Aid To Georgia Is In The Billions. Aid To South Ossetia And Abkhazia Is ????

The USS Mount Whitney travels through the Bosporus strait in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008. The USS Mount Whitney, a third U.S. Navy ship carrying humanitarian aid, crossed the Turkish Straits on its way to Georgia. The ship is the third U.S. Navy vessel the U.S. military said would take supplies such as blankets, hygiene kits and baby food to Georgia following its war with Russia over South Ossetia. (AP Photo/Murad Sezer)

US Sends 3rd Ship To Georgia, Plans $1B In Aid
-- Yahoo News/AP

TBILISI, Georgia - A U.S. Navy ship loaded with humanitarian aid steamed through the Dardanelles on its way to Georgia on Wednesday, as the Bush administration prepared to roll out a $1 billion economic aid package for the ex-Soviet republic.

The multiyear proposal calls for spending about half of the total in the administration's remaining five months in office and recommending that the incoming president and his team continue funding the project when they take over in January, a senior official said.

The White House and State Department intend on Wednesday afternoon to jointly announce the aid package, which follows a fact-finding and assessment mission to Georgia by Reuben Jeffrey, a senior U.S. diplomat who returned from the country last week, the official told the AP.

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My Comment: This is going to cause ill feeling for the breakaway provinces in the medium to long term. Russia cannot compete with the West when it comes to assistance and help, and this is going to show clearly in the next few months.