GEORGIA AND RUSSIA BARTER MILITARY EXERCISES
Madina Shavlokhova, Albert Yeremjan

What the Papers Say
July 16, 2008 Wednesday

GEORGIAN-US IMMEDIATE RESPONSE’2008 VS RUSSIAN CAUCASUS’2008; Military
exercises are being run on both sides of the Russian-Georgian border.

Georgian-American exercise Immediate Response’2008 began in Tbilisi
outskirts, right on the territory of what had been the Russian military
base in Vaziani once. The Russian Caucasus Military District meanwhile
launched Caucasus’2008, a counter-terrorism exercise.

Caucasus’2008 is taking place on the territory spanning from the
Black to the Caspian Sea. According to Colonel Igor Konashenkov
of the Ground Forces, up to 8,000 men are involved. "Units and
formations will practice peace enforcement in problematic zones,"
Konashenkov said, "in connection with deterioration of the situation
in Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-Ossetian conflict areas."

Irakly Aladashvili, military expert working for the Georgian
government, says Immediate Response’2008 will last three weeks and
involve staff officers from Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Ukrainian
regular armies. The involved units will supposedly drill action in
humanitarian operations.

Almost 1,650 men participate in Immediate Response’2008 (approximately
1,000 servicemen of the US Army, 600 from the Georgian army, and ten
representatives of Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Ukrainian armies each).

Georgian Deputy Chief of the General Staff Alexander Osepashvili claims
that computer systems and simulators will be used in the exercise.

Spokesmen for the US Army say the exercise is being run to hone
compatibility of the Georgian and American military and advance
cooperation between the military of the two countries.