Translated material
Humanitarian Destroyer
Georgia receives American aid
Yesterday, the United States showed Georgia not only political patronage, but also naval power . The American destroyer McFaul arrived at the port of Batumi with a cargo of humanitarian aid worth $13 million. The ship had to anchor in a roadstead awaiting unloading of non-food goods, since the capabilities of the port of the capital of Adjara do not allow accepting such a large ship.Although formally we are talking about a humanitarian operation, a modern warship of the Early Burke class, equipped with the latest weapons, including Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, sailed to the shores of Georgia.
Yesterday, Georgian Defense Minister David Kezerashvili personally swam to the American ship in the roadstead. He stated that the arrival of the destroyer “is a signal that Georgia will not be left alone with Russia.” American sailors were greeted on the shore with flowers and bowls of wine. Initially, this ship, as well as two other US Navy vessels, were supposed to moor at the largest port of Poti in Georgia. But, according to available information, the Russian military has not yet left Poti. Yesterday, Minister Kezerashvili said that “due to Russian bombing, the infrastructure of the port of Poti was damaged,” but Poti would soon “be able to receive American ships to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia.” Previously, American aid was delivered by military transport aircraft to Tbilisi airport.
The United States and other NATO countries do not hide that at the next stage, despite Moscow’s concerns about the militarization of Georgia, they will provide assistance to Tbilisi in restoring its military potential. At the end of last week, a group of American congressmen and senators, who were in Tbilisi, clarified the areas of military-technical support - air and anti-tank defense. Then the special representative of NATO Secretary General Robert Simmons said that assistance would go in seven directions, but the main emphasis would be on air defense systems. As Georgian military experts note, the ground units of the Georgian army showed high combat effectiveness, but were forced to retreat in the face of Russia's superior power in aviation and armored vehicles.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Tkeshelashvili told Vremya Novostei that a retreat meeting of the North Atlantic Alliance is planned to be held in Tbilisi on September 16, and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is expected in the Georgian capital on that day. Tbilisi is also in a hurry to implement the decision of the meeting of NATO ministers on August 19 to create a commission for cooperation with Georgia. “It’s a matter of procedural and structural issues,” noted the head of Georgian diplomacy.
Yesterday, another high-ranking US representative was received in Tbilisi - Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Richard Lugar. The program of stay of all foreign guests visiting Georgia these days necessarily includes a meeting with refugees. After the Russian military left Gori, the Georgian authorities began to organize the return of internally displaced persons from Tbilisi to this city. By Wednesday, it is planned to return about 60 thousand people to the areas taken under the control of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In Gori itself, located 70 kilometers from the capital of Georgia, life is gradually getting better, but yesterday Stalin’s homeland was “shaken” again. About five kilometers from the city, near the village of Skra, an explosion occurred at a Georgian military base. The official representative of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Shota Utiashvili, in an interview with Vremya Novostey, did not rule out that “the warehouses could have been mined by the Russian military.” The explosion set fire to tanks containing gasoline from the Azpetrol company, traveling along a nearby railway. Plumes of black smoke hovered over Skra and Gori. Fortunately, there were no casualties, but railway traffic was temporarily interrupted.
It is not yet possible to fully transport cargo along the highway between Tbilisi and Western Georgia. There are no shortages of food in the capital, but the favorite mineral waters here - Borjomi, Likani, Nabeglavi - have disappeared. The plant is located approximately 170 kilometers west of Tbilisi. Two years ago, Georgian mineral water disappeared from Russian shelves, but for a completely different reason - the chief sanitary doctor of Russia expressed doubts about its quality under the influence of political confrontation between the two countries.