“Charlie’s War” replaying in Georgia?

Is there really nothing our military can do about the Russian invasion of the former Soviet republic of Georgia? That’s what all the “experts” are saying. But I don’t think so. That’s what experts said in 1979 when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan back during President Jimmy Carter’s watch.

Carter had gutted military funding after the Vietnam War and nobody wanted to go to war with the Soviet Union over Afghanistan. So Carter did nothing but boycott the Olympics as a lame protest. That’s all the “experts” are suggesting today, another Olympic boycott against the Russians. Nobody wants to go to war with the Russians over Georgia with our troops already fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. But history may well repeat.

As the nonfiction book and movie “Charlie’s War” chronicles, in the ‘80s President Reagan, the CIA and a few friends in Congress quietly financed an insurgency against the Soviet occupation, arming the Afghans with Stinger missiles and other equipment that eventually led to Soviet defeat.

And if I was a betting man, I’d bet a similar campaign is already under way by our Spec Ops troops with the blessing of President Bush. And Georgia may be a small country, but they do have a trained army, air force and navy which succeeded in some damage to the Russian invaders.

With that core group to work with, the Russian troops might just find out it’s a whole lot easier to invade than it is to occupy a country against insurgents who are armed and supported by powerful friends. Might be a replay of Iraq and I’d bet the Russians don’t have a Gen. Petraeus.

Deebow at Blackfive.net speculated that the U.S. Air Force C-17 that landed in Georgia with humanitarian supplies probably had a few “ringers” mixed in amongst the Air Force crew, Spec Ops experts to sneak and peek a sitrep on the Russian occupation.

How many of you believe that there were soldiers on those relief flights that belonged to the RRC, AFSOC, ODA (insert number here), SOF-D or some other Special Mission Unit? I think they are likely giving ground truth to Tampa right now.

It is an axiom of modern combat that when you deploy Special Forces, you are at war...

Here’s what Strategy Page says about our troops who are already in Georgia as trainers for the Georgians: American Troops Help Defend Georgia

As Russian troops invade, from bases in southern Russia, 127 American military trainers remain in Georgia (the one in the Caucasus). They weren't the only foreign troops around, as at the end of July, a thousand Ukrainian, Azeri, Armenian and U.S. troops departed after holding joint training exercises with their Georgian counterparts.

For the past three years, several hundred American military trainers have run the GSSOP (Georgia Sustainment and Stability Operations Program), which has trained over 5,000 Georgian troops, many for eventual service in Iraq. The trainers were American soldiers and marines, who imparted their combat experience to the Georgians.

…Georgia has a population of about 4.6 million, and an active duty military of about 28,000 troops. Russia has a population of 142 million, and an active duty military of about a million personnel. The U.S. has been helping Georgia train and equip an army reserve force of about 100,000. Only about a fifth of that force has been organized so far. Georgia was hoping to develop a sufficient qualitative advantage to discourage the Russians.

If a few thousand Afghans with bolt-action rifles and Stinger missiles could make the Russians turn tail and run, the Georgians can do it too.