Members of the U.S. Army Old Guard place a flag at each of the over 220,000 graves of fallen U.S. military service members buried at Arlington National Cemetery, May 24, 2012. Memorial Day will be commemorated this weekend across the United States.    REUTERS/Jason Reed  (UNITED STATES - Tags: MILITARY)

Reuters Photojournalism

Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography.  See more | Photo caption 

Members of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels fly over the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan as part of the 25th annual Fleet Week celebration in New York, May 23, 2012.  REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz (UNITED STATES - Tags: MILITARY ANNIVERSARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

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Students show emotions at the 2012 Joplin High School commencement ceremony inside the Leggett and Plant Athletic Center at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Missouri, May 21, 2012.           REUTERS/Larry Downing    (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS EDUCATION)

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Georgia says to withdraw 1,000 soldiers from Iraq

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Georgian soldiers stand in formation before departing for Iraq at Tbilisi airport July 20, 2007. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili

Georgian soldiers stand in formation before departing for Iraq at Tbilisi airport July 20, 2007.

Credit: Reuters/David Mdzinarishvili

TBILISI | Fri Aug 8, 2008 6:51pm EDT

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia will withdraw 1,000 soldiers from Iraq to help fight off Russian forces in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, the head of Georgia's Security Council, Kakha Lomaia, said on Friday.

"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. "These are some of our best soldiers," he said.

(Reporting by James Kilner; Editing by Sami Aboudi)

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