Saakashvili asks for armaments

In one of his recent interviews, the President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili stated that Georgia asks the United States to assist it and supply anti tank and anti aircraft weapons. However, so far Georgia has not received such armament. Analysts suggest that such weaponry as was requested can be used to hit the target several dozen kilometers away, it could also be mobile anti tank and anti aircraft devices such as stingers. The range of such devices can cover a radius of 5km.

As it is known, after the invasion of Georgia in August 2008, Russia declared an embargo on Georgia’s supply of armament. The western countries however did not accept the embargo but during the recent statement by admiral James Stavridis it became clear that the Pentagon's instructors continue training the Georgian military servicemen although without the US actually supplying Georgia with modern weaponry systems.

Some members of the opposition attribute the non supply of defensive weaponry to Georgia as a serious failure of the current administration. They blame Saakashvili for this situation. For instance, the leader of Free Democrats Irakli Alasania states that Georgia needs such weaponry and that the discussion over this issue has been ongoing for some time. However Alasania thinks that Saakashvili is viewed in the USA and Europe as an unreliable partner and therefore neither the US nor other countries are willing to supply Georgia with such weaponry. Alasania also continued, saying that by participating nobly in the Iraq and Afghanistan peacekeeping operations, Georgia proved that it deserves access to serious weaponry.

The analyst Irakli Sesiashvili suggests that the US administration is concerned about Georgia's political safety and security because according to Sesiashvili, whatever Georgia is supplied with will not be capable of resisting Russia's war machine.

The analysts also suggest that the supply of Georgia with American weapons will strain the bilateral situation with Moscow and Washington and it could give grounds to Russian occupiers to increase its military presence in the south Caucasus region. So, with these arguments, Sesiashvili concludes that an arms supply of Georgia under the current circumstances would contain a serious threat to Georgia.

Another analyst in military issues, Irakli Aladashvili, expresses his concern that, theoretically, stinger or javelin missiles could appear in the north Caucasus and if a Russian aircraft was brought down by any such device, political relations between Moscow and Washington could take a very unpleasant turn. The analysts think that USA is making a long term bid on Georgia’s military capabilities, considering training of Georgia's military servicemen as more urgent rather than providing Georgia with modern weaponry. As for Saakashvili’s statement, presumably it is a hint to the US administration as to what he expects from their relationship.