Putin Makes a Virtue of Necessity

As the inhospitable terrain of the Caucasus mountains slides into focus as the next target of George Bush's war on terror, President Vladimir Putin of Russia is making a virtue of necessity and toeing the US line.

It is becoming a habit for the Kremlin chief. When the despotic rulers of post-Soviet central Asia moved swiftly last autumn to open up their territories to US bases for the war in Afghanistan, Mr Putin allowed senior officials to fulminate against the American takeover of Russia's strategic backyard before giving the Americans the green light.

When Washington failed to reward him by announcing it was unilaterally ditching the 1972 anti-ballistic missiles treaty, despite deep-seated Russian resistance, Mr Putin put on a brave face. There was no threat to Russia, he insisted, promptly dropping six months of Kremlin objections that the US move was destabilising and a threat to global peace.

The new test is Georgia, the failed Caucasus state on Russia's southern border. The Americans are coming. The Russians are unwelcome. Mr Putin turned the other cheek on Friday, meekly accepting the latest display of the Pax Americana and saying it was not a tragedy.

At least 200 US military are expected in Georgia later this month, ostensibly to train weak Georgian forces in counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism skills, providing helicopters, arms, and mountain combat gear.

Alexander Vershbow, the US ambassador in Moscow, indicated that the US troops will be there for at least a year and stressed that they would not take part in combat operations, although when asked how the US troops would respond if the Georgians requested combat support, he kept his options open.

If Mr Putin is turning the other cheek, he also has plenty to gain, just as the destruction of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan has been a huge gain for Russia on its southern rim in terms of national security and excising the threat of expansionist Islamist militancy.

The Americans are basing themselves in Georgia to thwart the alleged terrorist threat emanating from the Pankisi Gorge, the small valley high in the mountains of north-east Georgia on the border with Chechnya where dozens of al-Qaida fighters are said to be holed up along with Chechen separatist guerrillas at war with Russia.

The Russians have been railing about the Georgian terrorist connection for years, but have been able to do very little about it. If the Americans solve the problem for them, Mr Putin will be able to fend off his critics who increasingly accuse him of being an American lackey.

"This programme of re-equipping and training the Georgian forces will be successful. And it will also contribute to ensuring Russia's security," Ambassador Vershbow told the Izvestiya newspaper.

The Russians maintain that there are some 2,000 Chechen "terrorists" in the gorge and that Georgia has long been both unable and unwilling to do anything about the unruly region that serves as a conduit for men, money, and arms into Chechnya from Azerbaijan and Turkey to the south.

The Americans allege that al-Qaida fighters have been infiltrating the region in recent months. "We are sure that al-Qaida [men] are there," said Mr Vershbow.

But if Mr Putin stands to gain, the US move into Georgia is still a big blow to Russian power in the region.

Georgia's president, Eduard Shevardnadze, denounced Moscow's initially hostile reaction to the US announcement as "unworthy hysteria" and bragged that the US presence was a boon to Georgian sovereignty and defence of its national borders, a sideswipe at Russia and an implicit warning to Moscow.

While being careful not to criticise the US decision, Mr Putin reserved his rancour for the Georgians, declaring that Tbilisi had told the Russians nothing.

In fact, Mr Putin appeared to be disingenuous. If the Georgians did not keep the Kremlin informed, the Americans did. According to Mr Vershbow, the US and the Russians have been discussing the problem since last October.

"We constantly informed the Russians about our negotiations with Georgia," said the ambassador.

But the problem appears to be that Washington simply told the Russians what was or would be happening and rejected any role for the Russians.

Revenge is possible. Russian MPs have been threatening to weaken Georgia further by extending recognition to the Russian-backed breakaway enclave of Abkhazia. The Russians still have several thousand troops at two bases in Georgia.

But Mr Putin's tactics have been to allow Russian officials, generals, MPs, and the media huff and puff about the Americans, let off hot air, while he then tacitly endorses the US move.