What was (and is) the role of the United States in Georgia’s military campaign in South Ossetia? The military relationship between Georgia and the United States is well known, and it’s difficult to believe the relatively weak Georgians would risk a military conflict with Russia without reason to expect support from the US. On top of this, information released on Wikileaks reveals that US military personnel took part in a “training exercise” in Georgia at a time when the Georgians were clearly preparing militarily.

Soldiers and Marines from the United States, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Ukraine conduct joint training exercise “Immediate Response 2008” at Vaziani Military Base in the Republic of Georgia and the surrounding area. The state of Georgia is represented by the 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry, headquartered in Winder, as well as members of the 122nd Rear Operations Center from Glenville.” This ‘training exercise’ took place at the Vaziani Military Base, and was to run for 3 weeks from July 15th, Until roughly August 8th, which is precisely when the fighting broke out.

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