Posted on September 4, 2008 - by Venik
Photos: Georgian Army Before the War
As the Georgian Defense Ministry sacked its Army chief and the Deputy Chief of General Staff, lets take a look at what the Georgian army once was, with the help of some American tax dollars. Watching these ridiculous displays of crispy US-made uniforms and Israeli multiple-launch rocket systems atop shiny Mercedes-Benz trucks, Saakashvili couldn’t wait to try out his new toys against his archnemesis – the people of Tskhinvali. His innocent dreams of genocide were rudely crushed by some rusty Russian tanks and his army was demolished by a crop-dusting outfit of old Soviet Su-25s from the potato field just over the mountains.
UPDATE:
Some details on the chain of command of the Georgian Armed Forces:
Minister of Defence: David Kezerashvili
First Deputy Minister of Defence: Batu Kutelia
Deputy Minister of Defence: Mamuka Mujiri
Deputy Minister of Defence: Vera Dzneladze
Deputy Minister of Defence: Giorgi Muchaidze
Chief of Joint Staff of the Armed Forces: Brigadier General Zaza Gogava
Deputy Chiefs of General Staff: Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Osepaishvili (dismissed, replaced by Gen-Maj Devi Chankotadze, former artillery chief), Lieutenant-Colonel Giga Tatishvili
Commander of the Land Forces: Lieutenant Colonel Balakhadze Mamia (dismissed, replaced by Maj Merab Agladze)
Commander of the Air Force: Colonel David Nairshvili
Commander of the Navy: Captain Besik Shengelia
Detailed biographies of Georgian command staff can be found on the South Ossetian information site OsInform. It is evident that many top Georgian commanders have very limited military background. For example, Lt. Col. Giga Tatishvili, the second Deputy Chief of General Staff was born in 1974, until 1993 studied economics at the University of Tbilisi but did not graduate. In 1997 he received his Bachelor in Business Administration from the University of Antwerp, Belgium. During 1997-1999 worked in Moscow as a manager at the Sbarro International chain of pizza stores. During 1999-2001 Tatishvili worked as a Georgia consultant at the UN. Military-related education of Tatishvili did not begin until 2005 and was limited to a few specialized courses offered at the Joint Special Operations University at Hurlburt Field, FL. So there you have Georgia’s second Deputy Chief of General Staff – expert in selling pizza in Moscow.
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September 4, 2008
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Thanks Venik for the Sir-ril-ic “sacked” Interfax link.
I’m sure it is compelling but after being a self appointed, SVR, “Red Team” for way too long, I can’t even reveal the disclosures I unearthed. My Russian is still Grade A zero. So why the sackings?
Petrov
BTW The Russians won WWII through blood and sacrifice and I admire them for it.
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September 4, 2008
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Georgia’s Deputy Defense Minister said “these appointments are directly related to the analysis of combat operations… Those military officers who applied themselves will be rewarded, and those who failed to achieve set goals will be relieved of their positions”.
It is interesting that this announcement was made not by the Defense Minister, as was the case during such high-level appointments in the past, but by his number one. This may be a sign that the Defense Minister himself is on the chopping block, which shouldn’t be very surprising.
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September 4, 2008
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Thanks for the futher explanation Venik.
Why would Georgia leave itself (internationally) so politically vulnerable by sacking military bosses so soon?
I’d say that if the sackings are mean’t by Georgia as an admission that through command miscalculation it caused the conflict then this is a way of asking Russia to respond in some way. This is probably stating the obvious.
Georgia is hopefully realising that being a Russian-Nato flashpoint is not a lasting future.
Pete
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September 4, 2008
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Right now Saakashvili has a bigger issue than maintaining appearances abroad. His job and indeed his life depend on his ability to explain away the results of his monumental military blunder. As time goes on, this task will become only harder. Following the war, Saakashvili moved aggressively against high-profile individuals who can potentially challenge his presidency and unite Georgia’s neutered opposition. He refused to drop charges against his former defense minister, who now lives in exile in France. He hinted at a possible death threat against the parliament’s opposition leader. And only yesterday Georgian police arrested the son of Georgia’s first president for “being a Russian agent”.
Saakashvili is scared, stupid and, therefore, dangerous. Perhaps even more so than a month ago. I would not rule out a second war between Russia and Georgia a year down the road. It may not be a large-scale invasion by Russia, but a low-intensity sustained aerial bombardment campaign against high-value targets a la Israel is certainly a possibility. Especially so if the US and the NATO continue supplying Saakashvili’s army with more weapons. Sooner or later Russia will be forced to once again prune that stockpile.
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September 6, 2008
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Yes I think the odd Russia shell or small missile will be directed onto a high value target or maybe just as harassment to keep Saakashvili under pressure. The Georgian are likely to get tired of having a War leader.
I don’t know whether Russia has an equivalent to the Predator-Hellfire combination? But increasing use of Russian UAV’s may be likely. They’re expendable and when they are shot down it is outrageous
Pete
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September 6, 2008
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Russia’s favorite UAVs for this type of applications are ballistic missiles
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October 2, 2011
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November 26, 2011
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