U.S. Military Role In Georgia Tricky | Newsweek Periscope

THE MILITARY
17,000 … and Counting
John Barry 2/19/2009 12:00:00 AM
President Obama was initially wary of agreeing to this week's announced deployment of some 17,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, according to administration sources. He preferred to await the outcome of a full-blown review on U.S. strategy in the country which could land on his desk in six weeks or so. But with critical elections looming, even that delay wasn't acceptable.
WORLD AFFAIRS
Georgian Army, American Made
John Barry 9/6/2008 12:00:00 AM
In the aftermath of Russia's swift victory over the Georgian Army, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has suggested that the United States secretly provoked the conflict—perhaps even prepared Georgia's forces for it. Lt. Col. Robert Hamilton, who ran the U.S. military training program in Georgia until six weeks ago, finds the charge ironic. "At no time did the U.S. attempt to train or equip the Georgian armed forces for a conflict with Russia," he says. "In fact, the U.S. deliberately avoided training capabilities that were seen as too provocative" to Russia. So the United States never trained the Georgians how to use tanks, artillery or attack helicopters—precisely because those are the skills of all-out conventional warfare. Now the United States—with or without its European allies—is being pushed to build a Georgian Army that could face the Russians, next time.
Day of Rage
Joe Cochrane 5/30/2006 12:00:00 AM
Shadowland: War By The Numbers
Christopher Dickey 10/3/2003 12:00:00 AM
The Rise of Jihadistan
A DANGEROUS PEACE