Georgia's soldiers in Iraq want to join the fight at home as soon as possible and hope their experience in the US-led force will prove valuable as conflict deepens in their homeland, their commander said last night.
Colonel Bondo Maisuradze said his 2,000-strong force would return when the US military provides transportation.
"They all watch TV, so they want to get home as soon as possible, to help our guys to defend ourselves from the bad guys," he said. "Russia cannot let us go free. They want to keep us like puppets on a string," he said.
Georgia is the largest contributor of forces to Iraq after the United States and Britain. Its forces are deployed mainly in southern Wasit province near the Iranian border, and also in Diyala north of Baghdad and Baghdad itself.
The former Soviet republic built up its modern military from scratch in the 1990s after losing two wars to separatists it says were backed by Moscow. It has made a priority of working alongside US forces in Iraq to gain combat experience and strengthen its case to join the NATO alliance.
The US military said it would readjust its force structure to make up for the departing troops and did not anticipate a long-term impact on overall security in Iraq.
"Georgian forces have played a key role partnering with the Iraqi security forces to allow the Iraqi people a chance to rebuild their lives and return to normalcy," the U.S. military said in a statement.
"We greatly appreciate the sacrifice and commitment of the Georgian forces and their government in support of the coalition and the Iraqi people."
A small contingent of Georgians deployed in Iraq in 2003, but the mission was expanded into a much larger one in 2007. Five Georgians have died in Iraq, all in the past two years.