Green Berets now in Georgia: U.S. Special Forces are training Georgian soldiers to fight radical Muslims. The mission could benefit other U.S. interests as well

VFW Magazine, June-July, 2002 by Tim Dyhouse

President George Bush called the May deployment of some 150 U.S. advisers to Georgia the latest front in the U.S. war on terrorism. Much like their fellow soldiers in the Philippines, U.S. Special Forces are teaching Georgian soldiers how to better fight Muslim extremists within their country. Also, as in the Philippines, U.S. troops are not permitted to engage in combat.

"So long as there's al Qaeda anywhere, we will help the host countries root them out and bring them to justice," Bush has said.

Georgia is the first former Soviet republic to train with U.S. troops since Sept. 11. (Several other ex-Soviet states have allowed the use of their airfields.) The mission gives Washington a strategic toehold to help stabilize the oil-rich and volatile Caspian Sea region.

Dubbed a "train-and-equip" mission, the $64 million program mandates that GIs (including men of the Fort Carson, Colo.-based 10th Special Forces Group) train four Georgian rapid deployment battalions (about 1,500 soldiers) for anti-terrorism and counterinsurgency operations.

The aid package includes equipment for the soldiers and 10 "unarmed Huey helicopters," according to the Pentagon. The area of the training's focus is Georgia's lawless Pankisi Gorge, northeast of the capital Tbilisi, near Chechnya.

"We can't control everything that is going on there, and unless we tackle the Pankisi problem, this issue will create a threat to Georgia's integrity and the security of the region," according to Valery Khaburdzania, Georgia's top security officer.

The 36-square-mile, heavily forested valley is purportedly a haven for criminals, rebels fighting Russian troops in Chechnya and Islamic militants fleeing the war in Afghanistan. The 4-mile wide by 11-mile long gorge has 18 villages that host Arabs among the 10,000 inhabitants.

"As for al Qaeda, according to our information, several tens of mujahadeen fled from Afghanistan and hide now in the Caucasus," said Philip Remler, a U.S. diplomat in Tbilisi. Bush firmly believes that "terrorists working with al Qaeda operate in the Pankisi Gorge."

Added Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke, "We value our military-to-military relationship with Georgians, which clearly predates Sept. 11. And we have always been and remain committed to their efforts to improve their internal security."

Georgia, a predominantly Christian nation (65% Christian, 11% Muslim) with a population of 5 million, is situated near vast Caspian Sea oil reserves. From the U.S. perspective, a friendly and stable Georgia will allow the free flow of oil from the Caspian.

But as the Baltimore Sun editorialized, "Georgia doesn't care about Pankisi--it cares about its own secessionists on the other side of the country. It's unlikely Washington cares about Pankisi, either--U.S. interests in Georgia begin and end with the pipeline that will carry Caspian Sea oil west to the developed world."

The aforementioned secessionists are Muslims inhabiting the western territory of Abkhazia. These rebels drove the Georgian army out of the area in 1993, a conflict that left 10,000 dead and displaced 300,000 mainly Christian Georgians from their homes. Loyal Georgians hope the U.S. presence can help end the turmoil.

"The day I heard the Americans were coming I was the happiest man on earth," said Alexander Rondeli, a political analyst in Tbilisi. "The feeling was that someone strong and powerful was coming to support me and my country."

The Center for Strategic and International Studies' Zeyno Baran agrees with the U.S. troop presence. "With all the risks, it is not going to be a clean operation. But given what's going on in the Pankisi Gorge, it was the right decision."

American War Fatalities

Four U.S. soldiers were accidentally killed April 15 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, while clearing explosives.

Staff Sgt. Brian T. Craig, 710th Explosive Ordnance Detachment

Staff Sgt. Justin J. Galewski, 710th Explosive Ordnance Detachment

Sgt. Jamie O. Maugans, 710th Explosive Ordnance Detachment

Sgt. 1st Class Daniel A. Romero, 19th Special Forces Group