(4 Sep 2008) SHOTLIST
Georgian Pool
1. US Vice President Dick Cheney and US ambassador to Georgia John Tefft greeting US military official at Alexeevka military airport
2. Mid of US military greeting Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili
3. Wide of delegation walking towards the tent
4. Various of Cheney inside military tent greeting soldiers
5. Wide of Cheney greeting USAID workers
6. Close Cheney and Saakashvili walking
7. Wide of Cheney and Saakashvili walking
AP Television
8. Wide of Tbilisi international airport
9. Various of motorcade driving on tarmac
10. Cutaway of guards
11. Wide top-shot of Cheney and Saakashvili walking towards the plane
12. Cutaway of security guard
13. Mid of Dick Cheney walking up stairs of plane and waving
13. Wide of plane
STORYLINE:
US Vice President Dick Cheney departed Georgia on Thursday, after meeting with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and pledging US government support for the embattled country in the wake of a short war with Russia last month.
Cheney spent only a few hours in Georgia before flying to Ukraine.
Demonstrating Washington's support for war-ravaged Georgia, Cheney condemned Russia for what he called an "illegitimate, unilateral attempt" to redraw the US ally's borders by force.
Speaking during a closely watched trip to this strategic South Caucasus nation, Cheney also said the United States was fully committed to Georgian efforts to join NATO.
Before departing Georgia, Cheney visited Georgia's military airport of Alexeevka to meet with the USAID workers and the US military who are carrying humanitarian aid to Georgia.
On the eve of his arrival, the White House announced a 1 billion (b) US dollars commitment to help the small but strategically located nation recover from its war with Russia.
The massive US aid package was one of the highlights of Cheney's meetings in Tbilisi.
Military aid from the United States and some Western European countries was key to transforming the Georgian army and navy from their ragged post-Soviet condition into a credible fighting force.
Yet routed by Russian forces, the Georgian military will need more Western aid to rebuild if the country is to join NATO.
Angry Russian officials have repeatedly said US military aid was instrumental in emboldening Georgia to try to retake South Ossetia by force on August 7 and have called for the US to halt its support in helping Georgia remilitarise.
The attack sparked five days of fighting and resulted in Russian forces driving into South Ossetia and on into Georgia.
New potential US military aid to Georgia would further aggravate relations between Washington and Moscow, which are already at a post-Cold War low.
Cheney, a longtime critic of Russia also visited another ex-Soviet republic nervous about Moscow's intentions - Azerbaijan, where a million-barrel-a-day pipeline runs from the Caspian Sea shores into Georgia and on into Turkey.
The pipeline is the only direct route for Europe-bound Caspian oil to bypass Russia.
Caspian oil also goes to Georgian ports by another pipeline and by rail.
Cheney's tour signalled to Moscow that the United States will continue cultivating close ties with Georgia and its neighbours even after Russia showed it was willing to use military force against countries along its border.
The sombre stopover contrasted with US President George W. Bush's exuberant visit in May 2005, when Bush spoke to a vast crowd in Tbilisi with Saakashvili.
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