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WP: After warnings to Moscow, US has few options:
Posted by Laura at August 13, 2008 10:47 PM... Saakashvili also caused an uproar when he said that Bush's pledge of humanitarian aid meant the U.S. military would take control of "Georgian ports and airports." The Pentagon swiftly contradicted his statement, and Saakashvili did not repeat it during a subsequent television appearance.
But the administration appeared to be sending mixed signals with its aid shipments, pointedly using military planes and ships and warning Russia not to block sea, air or land transport routes, while insisting it had no plans to intervene militarily.
"This is not an attempt to put military assets in closer proximity to inject U.S. forces into this conflict," a senior defense official said.
An Air Force C-17 cargo plane with medical supplies, shelters and bedding, dispatched from McGuire Air Force Base, N.J., landed yesterday in Tbilisi. Onboard was what the Pentagon called a 12-man "assessment team," which will stay in Georgia to act as liaison. Some team members had served in the country as part of more than 140 U.S. military and contract civilian trainers who previously worked with the Georgian military.
U.S. officials denied reports in the semi-official Russian media that U.S. advisers have been working with Georgian combat troops. On Monday, the U.S. military transported about 2,000 Georgian troops home from duty as part of the multinational force in Iraq.
The scale of the planned U.S. aid appears sizable for a brief conflict with an unknown, but limited, number of casualties. The U.S. Embassy has already released $1.2 million worth of disaster packages, including medical supplies, tents, blankets, bedding, hygiene items, clothing, beds and cots. The State Department and other U.S. agencies have agreed to send at least $670,000 worth of other supplies, officials said.
Despite Bush's reference to using "naval forces," the defense official said there were no immediate plans for use of such vessels. "I wouldn't expect a naval ship to be showing up in the Black Sea until we've determined what, precisely, the need is," the official said.