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US Asks Georgia to Use Bases and Airfields for Attacks on Iran —
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By MosNews
02/20/06 "Moscow
News" -- -- American officials are probing
whether Georgia, situated just northwest of Iran, will allow
Washington to use its military bases and airfields in the event
of a military conflict with Teheran, The Jerusalem Post reported
Monday citing an unnamed Georgian official.
The Americans have been putting out feelers, the source, a
high-ranking Georgian government foreign affairs official said,
in advance of a possible military strike to prevent Iran from
achieving nuclear weapons capability.
American reports in recent months, speculating about the
possibility of a campaign against Iran because of the failure of
diplomatic efforts to thwart a potential nuclear weapons
program, have suggested that sustained military action, rather
than a single strike, may be required given the number of
Iranian nuclear facilities, their divergent locations and
Iranian defenses.
Georgian government officials said that Tbilisi fears harsh
Iranian military retaliation against the Georgian republic if
U.S. forces were to use its territory as a base for strikes
against Iran, but nonetheless may feel obligated to accede to
such a request, given the country’s heavy reliance on US aid and
support. The US maintains its own military bases in Georgia.
While Americans have been testing the waters lately in this
direction, the source indicated, no official request of this
kind has yet been made.
Georgia is also worried about the possibility of civil unrest,
citing the strong opposition by its Muslim minority to the
country’s participation in the war in Iraq, where there is a
limited Georgian military contingent.
Military collaboration with the U.S. would also have “a most
negative effect” on relations between Moscow and Tbilisi, which
remains strained since the election of Georgia’s U.S.-educated
president, Mikhail Saakashvili, in 2004.
Saakashvili is considered one of the most consistent U.S.
supporters in the post-Soviet bloc and enjoys solid American
backing. Indeed, Saakashvili is often accused by Moscow of
maintaining an “American outpost in the region.”
The Georgian source added that a similar US request might be
made to Azerbaijan, an immediate neighbor of Iran and another
close American ally.
The close proximity of both countries to Iran makes Tbilisi and
Baku desirable partners in a potential alliance against Iran.
Copyright © 2004 MOSNEWS.COM
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