US military trained Georgian commandos

Charles Clover and Demetri Sevastopulo
Financial Times
Saturday, Sept 6, 2008

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.

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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.

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3 Responses to “US military trained Georgian commandos”

1. jonny Says:
   September 6th, 2008 at 4:57 pm

   American Roman tactics are getting old and other nations are wise to them looks like they are loseing aound the world

2. jonny Says:
   September 6th, 2008 at 4:57 pm

   American Roman tactics are getting old and other nations are wise to them looks like they are loseing around the world

3. Current resident Says:
   September 6th, 2008 at 6:14 pm

   For sale: Misc. military equiptment, Isreali drones, remote control technology and various pieces of US hardware barely used, many weapons, some slight scratches, all dropped only once,
   please call Vlad @ Mocsow7-8765

   I also have 8 cases of saliva resistant ties. make an offer.