PR-Happy Saakashvili Wasn't Asking For It, Was He, In Flaunting U.S. Weaponry?

The more you tease out the visual politics, the more the Georgia – Russia schism — and the power agenda of the Georgian president — gets more interesting.  The photo caption reads:

Georgia’s President-elect Mikhail Saakashvili, left, hands over a U.S. designed M4 carbine to a Georgian soldier at an opening ceremony of a new military base in the town of Gori, some 80 km (50 miles) west of Tbilisi, Georgia, Friday. Jan. 18, 2008. Georgia has decided to stop using the Russian-built Kalashnikov and start issuing U.S.-designed M4 carbines as part of efforts to turn its army into a professional force.

(image: Irakli Gedenidze/AP)