KRTSANISI, Georgia - When US President George W. Bush addressed over 100,000 Georgians in an open-air speech in Tbilisi last week, most locals thought he was doing their tiny country a favor by putting it on the map.
But against a backdrop of rising tensions with Russia and increasing US influence in the strategic Caucasus region, a US marine sergeant sent here to train Georgian soldiers seems to think it is country that is getting help.
"If we can get a Georgian battalion in Iraq, that's one battalion we don't have to send, and that's a big help," said Sergeant Dwaine Roberts, a spokesman at the brand new US-built Krtsanisi army training center near the capital.
Georgia has nearly 900 soldiers serving in Iraq, but Tbilisi's commitment to operation "Iraqi Freedom" is not all that ruffles feathers in Moscow, which opposed the US-led war.
The United States has invested 50 million US dollars (39.5 million euros) into the Krtsanisi "Sustain and Stability " program created with the support of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Washington also backs a four-billion-dollar oil pipeline that later this year will be inaugurated next week, transforming Georgia into a key link in an energy transport corridor that bypasses Russia.
During his two day visit to Tbilisi, Bush also gave cautious support to Georgia in its quest to regain two separatist regions that have backing from Moscow. In previous statements, Washington has also given Tbilisi support in its attempts to secure the exit of Russian troops stationed here.
As more former Soviet states announce their desire to join the American-led military alliance NATO, Bush also reiterated his support for Georgia's application to join.
But perhaps the most visible sign that Russia's influence is on the wane after centuries of domination is the American military program in Krtsanisi, under which the US is arming Georgians while furthering its own foreign policy goals.
Some 70 US military instructors and support staff work at the base training 550 Georgian soldiers.
For Georgia's rag-tag army, the assistance has been significant.
Georgian authorities hope the experience and training can one day be put towards solving the country's formidable problems.
"Iraq is the focus over the long run, but they can use these skills here in country or anywhere they are deployed to," said Marines Staff Sergeant Daniel Bogart, who procures arms for the Georgians under the program.
In what is becoming a weekly affair, a US marine ticked off a list as crate after crate of Kalashnikov assault rifles donated by the United States and its ex-Warsaw pact allies were unloaded and handed over to troops in Krtsanisi last week.
How much weaponry Georgia has received is hard to say even for the US soldier in charge of supplies "because it's so much," the officer said.
Bush's landmark speech in Tbilisi only highlights the increased US influence that, thanks to Krtsanisi and an earlier military program, has been evident to observers ever since Mikhail Saakashvili rode a wave of popular revolt into power 18 months ago.
US personnel are however careful not to antagonize Russia, at least verbally, and jeopardize relations with President Vladimir Putin, whom Bush calls a friend.
"The Russians think we're going to come in right after them, but that's not it," said Sergeant Roberts. "There's no need for permanent bases, we don't want to leave a signature here."
Georgia was absorbed into the Russian empire in the early 1800s and shares many religious and historical ties with its neighbor, but since independence in 1991 it has been at odds with Moscow over a number of issues.
Russia's reluctance to pull troops out of the country and curtail its support for the separatists in Abkhazia and South Ossetia has pushed the Georgian authorities to look West, giving Washington the opportunity to increase its presence substantially.
Georgia has received 120 million dollars in military aid from the United States and the guns and experience Georgian soldiers receive here and in Iraq could one day go towards subduing separatists.
Already some 2,200 have been trained under the Georgia Train and Equip program which closed in 2004. If the current program is extended another 1,100 will have received training by the end of the year.
05/17/2005 12:10 GMT