The Rag Blog: No Such Thing As a Free Lunch

10 March 2007

No Such Thing As a Free Lunch

And no such thing as altruism - Georgia committing troops for the good of all, although any troop committment in Iraq implies violence, which we condemn.

Republic of Georgia adding Iraqi troops
By DESMOND BUTLER, Associated Press Writer Thu Mar 8, 7:53 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The Republic of Georgia said Thursday it is raising the number of its soldiers serving with the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq to more than 2,000 from the current 850.

Georgia's ambassador to Washington said one reason for more than doubling the country's commitment to the fight was to send a signal to NATO, which the former Soviet republic is trying to join.

The announcement came in a statement the embassy sent to The Associated Press and attributed to Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. It said the country was committing the troops for one year and Georgian officials were consulting with their U.S. and Iraqi counterparts about how the troops would be deployed.

"We understand that the next year will be decisive in terms of stabilizing the situation in that country," Saakashvili said in the statement. "We want to do everything possible to help the Iraqi people and coalition partners bring stability, peace and freedom to Iraq."

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