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U.S. flying Georgian troops home from Iraq

BAGHDAD — The U.S. military began flying 2,000 Georgian troops home from Iraq on Sunday, military officials said, after the Georgians recalled the soldiers following the outbreak of fighting with Russia in the breakaway province of South Ossetia.

The decision was a timely payback for the former Soviet republic that has been a staunch U.S. supporter and agreed to send troops to Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin criticized the U.S. on Monday for the airlift.

“It’s a pity that some of our partners, instead of helping, are in fact trying to get in the way,” Putin said at a Cabinet meeting. “I mean among other things the United States airlifting Georgia’s military contingent from Iraq effectively into the conflict zone.”

Putin’s comments reflected Russia’s growing irritation with western condemnation.

“The scale of their cynicism causes surprise,” Putin said. “It’s the ability to cast white as black and black as white which is surprising, the ability to cast the aggressor as the victim and blame the victims for the consequences.”

Meanwhile, Russia opened a second front of fighting in Georgia on Monday, sending armored vehicles beyond two breakaway provinces and seizing a military base and police stations in the country’s west, officials said.

The new forays into Georgia — even after Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili signed a cease-fire pledge — appeared to show Russian determination to subdue the small, U.S.-backed country, which has been pressing for NATO membership.

Georgia was the third-largest contributor of coalition forces after the U.S. and Britain, and most of its troops were stationed near the Iranian border in southeastern Iraq.

The U.S. military has played down concerns about the redeployment, saying it may have “some impact” in the near term but no significant long-term effect on Iraq’s security.

“We want to thank them for the great support they’ve given the coalition and we wish them well,” military spokesman Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll said earlier Sunday at a news conference.

Georgia had asked the U.S. military on Friday to provide transportation.

“We are supporting the Georgian military units that are in Iraq in their redeployment to Georgia so that they can support requirements there during the current security situation,” said Col. Jerry O’Hara, another military spokesman in Baghdad. “Flights have in fact begun today and Georgian forces are redeploying.”

He declined to disclose flight details. But another senior U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information, said the military would fly the troops back “to the republic of Georgia.

The officials also said American units had been shuffled in their area of responsibility to compensate for the departure of the Georgians.

O’Hara said that even though the loss of forces was unexpected, “we can and are accommodating the changes.”

Most Georgian troops moved last year from the relatively safe Green Zone in Baghdad to an area southeast of the capital to help interdict supplies allegedly being smuggled to Shiite extremists from Iran. More than 100 remained in Baghdad to help secure the Green Zone.

At least five Georgians soldiers have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Some Iraqis welcomed the Georgian withdrawal, saying they’re tired of the presence of U.S-led foreign troops.

Monday’s developments indicate that Russian troops have invaded Georgia proper from the separatist province of Abkhazia, while most Georgian forces are locked up in fighting around South Ossetia.

The west has sharply criticized Russia’s military response to Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia as disproportionate, and the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations urged Russia on Monday to accept an immediate cease-fire and agree to international mediation.

“We want to see the Russians stand down,” deputy State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters in Washington.

With Europe depending on Russia for one-quarter of the oil it consumes — and half of its gas needs — the conflict serves as a vivid demonstration of Russian power in the Caspian region.

Russian armored personnel carriers rolled into the base in Senaki, a town in western Georgia about 20 miles inland from the Black Sea port of Poti, Georgian Security Council secretary Alexander Lomaia said. In Moscow, a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to give his name, said the move into Senaki was intended to end Georgian resistance.

Russian forces also seized police stations in the town of Zugdidi and allied separatist forces took over a nearby village, Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan called on Russia to respect Georgia’s borders and expressed deep concern for civilian casualties, Wood said, adding that the call was one of more than 50 Rice made over the weekend on the matter.

Russia’s move to open a second front came hours after a senior Russian general insisted that Russia has no plans to press into Georgian territory beyond the breakaway regions.

The U.S. is campaigning to get Russia to halt its retaliation and American officials have accused Russia of using the fighting to try to overthrow the Georgian government. President Bush, who has encouraged Georgia’s efforts to join NATO, said he spoke with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the Russian president.

“I’ve expressed my grave concern about the disproportionate response of Russia and that we strongly condemn the bombing outside of South Ossetia,” Bush said in an interview with NBC Sports.

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