Occupying the Planet[s]

Russia has agreed to withdraw its troops, but recently said this might not happen for 11 years, a delay which is unacceptable to Georgia’s new government. Georgia’s interim leader, Nino Burdzhanadze, said: “Russian-Georgian relations would become much better if the bases were withdrawn.”

Yesterday the US deputy assistant secretary of state, Lynn Pascoe, said in Tbilisi: “We would be happy to provide some assistance… to pull out the forces.”

Washington’s offer ensures that the only obstacle to Russia’s quick withdrawal remains Moscow’s unwillingness to retreat from the former Soviet Union while the US expands eastwards. Washington has been slowly increasing its presence in Georgia, training local troops and considering storing military equipment in the region.

Yesterday Mr Pascoe offered a further £1.6m to train Georgian troops, and 77 US heavy armoured vehicles arrived to aid the training.

Russia’s relations with the United States and NATO flourished thanks to Putin’s steadfast support for the US-led war in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 2001 terror attacks, but Moscow warned both Washington and NATO against deploying weapons closer to Russian borders.

In October, Russia’s Defence Ministry released a document saying that Moscow might rethink its nuclear strategy if NATO maintains its current “offensive” military doctrine. Ivanov then also warned that Russia would not rule out the preventive use of force if its interests and alliance obligations demand it. The Russian statements have troubled NATO officials, who prodded Ivanov for explanations when he attended an alliance meeting last fall. Ivanov said that a possible pre-emptive attack would not involve nuclear weapons and emphasised that Russia remains committed to cooperation with NATO.

In Europe, these plans include giving up several bases in Germany, also in part because of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s domestically popular defiance of Bush over Iraq. But the degree to which we are capable of doing so may prove limited indeed. At the simplest level, the Pentagon’s planners do not really seem to grasp just how many buildings the 71,702 soldiers and airmen in Germany alone occupy and how expensive it would be to reposition most of them and build even slightly comparable bases, together with the necessary infrastructure, in former Communist countries like Romania, one of Europe’s poorest countries. Lt. Col. Amy Ehmann in Hanau, Germany, has said to the press “There’s no place to put these people” in Romania, Bulgaria, or Djibouti, and she predicts that 80% of them will in the end stay in Germany. It’s also certain that generals of the high command have no intention of living in backwaters like Constanta, Romania, and will keep the U.S. military headquarters in Stuttgart while holding on to Ramstein Air Force Base, Spangdahlem Air Force Base, and the Grafenwöhr Training Area.