U.S. arms, training and funds in Georgia

Question

Does anyone know when this started, what the stated reasons were and whether or not these appear congruent to suspected motives? I'm afraid I do not know a great deal about the area or the nation of Georgia nor South Ossetia and have done only basic superficial research myself. I'd like to gain a knowledge of the apparent U.S. position of support for Georgia's activities against South Ossetian separatists, prior to the current crisis. Is it related toward Georgian posturing toward NATO?

Answer 1

Basically the Russians are going on a giant killing spree - killing innocent civilians so they can:

* control Georgia's oil transportation/supply routes from the Caspian Sea and thus control ALL of Europe's energy inputs

* intimidate Georgia into not joining NATO

* push Georgia from becoming a true democracy on Russia's border

* punish Georgia for allying with the US

* move towards reforming the USSR

Answer 2

Russia does not like NATO, theU.S, was getting to close to its borders by befriending Georgia. I believe they will try to take Georgia back and revie the U.S.S.R.

Answer 3

We were involved in training Georgian soldiers because they were willing to deploy to Iraq.  We also wanted to get their military up to NATO standards so Georgia could join NATO.  This, not surprisingly, bothered Russia.  

We did not train them so they could attack South Ossetia.

There's a great cover page article in the New York Times today that does a pretty good job of explaining all the backround leading up to the recent problems.