Due the Russia/Georgia conflict, Georgia’s 2,000 troops will be withdrawn from Iraq to return home and help with that conflict. They have been stationed in an area southeast of the capital to help interdict supplies being smuggled to Shiite extremists from Iran. Athough the U.S. military is playing down the removal of these troops, it’s likely U.S. troops will have to replace them, which is significant because it’s a dangerous area and it’s on the Iranian border. Five Georgian troops have been killed in Iraq. Georgia has had the third largest number of troops in Iraq. They sent more troops in last year at a time when most countries were withdrawing.

Sources: Juan Cole, and the AP