GEORGIA: President Bush hailed Georgia's new democracy as a "beacon of liberty" yesterday and in a swipe at Moscow said the sovereignty of the former Soviet republic must be respected.
Tens of thousands of people jammed into Tbilisi's Freedom Square - once called Lenin Square - to cheer Mr Bush at the rallying point for the 2003 "Rose Revolution" that brought pro-Western president Mikhail Saakashvili to power.
Mr Bush threw his weight behind Georgia's efforts to gain the return of two pro-Moscow rebel regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Mr Saakashvili says is vital for his country to recover from years of economic decline.
But during a 19-hour visit Mr Bush significantly avoided open backing for Mr Saakashvili in his demand for the speedy closure of two Russian bases.
Mr Bush got some of his loudest cheers when he said: "The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia must be respected . . . by all nations".
The US-educated Mr Saakashvili asked for Washington's help in joining the list of other former Soviet states to join Nato, saying: "Democracy for our society is a natural attribute, and we will defend it as we do our national identity."
Mr Bush recalled Georgia's long struggle for independence that led to the "people's power" revolution of November 2003.
"You gathered here armed with nothing but roses and the power of your convictions, and you claimed your liberty. And because you acted, Georgia is today both sovereign and free and a beacon of liberty for this region and the world," Mr Bush said.
The US president had good reason to celebrate in Tbilisi yesterday. While his policy of regime change is having a rocky time in the Middle East, it has succeeded spectacularly in eastern Europe.
Georgia was the first of three former Soviet republics to have staged pro-democracy revolutions guided by US cash and know-how.
American advisers, expertise and cash fuelled Tiblisi's so-called Rose Revolution that in November 2003 saw mass protests sweep president Eduard Shevardnadze from power.
Last December a similar operation saw Ukraine's Orange Revolution triumph after the government tried to rig elections.
And in March, Kyrgyztan's Tulip Revolution toppled president Askar Akayev and ushered in the promise of properly supervised elections.
The result has seen three former Soviet republics abruptly switch from supporting Moscow to looking westwards. The American assistance follows strikingly similar patterns.
First, US money is channelled to opposition groups, independent newspapers and academics through groups such as the National Endowment for Democracy and the United States Agency for International Development.
Second, US advisers arrive, bring expertise on advertising, focus groups and spin-doctoring, skills already familiar in Western elections but almost unknown farther east.
More controversially, the United States then organises a cutting-edge group to lead street protests.
The template was set in 2000 in Serbia when a youth group named Otpor, trained in passive defence by the CIA based in neighbouring Hungary, helped oust president Slobodan Milosevic.
Officially, Otpor ("Resistance") was a spontaneous outpouring of anger by the young.
Their slogan, a clenched fist, was chosen because it could easily be made into stencils and then spray-painted on thousands of walls. - (Additional reporting Reuters)