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Putin Makes a Virtue of Necessity
Friday, March 1, 2002
Moscow dispatch

The Russian president is not being the U.S. lackey he appears on the issue of American troops in Georgia, says Ian Traynor

As the inhospitable terrain of the Caucasus mountains slides into focus as the next target of George Bush's war on terror, President Vladimir Putin of Russia is making a virtue of necessity and toeing the US line.

It is becoming a habit for the Kremlin chief. When the despotic rulers of post-Soviet central Asia moved swiftly last autumn to open up their territories to US bases for the war in Afghanistan, Mr Putin allowed senior officials to fulminate against the American takeover of Russia's strategic backyard before giving the Americans the green light.

When Washington failed to reward him by announcing it was unilaterally ditching the 1972 anti-ballistic missiles treaty, despite deep-seated Russian resistance, Mr Putin put on a brave face. There was no threat to Russia, he insisted, promptly dropping six months of Kremlin objections that the US move was destabilising and a threat to global peace.

The new test is Georgia, the failed Caucasus state on Russia's southern border. The Americans are coming. The Russians are unwelcome. Mr. Putin turned the other cheek on Friday, meekly accepting the latest display of the Pax Americana and saying it was not a tragedy.

At least 200 US military are expected in Georgia later this month, ostensibly to train weak Georgian forces in counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism skills, providing helicopters, arms, and mountain combat gear.

Alexander Vershbow, the US ambassador in Moscow, indicated that the US troops will be there for at least a year and stressed that they would not take part in combat operations, although when asked how the US troops would respond if the Georgians requested combat support, he kept his options open.
(More: The Guardian News Source)
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Dan