Why Should Georgia Need A Larger Army?

crossposted from: oneworld.blogsome.com

Richard Giragosian and Liz Fuller at RFE/RL also raise concerns with the surge in Georgian military spending as mentioned by RIA Novosti via Registan.net. Although it is possible that the additional spending is geared towards meeting eventual NATO membership requirements, the lack of transparency in the procurement of new weapons by the Georgian Defense Minister, Irakli Okruashvili, leads the two analysts to consider that Georgia might be preparing to take back its separatist regions by force.
Okruashvili’s stated rationale for reversing the downsizing of recent years is that Georgia currently has some 1,000 troops deployed as part of the international peacekeeping force in Iraq. But there are grounds for suspecting that his ultimate objective is to launch a new military offensive to bring the unrecognized breakaway Republic of South Ossetia — where he was born — back under the control of the Georgian government. “Jane’s Defence Weekly” quoted Okruashvili as saying while in Washington last month that one of his top priorities is to enlist Washington’s help in “resolving” the South Ossetian conflict. Addressing reservists on New Year’s Eve 2004, Okruashvili vowed that Tbilisi would restore its hegemony over one of its two breakaway lost territories in 2005 “with your help,” Caucasus Press reported on 3 January. Days later, he said that Georgia will deploy its armed forces “as it sees fit” to resolve internal conflicts.
Giragosian and Fuller warn that any attempt to take South Ossetia back under the control of Tbilisi by force risks an almost certain conflict with Russia although Okruashvili is attempting to strengthen military ties with the United States. Probably, it is brinkmanship in the hope that many of Georgia’s outstanding territorial problems can be resolved but in a region as volatile as the South Caucasus, it’s a dangerous game to play. It’s also an expensive one.
The full analysis can be read online here.