Bush sends aid to occupied Georgia

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By Jon Ward and Kelly Hearn

President Bush dispatched U.S. military forces Wednesday to the small Caucasus nation of Georgia to deliver "humanitarian aid" to the Western-leaning nation that is partly occupied by Russian troops.

Mr. Bush also sent Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on a diplomatic mission to France and then to Georgia to "rally the free world at the defense of a free Georgia."

Miss Rice departed for Paris on Wednesday evening.

The president spoke to reporters at the White House with Miss Rice on his right and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on his left, and said he had asked Mr. Gates to "begin a humanitarian mission to the people of Georgia headed by the United States military."

"A U.S. C-17 aircraft with humanitarian supplies is on its way," Mr. Bush said. "And in the days ahead we will use U.S. aircraft as well as naval forces to deliver humanitarian and medical supplies."

White House press secretary Dana Perino said later Wednesday that the first plane had arrived in Georgia and that a second would touch down there Thursday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov mocked the U.S. alliance with Georgia, a former Soviet republic that has aligned itself strongly with the U.S. and other Western countries, and said the U.S. will have to choose between a partnership with Russia or Georgia.

"We understand that this current Georgian leadership is a special project of the United States, but one day the United States will have to choose between defending its prestige over a virtual project or real partnership which requires joint action," Mr. Lavrov said, according to a Reuters dispatch.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Mr. Bush's announcement meant "definitely an American military presence" in Georgia and "a turning point."

In an interview with the New York Times, he said he expected the U.S. military to secure Georgian seaports and its main airport.