The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday is set to announce a package of roughly $1 billion dollars in aid to help rebuild war-torn U.S. ally Georgia. The announcement, which came as Vice President Richard Cheney headed for the former Soviet republics of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine, also came after Russia's incursion into the sovereign state of Georgia last month. The planned U.S. aid to Georgia would stretch over several years, the administration official said on the condition of anonymity. On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that the United States was considering how to provide economic support to Georgia since its brief war with Russia. “One of the real ripple effects of Russia's action has been the need for the outside world to help Georgia and its economy. It's a strong economy. It had…a strong record of growth, and we want to make sure that it continues to have that strong record of growth,” McCormack said. The amount of the Bush administration's aid package appears to align with a proposal by Delaware Senator and Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden. Biden has called for the U.S. Congress to approve $1 billion in assistance for Georgia—a proposal also endorsed by Democratic presidential nominee Illinois Senator Barack Obama. The Bush administration is also considering whether to punish Moscow for the Georgian intervention, such as possibly halting a lucrative civil nuclear deal. The European Union on Monday criticized Russia for its military offensive in Georgia, but stopped short of imposing sanctions. Russia sparked Western condemnation by sending its forces deep into Georgia last month after Tbilisi tried to retake the disputed South Ossetia territory by force. Moscow later recognized South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, as independent states. Cheney was set to begin his trip in Azerbaijan on the Black Sea, then head to Georgia and from there to Kiev for meetings with Ukraine's pro-Western government, which like Tbilisi is defying Moscow by seeking membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Azerbaijan and Georgia are both linked to a Western-backed energy corridor that bypasses Russia, but which the West fears could be in jeopardy after last month's war.
