WASHINGTON, Sept. 3, 2008
U.S. Offers $1 Billion In Aid To Georgia
President Bush Announces Massive Aid Package To Help Ally Rebuild After Russia's Invasion
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"Georgia has a strong economic foundation and leaders with an impressive record of reform," Bush said in his statement on the aid package that was obtained by The Associated Press. "Our additional economic assistance will help the people of Georgia recover from the assault on their country, and continue to build a prosperous and competitive economy."
Vice President Dick Cheney, due in Georgia on Thursday, planned to make the massive aid package a major highlight of his discussions with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. Cheney, in Azerbaijan on Wednesday, is on a tour of three former Soviet republics that are wary of Russia's intentions in what Moscow likes to call its "near abroad."
The administration is delaying an announcement on some sort of punishment of Russia for its actions against Georgia and its refusal thus far to comply with a French-brokered cease-fire. However, the decision to shower tiny Georgia with such substantial aid and have Cheney talk about it in Moscow's backyard would likely be seen by the Kremlin as highly provocative, if not a punitive measure in and of itself.
That said, the U.S. has found during this conflict that it has little leverage with newly enriched and empowered Russia. Moscow has recognized the independence of the two separatist regions in Georgia that are at the heart of the conflict, but has drawn condemnations but little else from the United States and Europe.
Georgia, a former Soviet Republic and U.S. ally, is an impoverished country wedged between Russia and Turkey on the Black Sea.
After years of tensions, the recent fighting began Aug. 7 when Georgian forces went into its breakaway province of South Ossetia in hopes of re-establishing control over it. Russian forces repelled the offensive and pushed deep into Georgia proper.
Both sides signed the cease-fire in mid-August, but Russia has ignored its requirement for all forces to return to prewar positions.
Bush said the money will meet both humanitarian needs, such as helping to resettle families that were displaced, and helping Georgia to rebuild infrastructure and boost its economy.
He said more than half of the funds will be made available in the near term. That leaves a sizable portion up to the discretion of a future Congress and the next White House occupant.
Bush feels confident in that area, as both the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, have expressed strong support for Georgia's embattled government and Bush's approach to Russia's invasion.
The president also directed his defense, trade, transportation, treasury, diplomatic and commerce chiefs to expand their support for Georgia's economic recovery.
On trade, Bush said the United States would negotiate a deal to provide preferential access to Georgian exports. The president said his commerce secretary would dispatch a trade mission to Georgia in the coming weeks. And Bush said his government would work with international partners to make sure that U.S. aid was getting delivered, quickly, to those in Georgia who need it the most.
The money pales in comparison to the $2 billion a year the U.S. gives Israel, the largest recipient.
The International Monetary Fund also announced it has agreed to lend Georgia $750 million for economic recovery.
Meanwhile, a U.S. Navy flagship sailed toward Georgia with a cargo of humanitarian aid Wednesday. The USS Mount Whitney, the flagship of the Navy's 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean, crossed through the Dardanelles and Bosporus into the Black Sea, which Russia shares with three NATO nations and two others seeking to join the alliance: Georgia and Ukraine.
Russian leaders have lashed out at the U.S. for sending humanitarian aid to Georgia aboard military ships, part of their campaign portraying the United States as a belligerent troublemaker that pushed Georgia into war and continues to compromise security in a volatile region.
The appearance of the Mount Whitney was likely to stoke Russia's ire further. As the command ship of the fleet based in Naples, Italy, it has special electronic and communications equipment it uses to transmit orders and information.
Two other U.S. military ships a missile destroyer and Coast Guard cutter have delivered aid to Georgia since the five-day war in early August, which prompted the worst crisis in Russia's relations with the West since the Cold War.
"We don't understand what American ships are doing on Georgian shores," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday. "The second question is why the humanitarian aid is being delivered on naval vessels armed with the newest rocket systems."
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 66 Commentsbush has a billion to give away? is he still the president ... or is he on vacation until next year?
The Russians may have a point that military ships are making the deliveries of aid, if true, But that these ships have new missile systems is a ridiculous detail.
this money SHOULD BE INVESTED IN THIS COUNTRY FOR ITS CITIZENS.
LET EUROPE WORRY ABOUT IT
Losing your house - BUSH
Poor economy - BUSH
People starving - BUSH
Jobs being sent overseas -- BUSH
AND I COULD GO ON FOREVER AND EVER
TKTK53
News flash! NOT GOOD TIMING GEORGIE-PORGIE. Do stupid stuff like that AFTER the election!
If $1 = 1 SECOND of time it would take 31 years, 259 days, 1 hour, 46 minutes and 40 seconds to reach 1 billion.
+1 billion seconds ago it was 1959.
1 billion inches stretches about 1/2 way across the earth.
It would take you 95 years to count to 1 billion continuously.
1 billion dollars of $1000.00 bills stacked tightly is 63 miles high (most planes fly under 8 miles high.)
The current US debt is over 9 TRILLION DOLLARS! It would take 32,000 years of $1 per second for just ONE of those trillions ....
It take ALL the taxes paid by ALL the taxpayers west of the Mississippi to pay the INTEREST on the national debt... every year.
Thank you to youtube on national debt for this interesting information ...
The war hawk and the faux hawk had the same $1 billion plan people - that was Biden''s recommendation too. It''s not so much about the people of Georgia as it is about playing that geopolitical push-back game against Russia.
What I want to know is whether there''s any danger Russia''s going to be smarting from this and looking for an axe to grind, thereby suddenly finding new common ground with Pakistan . . .
What about the American people? You know...the ones who pay the taxes! How about throwing us a bone? How anyone can support this idiot and call themselves a patriot is beyond me. We''re struggling and he''s sending OUR money to rebuild the infrastructure in ANOTHER country, and this isn''t even close to being the first time he''s done this. What an absolute waste of human skin he and his airhead supporters are!
Yet another reason to HATE this dysfunctional piece-o-*** administration. I don''t want to hear another word from you whiny Republicans about raising taxes, unless you can talk some sense into your dumba$$ ''hero''!
Another incredibly stupid move from our demented leader.
Wait until these next 2 or 3 hurricanes hit the East coast and money is not available for aid right here in our own country.
Outrageous!
Just add it to the other $5 trillion Bush has charged to the kiddies in just a few short years.
Do these guys still bother to call themselves ''fiscally responsible''?
I hope that all future generations will remember what happens when you elect an ignorant, smirking, frat-boy to the White House (particularly when his sidekick VP makes Lucretia Borgia look like St. Thomas Aquinas).
Not only does the middle class take care of the rich and the poor and the lazy in America, we''re taking care of the freakin WORLD, while our salaries and benefits keep getting cut, cut, cut.....
And don''t forget you get the bill with interest.
This is how you devalue your currency and add inflation with Deflation = Hyper Inflation.
Posted by ndjam
Saudi is not in the list. They actually our main arms buyer. Georgia is not #1. With four billion, well to do Israel is #1
georgia, by the way, attacked the russians without provocation (you know, the sneaky neocon method) and got their azzes kicked into the Black Sea - rightfully so.
and now we have to pay our puppets??
Posted by ndjam at 11:19 PM : Sep 03, 2008
Blow it out your piehole.
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