Shaun Walker has a First Post piece about the Georgian army’s eagerness to help the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Georgians, under their president Mikhail Saakashvili, want to fight for two connected reasons: to ingratiate themselves with the U.S and to train their armed forces for a future war on home soil. Both these motivations should be attributed to the growing hostility between Tbilisi and Moscow over the breakaway region of Abkhazia.

If war does break out between Georgia and Russia, Saakashvili will surely ask his Western allies for help. All three U.S. presidential candidates have expressed unreserved support for Georgia. So while the Americans might be grateful for the 2, 000 Georgians troops currently in Iraq, the next president could feel compelled to return a much bigger favor.