Georgia will withdraw half of its 2,000-strong force in Iraq as clashes continue in breakaway South Ossetia, Alexandre Lomaia, the secretary of Georgia’s National Security Council, said.

“We have already communicated to our American friends that we are going to withdraw half our contingent of soldiers in Iraq within days because we are under Russian aggression," Lomaia told Reuters.

President Saakashvili broke the news about Georgia’s intention on August, when he said in an interview with CNN that he was planning to call troops back.

When asked by an anchor what would he ask President Bush to do for Georgia, Saakashvili responded that Georgia was now in the same situation as Finland was in 1939 when the Soviet Union attacked it. “It seems adventures are back… It seems that freedom and human rights are endangered again,” he added.

“This is the moment of truth for everybody, for President Bush, for the United States, for the rest of western world… This is really a crucial moment for the history of Europe and high time to wake up for everybody.”