WASHINGTON — The Pentagon and the White House are at odds over whether to station a U.S. Navy ship in the Black Sea to demonstrate U.S. support towards an embattled Georgian military and government, two defense officials told McClatchy Newspapers.

The White House believes putting a ship like the USNS Comfort would showcase the Bush administration's support for Georgia and signal U.S. concern that Russia has sparked a humanitarian crisis in Georgia.

Pentagon officials call the move unnecessary.

Indeed, military officials don't believe Georgia requires that much humanitarian aid. Last week, the U.S. military sent a 12-member assessment team to determine how much humanitarian aid Georgians need.

In addition, the USNS Comfort would take weeks to arrive. Instead, two military officials said they believe air support is enough. Air Force and Navy aircraft are sending supplies daily.

“That is all they need right now,” a senior defense official said. The official asked for anonymity to speak candidly.

To send the USNS Comfort, a destroyer or any other major vessel, the Bush administration must obtain permission from Turkey under the Montreux Convention, an international treaty that regulates naval passage in the Black Sea. So far, Turkey has refused, the officials told McClatchy.

The White House is frustrated, the officials said; the Pentagon is unperturbed.

Throughout the Georgian conflict, Pentagon officials have resisted the use of U.S. weapons, troops and ships as a political message to Russians. The Marine Corps would like to withdraw 17 trainers who were in Georgia to train Georgian troops for duty in Iraq. But the White House has insisted that the rainers remain in Tbilisi to placate political concerns that the Bush administration would be seen as abandoning their allies if the troops were evacuated. The USNS Comfort is currently docked in Baltimore. Naval officials said it could be ready to leave as early as Friday, if Turkey approves its entry into the Black Sea. But it would be five weeks before it arrived.

Months earlier, Turkey approved the U.S. military sending the USS McFaul, a destroyer, and the USS Dallas, a submarine, to the Black Sea for a training exercise. The military is stocking those ships with humanitarian aid, in case defense officials decide to carry out the training exercise, naval officials said. For now those ships are docked in Greece.