Military

DATE=01/31/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=GEORGIA/U-S/TERRORISM (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-299059

BYLINE=LISA MCADAMS

DATELINE=TBILISI, GEORGIA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: A second group of Georgian recruits has begun training in an anti-terrorism program led by the U-S military. The program aims to eradicate Islamic militants officials believe may be hiding out in the Pankisi Gorge region of Georgia, near Chechnya. V-O-A's Lisa McAdams reports from the training site on the outskirts of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

TEXT: /// NAT SOUND OF SOLDIERS ESTABLISH & FADE ///

It's the first week of training at Vasiani, a dusty, run-down former Russian military base. Already, the men are marching in step.

Over the next four months, they will learn special anti-terror techniques, as well as full scale tactical maneuvers to thwart terrorist threats.

Georgian officials have expressed hope that the 64-million dollar U-S training program will bring their nation closer to the West, and help strengthen the cash-strapped 20-thousand member Georgian military.

But Georgian General Tamaz Dumbadze, who is overseeing the program as a special advisor to Georgia's defense minister, says the journey from civilian to soldier is a long one, especially considering the former Soviet Republic's past.

/// GENERAL ACT IN GEORGIAN ESTABLISH AND UNDER ///

The general says that, for at least 200 years, Georgia was under the influence of Russia. As a result, he says, the Georgian nation became weak and lost its fighting traditions. General Dumbadze says, once brave Georgian fighters became, in a sense, servants of Russia.

At the same time, the general says he does not want his men to be thought of as servants of any other nation, the United States included. He says, after this training, it is his view the Georgian military will be fully capable of defending any internal or external threat on its own.

Captain Marc Carter of the U-S Marine Corps agrees. Specifically, he says, Georgian soldiers will learn how to better protect the country's borders, and provide a more secure and stable environment overall.

/// CARTER ACT ///

What we've seen in them already is a high level of motivation and an eagerness to learn. So, if they take the skills that we teach them, their capabilities will be enhanced, and they will be ready fighting men.

/// END ACT ///

Captain Carter adds that, over the anticipated two year life of the program, some two-thousand Georgians will be molded into elite soldiers.

/// BEGIN OPT ///

One of them is 30-year-old Levani Elbaqidze, a recent graduate of the program. He says, the Georgian soldiers learn not only military tactics, but also key concepts of how to put together an effective fighting unit.

///ELBAQIDZE ACT IN GEORGIAN ///

Mr. Elbaqidze says the most important lesson taught was a sense of teamwork. He says, the Georgians are now stronger soldiers because, as he put it, "we now know that we all have the same knowledge and can trust each other with our lives."

They may have to do that in the nearby Pankisi Gorge, along the Georgia-Russia border. It is there that U-S officials believe al-Qaida terrorists may be hiding, and Russian officials say Chechen rebels take refuge. Russia has been pressing Georgia to take better control of the gorge.

/// END OPT ///

Critics of the U-S training program say, it could be the beginning of a long-term U-S troop presence in Georgia, partly to protect the multi-billion-dollar Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline set to be built beginning this April.

Some Georgians speculate that the United States would not mind having a base of operations near the Georgia-Russia border, and not far from Iraq.

General Dumbadze says that is ridiculous. He says, Georgia is merely trying to bring its military up to Western standards. And Captain Carter says, the U-S mission is only to train personnel. (Signed)

NEB/LAM/AWP/RH/TW