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Spokesman: U.S. can accommodate Georgia pullout

U.S. forces in Iraq will be able to accommodate the departure of 2,000 Georgian forces providing security near the Iraq-Iranian border, a military spokesman said Monday.

“It was unexpected,” Col. Steven Boylan said of the sudden departure of Georgian troops, called back to their country following an invasion by Russia military forces into the Republic of Georgia in South Ossetia.

On Friday, Russian troops moved into the South Ossetia region to quell a Georgian offensive against separatist fighters there. The violence has since claimed at least scores of lives on both sides and as of Monday had continued spreading, according to published reports.

“But based on current conditions and the levels of violence and the levels of security incidents [in Iraq], it’s anticipated that we can continue to do this [mission] without them,” Boylan said. “We know that they’re focused on the security issues back in the Republic of Georgia.”

The Georgian troops in Iraq were serving in Wasit province, guarding security checkpoints and working to limit weapons smuggling into Iraq from Iran, Boylan said.

The troops have been part of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq since the beginning of operations there in March 2003. They also have participated in medical civil affairs programs.

“Before these events in Georgia were taking place, we had already started shuffling around some units based on normal type of rotational issues,” Boylan said. “Based on that, we were able to accommodate the Georgian forces leaving without any real impact to the current mission.”

Army Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, the commander of Multi-National-Division-North and 1st Armored Division, said in an Army news release that the redeployment of Georgian forces will mean a loss of about 80 Georgian troops from his area of operation. More affected, he said, will be Multi-National-Division-Central, where the Georgians were split across several U.S. brigades. Specific brigades weren’t mentioned.

Units in the area of operations of MND-Central include elements of the 10th Mountain Division, 3rd Infantry Division, 1st Armored Division, 101st Airborne Division and the 1st Cavalry Division, according to Lt. Col. Paul Swiergosz, a public affairs officer for MND-Central.

"While any unplanned redeployment will have some near-term impact on our operations - as would any major change, addition/subtraction in force structure - we will make adjustments to ensure sustained operations and we don't anticipate their departure will result in any significant long-term impact on the overall security situation in Iraq," Swiergosz said in an e-mail.

"We are not 'scrambling' to backfill the Georgians, nor are we concerned there will be 'gaps' in the security posture in Wasit province," Swiergosz added. "We're always engaged in prudent contingency planning and in this case that included the possibility for a rapid redeployment of a coalition partner."

Boylan also said the change in force structure in Wasit province could resemble the ongoing effort to “thin out” forces in Iraq.

“Part of what we have been doing — and it is what has been termed the “battlefield geometry” or “battlefield calculation” — is to position your forces is such a way that you can thin them out as conditions permit, using other elements such as Sons of Iraq, the Iraqi security forces, which include the Army and police, and then, as conditions permit, you continue to move your forces around, thinning the other areas,” he said. “That’s the same kind of situation you would have here.”

The Pentagon also said Monday that the 130 active duty and National Guard U.S. military personnel stationed in Georgia will remain in the country.

“As of this afternoon, there are no plans to move them out of Georgia,” said Defense Department spokeswoman Lt. Col Elizabeth Hibner. “They’re safe and accounted for and in a consolidated location.”

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Staff writers Gina Cavallaro and Matthew Cox contributed to this report.