikhail Saakashvili responsible
for the shooting war in South Ossetia last August.
The exercise in Vaziani not far from Tbilisi began on May 6 and
included two phases. Cooperative Longbow (May 6-19) was focused on
compatibility of international brigades deployed in crises. Cooperative
Lancer that followed concentrated on deployment of battalions in the
field. Over 1,000 servicemen from regular armies of 14 NATO members
and partners participated in the exercise.
Official Tbilisi regarded the exercise as a political gesture rather
than a military event. Russia was categorically against organization
of a military exercise in Georgia. It was convinced then and remains
convinced now that the Alliance encourages Saakashvili and Co to
launch new escapades. (One such escapade resulted in a shooting war
in South Ossetia last year.) NATO leadership feigned innocence and
insisted that the exercise had been planned long ago and had nothing
to do with Russia or runaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
In any event, the event was noticeably less grandiose than Brussels
had hoped to make it – partially due to the pressure applied by Moscow,
partially to financial problems. Armenia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Moldova,
Serbia, and Estonia begged off at the last possible moment. Armored
battalion of the Georgian regular army quartered in Mukhrovani mutinied
literally a day before the planned beginning of the exercise. Official
Tbilisi announced right then and there that the putschists were out
to wreck the NATO exercise.
By and large, the exercise was a success – discounting the incident
with a Canadian wounded when a hand grenade exploded before he
tossed it.
Defense Minister David Sikharulidze called the exercise "a
necessary element of Georgia’s prime objective – Euroatlantic
integration." Saakashvili himself visited Vaziani to thank NATO
officers for "support" of Georgia’s efforts to evolve to standards
of the Alliance.
"That was a routine exercise, nothing more. The involved servicemen
drilled peacekeeping operations. The legend stipulated a situation
resembling the Iraqi one," Arsenali Chief Editor Irakly Aladashvili
said. "It is the political aspect of the exercise that really counts. I
mean, NATO supported Georgia despite Moscow’s protests."