Hagel Vows Increased Military Aid to Georgia

Georgia Uses Ukraine War to Push for More Aid

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel today promised more US military aid to Georgia, during a visit to the Caucasus republic, insisting the aid was part of a response to Russia’s “long-term challenge” to the US.

Georgia has been keen to cash in on the ongoing eastern Ukrainian war, which the US is blaming Russia for, and trying to present it as somehow related to the brief 2008 Russo-Georgian War.

The US, which is looking to spite Russia at every opportunity these days, is only too happy to play along, and continues to push Georgia for NATO membership, something which is clearly not going to happen.

Georgia claims two neighboring republics, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as their territory, and the 2008 war involved them trying to conquer South Ossetia, and attacking Russian forces in the process. Several of NATO’s members on the Russia frontier are already at risk of starting a war at any given time, but if Georgia was given membership they would almost immediately throw NATO into conflicts over those republics, and with Russia.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.