The Soviet Union's brutal solution to the Baltic crisis and the compromise of Western European countries to the Soviet Union caused concerns among the other member states. It was undoubtedly a major blow to Georgia, Armenia and Moldavia, the other three countries that were determined to remove the hat of the Soviet Socialist Republic. Moldavia and Armenia immediately chose to shut up and no longer shouted slogans of separation.
Other member states with less centrifugal tendencies protested against the Soviet Union's unilateral amendment of the Supreme Constitution, but because they were given great economic autonomy, the complaints were not too loud. The previous national autonomy had great political rights but only limited economic autonomy, but Yanayev's current approach was the opposite. The member states finally got the long-awaited economic development autonomy, so it didn't matter whether they were independent or not.
However, one of the most radical leaders of the republic, President Zviad Gamsakhurdia of Georgia, who once shouted "Georgia belongs to Georgians", also became restrained after witnessing the tragic end of the three Baltic countries. As an extreme nationalist, he was attracted by Gorbachev's weakness, but after seeing Yanaev's iron torrent, Zviad began to consider another way to break away from Soviet rule. As the republic that wanted to get rid of Soviet rule the most, even Stalin, who was born in Georgia, implemented a high-pressure ethnic policy in this country.
So Zvyad turned his attention to the Americans. He believed that the reason for the failure of the independence of the three Baltic countries was that they did not have a strong armed force and relied too much on foreign aid, so he needed to buy the most advanced tanks and fighter planes from the United States. Especially before the constitution amended by Yanaev came into effect, he had an armed force that was strong enough to compete with the Soviet army. Zvyad never thought of resisting the Soviet attack head-on, but only wanted to make the other side fall into the Afghan crisis. Even if most of Georgia fell, he could continue to fight guerrilla warfare with the Soviets.
So when Bush received the message for help from Georgian President Zvyad, he immediately summoned the Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney, who is known as an expert in intelligence affairs. As the former White House Chief of Staff and the planner of Desert Storm, he was undoubtedly the best person to analyze this message for Bush.
"I'm sorry, Dick, for bringing you here so late." Bush stood up and said apologetically as soon as Dick entered the president's office. Bush's little gesture made Dick a little flattered, especially when he saw Brent, the national security adviser next to the president, and knew that things tonight would definitely not be simple.
"What's going on, Mr. President?" Dick asked with concern.
"Take a look at this first." Bush, who had been discussing with Brent for a long time, handed a piece of paper to Dick Cheney.
Bush showed Defense Secretary Dick Cheney a private message from the President of Georgia. The message was so short and concise that Dick Cheney looked at it for a long time. After a while, he raised his head and said slowly, "The President wants to ask whether we should sell arms to support Georgia?"
"That's right," Brent said. "I think we should secretly sell our advanced tanks and fighter planes to Georgia to help them build an army capable of resisting the Soviets."
"So based on Georgia's financial strength, what can they afford from us?" Defense Secretary Dick Cheney asked bluntly, "The most advanced tanks of the M1 series? Or F15 or F16 fighter jets. Of course, I believe that with Georgia's current financial strength, it should be able to afford 6 to 7 such fighter jets at a time, but what does this mean for the Soviet Union's huge aviation combat forces? Not at all. Even if they can shoot down a hundred Soviet Su-27s or MiG-29s, they still have tens of thousands of fighter jets like locusts that can drown and cover the entire Georgian sky. It would be more reliable for you to sell them our intercontinental missiles. At least the Soviet Union should consider the other party's feelings when it takes action."
What Dick Cheney said was indeed the truth. Brent's thinking was different from his. The former was thinking about how to use arms sales to drain Georgia's financial strength in one go, while the latter was thinking about how to suck Georgia's blood in a long-term way.
"Take a step back and say that even if Georgia received a large amount of military aid, what would it matter? An army with amazing combat effectiveness is not built up by piling up weapons, but by long-term training and running-in. Can they coordinate infantry and tanks? Can they advance slowly with a barrage of bullets? Can they airdrop tanks like the Soviet Union? They can't do any of these, right? This is the same reason why Saddam claimed to be the fourth most powerful country in the world but could only be a target in front of the UN army."
"Okay, stop arguing, be quiet." Bush stopped the quarrel between Dick Cheney and Brent. "According to your opinion, what should we do to reassure Georgia and successfully carry out secret arms sales?"
"It's almost impossible to sell high-tech weapons, but," Dick Cheney changed the subject, "if we export Hummers to Georgia for civilian use, it would be a feasible method. As for UH1 helicopters, after dismantling the weapon system, they can be exported to Georgia as humanitarian aid vehicles. As for tanks, it is not impossible to disassemble and transport them to Georgia, but it will be a little more complicated. By the way, we can also import some 107mm rocket launchers from our Soviet neighbors and import them to Georgia under the banner of agricultural tools. And by doing this, Georgia can also transform them into local common weapon systems, which also saves the trouble of importing equipment from us."
"Even if the Soviet Union is held accountable, it is in accordance with international law. They have no other reason to interfere, unless the Soviet Union's revised constitution takes effect immediately and all member states lose their sovereignty. However, constitutional changes and policy adjustments will trigger a series of chain crises, and the Soviet Union cannot change so quickly. It will take at least three to five months, which is enough time to give Zviad a large amount of arms. Of course, it can also bring huge income to the government."
"Moreover, as our ally, Turkey can also transport arms to Georgia and Armenia through its borders. If possible, it would be best to incite the leader of Azerbaijan to rebel, so as to create a crisis in the southern part of the Soviet Union that the Soviet Union will be overwhelmed. Of course, we must also pay close attention to the problems of the three Baltic countries. Aren't the leaders of the other two countries going to establish exile regimes? We can provide them with weapons and financial support to create trouble for the Soviet Union."
"As long as the Soviet Union does not go to war with its member states, our plan will be achieved. The Soviet Union must first stabilize its internal affairs before it can resist external aggression, but the external crises that incite it make it impossible for it to concentrate 100% on dealing with domestic events."
This was Dick Cheney's arc of encirclement policy. The incidents he created in the member states acted like a barrier to block the Soviet Union's westward advance, leaving him no time to take care of other strategic positions. The United States and its allies took advantage of this period to remove the Soviet pawns one by one. From the Middle East to Africa, the seeds of communist revolution had long been their target.
"Great! This way, the Soviet Union will be locked in a dividing line. After it breaks through the barrier, it will find that it has no allies in this world that can cooperate with it." Bush smiled and said to Dick Cheney, "Then let's leave this matter to the CIA. After all, these dirty deals are what the agents are best at."
"And there is another place that we need to include in our list of targets for wooing," Brent said. "Chechnya has always been opposed to Soviet rule. If we can incite them to rebel, we can incite a revolution on Soviet soil."