Israel Matzav

United States Seeks Use of Airfields and Bases in Georgia

The Jerusalem Post is reporting this morning that the United States is seeking to use airfields and bases in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia for a possible strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.

American officials have been quietly probing whether Georgia, situated just northwest of Iran, will be willing to allow Washington to use its military bases and airfields in the event of a military conflict with Teheran, The Jerusalem Post has been told.

The Americans have been putting out feelers, a high-ranking Georgian government foreign affairs official told the Post, in advance of a possible military strike to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capability.

...

Georgian government officials said that Tbilisi fears harsh Iranian military retaliation against the Georgian republic if US 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 the 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.

...

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.

Rumors of a possible military alliance between Washington, Tbilisi and Baku first appeared in late 2004, when the Azerbaijani press reported on a meeting between President Ilham Aliyev and senior Pentagon officials, in which the possibility of military cooperation was said to have been discussed.

Both Georgia and Azerbaijan have denied that discussions on such cooperation took place. "We do not hold any negotiations that concern military cooperation with the Americans," Kakha Imnadze, Saakashvili's press secretary, said last May.

Officials in Baku also rejected the reports. Aliyev claimed that he learned of such negotiations from the press. But, it seems, despite the hasty denials, Iran has taken the reports rather seriously.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:50 PM