The new funds are also aimed at helping impoverished Georgia, wedgedbetween Russia and Turkey on the Black Sea, to rebuild infrastructureand boost an economy that has been growing but is nowhere near grown.
Pushing back against an increasingly aggressive Moscow, President Bush said Wednesday the U.S. will send an extra $1 billion to Georgia to help the pro-Western former Soviet republic in the wake of Russia’s invasion.
“Georgia has a strong economic foundation and leaders with an impressive record of reform,” Bush said in a statement. “Our additional economic assistance will help the people of Georgia recover from the assault on their country, and continue to build a prosperous and competitive economy.”
“The free world cannot allow the destiny of a small independentcountry to be determined by the aggression of a larger neighbor,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters at the State Department in a simultaneous announcement with Bush.
She mocked Russiafor its recognition of the two separatist regions in Georgia that areat the heart of the conflict that broke out last month, and for itsfailure to garner international backing.
“Almost no one followed suit, I might note. It isn’t really animpressive list to have Abkhazia and South Ossetia recognize eachother,” she said.**
** However, it is perfectly acceptable to allow Kosovo, the very heart of Serbia’s Christian history, to be annexed by the United States and recognized as a Muslim outpost at Europes back door?