Monday, August 24, 2009

When the Truth Hurts

I can't believe the Georgian defense minister had to backtrack on the value of US training for their Afghanistan deployment:

Georgia’s defense minister asserted Friday that U.S. training for his Afghanistan-bound troops could also be put to use in any new flare-up with Russia, then he retracted the statement amid American hand-wringing.


The Georgians must be a little nervous if our hands are wringing over that statement of the obvious, which I noted:

A company will deploy in the fall and a battalion the next year. The Georgians will deploy with no caveats--limits on deployment. So combat veterans will return home where new conventional skill sets will enhance their veteran status.


Combat veterans (after retraining from COIN to more conventional skills) will be a great use to Georgia--whether it is polite to note the obvious or not.