Saakashvili on Army’s ‘Combative Spirit’

President Saakashvili said April 20 that more people were willing to join the army, than it was before the August war.

“A professional army has been established in Georgia and people join it with knowing very well that they may need to sacrifice their lives for the motherland and their families support them in this decision,” Saakashvili said on April 20.

“Today there is a longer queue of those willing to enroll in the army, than it was before the war. Combative spirit has not decreased in Georgia; moreover it has further increased because of self-sacrifice of our soldiers [during the August war] and it is a source of great hope for me. We will accomplish their [fallen soldiers’] deeds and no one should have any doubt about it,” he said.

The President made these remarks after paying tribute to fallen soldiers at a cemetery in the Tbilisi suburb with bringing Easter eggs to their graves; Easter Monday in Georgia is marked with memorial for the departed.

“Looking at these families [of fallen soldiers] I understand why such sons have been grown up in these families, who have not abandoned their positions [during the war] and who have not hesitated to sacrifice their lives; just look how dignified these families are; we have not heard from these families not a single word of complaint; they are proud of their sons and when we were doing something for these families they were accepting it with appreciation and were saying nothing except of words of gratitude,” Saakashvili said.

According to the Ministry of Defense total of 160 Georgian servicemen have been killed during the August war and ten are missing.

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