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U.S. begins relief
effort in Georgia
Bush
dispatches Rice to aid diplomatic efforts
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, August 14, 2008
ARLINGTON, Va. — President Bush has ordered the U.S. military to begin a
humanitarian mission in Georgia.
"This mission will be vigorous and ongoing," Bush said Wednesday at the White
House, adding that a U.S. C-17 aircraft with humanitarian supplies was on its
way to Georgia.
Russian troops and tanks invaded the country last week in response to a
Georgian offensive intended to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia.
The Russian president later ordered Russian forces to halt their drive into
Georgia, but it was unclear Wednesday whether Russian troops had moved further
into the country.
On Wednesday, Bush said the U.S. military would use both aircraft and "naval
forces" to deliver humanitarian assistance to Georgia.
"We expect Russia to honor its commitment to let in all forms of humanitarian
assistance," Bush said. "We expect Russia to ensure that all lines of
communication and transport, including seaports, airports, roads and airspace,
remain open for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and civilian transit."
The Russians have been notified of the U.S. military’s intentions, Pentagon
spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters on Wednesday.
The first C-17 with relief supplies was expected to land Wednesday in Georgia
carrying medical supplies, bedding and shelter, and another flight is scheduled
for Thursday, Whitman said.
He said the first flight came from Ramstein Air Base in Germany, but he did
not have information on which unit the aircraft is with.
The supplies are being flown to the airport in the Georgian capital of
Tbilisi, which is still under the control of the Georgian government, he said.
Whitman also did not have any information on what naval forces might be
involved with the mission, noting that a humanitarian assistance team was headed
to Georgia to determine the scope of Georgia’s needs.
"We’re going to continue to look at a wide range of assistance options that
are available to us," he said.
Asked if officials were considering a peacekeeping mission to Georgia,
Whitman replied: "That’s not something I have anything for you on. That would
originate somewhere else."
Also Wednesday, Bush announced that he was dispatching Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice to France and Tbilisi to "continue our efforts to rally the
free world in the defense of a free Georgia."
Bush said he was concerned by reports that Russian units had taken and
blockaded the Georgian port city of Poti and destroyed Georgian vessels as well
as taken positions that would allow them to block a main highway in that country
and threaten Tbilisi.
He said Russia’s actions raise "serious questions" about its intentions in
Georgia and elsewhere, saying Russia needed to help bring an end to hostilities
to repair the damage it has done to its relationship with the United States and
other countries.
"We expect Russia to meet its commitment to cease all military activities in
Georgia, and we expect all Russian forces that entered Georgia in recent days to
withdraw from that country," he said.
Bush spent the morning meeting with his national security team in the White
House Situation Room, the nerve center for monitoring international
developments. He talked by telephone with Georgia’s embattled president, Mikhail
Saakashvili and with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who traveled to both
Tbilisi and Moscow and is leading a European Union initiative to bring about
peace there.
The administration and its allies are debating ways to punish Russia for its
invasion of Georgia, including expelling Moscow from an exclusive club of
wealthy nations — the G-7 — and canceling an upcoming joint NATO-Russia military
exercise.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.