Training Day for Georgia's Army

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SHAKH AIVAZOV/AP

U.S. military adviser Col. Elmer White, left,and Georgia's Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dzhoni Pirtskhalaishvili talk to reporters in Tbilisi

Monday, Mar. 4, 2002
It's no big deal, U.S. officials say of their $64 million program to train as many as 1,600 Georgian soldiers in counter-insurgency over the next six months. Not everyone would agree. The decision lands Washington in the middle of the complex, violent world of Caucasus politics and allies it firmly with a leader — Georgia's Eduard Shevardnadze — whose popularity and grip on power have weakened dramatically in recent years and who remains high on Vladimir Putin's list of least favorite people.

The sudden announcement that between 100 and 200 U.S....