US Surrounds Iraq - Ready
for War by December
Matthew Fisher
for The National Post, October 10, 2002
AL UDEID, Qatar - The quiet preparations now underway in the Persian
Gulf and at U.S. bases in Europe and Asia are building an army that will
be ready for war against Iraq as early as December.
If all goes according to plan, the U.S. Air Force and Navy will first
destroy Iraq's radars and command and control centres, then sap the
morale of its army, a process calculated to take between a few weeks and
two months.
Then, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps will invade by land from Kuwait and
Turkey, by sea from the northern Persian Gulf, and by air from whichever
airports in the region or Europe the 101st Airborne Assault Division
and/or the 82 Airborne Division choose to launch from.
This timetable dovetails with the probable schedule of UN weapons
inspectors. Once they enter Iraq, most likely before the end of October,
a clock will start ticking in Washington.
Baghdad will have about 37 days to show it has given the inspectors
unfettered access to places where nuclear, chemical or biological
weapons may be made or stored. If it does not comply, the United States
will have the men and equipment in place to remove Saddam Hussein from
power by force, whether the rest of the world is onside by then or not.
For several months, the Pentagon has been assembling the pieces of a
complex and expensive jigsaw, benefiting from lessons learned in the
1991 Gulf war.
Back then, it took six months to bring 500,000 ground troops and their
equipment together. This time, it may take as little as a month to get
100,000 ground troops in place -- the smaller number is due to the fact
the Pentagon believes Iraq's forces are much weakened since the Gulf
war.
Their weapons, fuel and food should be in the region when the Muslim
holy month of Ramadan ends in early December.
The Navy will provide the most obvious evidence war is imminent. It
already has two aircraft carriers within striking distance and up to
four others preparing to get underway by December.
When two or more of these additional carriers leave their home ports in
Virginia and California, the bombing phase of the war is probably not
more than two or three weeks away.
Figuring out the exact rhythms of the Air Force and Army is a little
trickier -- they are not nearly as open to the media as the Navy.
But the United States has been moving prodigious amounts of army gear
and equipment in or near the region since the Gulf war, in Qatar and
Kuwait in particular.
It has also chartered a fleet of roll-on, roll-off ships, each capable
of carrying equipment for up to 20,000 soldiers. Matching the gear from
these ships with troops from several divisions should not take more than
a few weeks.
The troops are being trained in Texas and California for specific
missions, such as building Bailey bridges over the Euphrates River and
conducting urban warfare in Baghdad.
Getting the Air Force in position is much easier. Once it gets its
orders, more than 1,000 fighter jets and bombers could be in position
and ready to go within a week.
Central to its efforts will be its new base in Al Udeid, Qatar, with a
five-kilometre runway -- the longest in the Middle East.
A recent visit to the airfield provided glimpses of 11 jets from a U.S.
Air Force Expeditionary Wing parked in two groups. Six appeared to be
wide-body KC-10s, massive in-air refuelling tankers. Another five looked
like 40-year old KC-135s, the tanker variant of the Boeing 707.
A sixth KC-135 circled overhead briefly before landing. A few minutes
later a Black Hawk helicopter clattered out over the chalky desert
towards the Saudi border.
With U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia deteriorating, Qatar is now home
to a three-star Air Force general. By Christmas, it is expected 100 or
more tanker aircraft will be based here.
Hangars and reinforced bunkers may already be sheltering bombers and
fighters. Somewhere underground is a backup command centre for officers
of U.S. Central Command, usually based in Tampa, Fla., in case they are
unable to use a similar facility in Saudi Arabia.
About 600 strategists from the Florida command are expected in Qatar any
day now for an exercise called Internal Look. When they return home is
an open question.
In Kuwait, travellers passing through the international airport can see
fleets of U.S. Air Force C-5A Galaxies and C-17 jets disgorging cargo
almost every night.
But, as in Qatar, most of the U.S. military's recent activities in
Kuwait have been kept out of the spotlight. This includes Eager Mace, a
"routine exercise" that began last week in which the Marines' 11th
Expeditionary Unit came ashore from amphibious assault ships.
A drive through the desert north and west of Kuwait City near the Iraq
border quickly turns up further signs of the U.S. military. Several
military fuel bowsers are on the road, as are empty army flatbed trucks
designed to carry 70-tonne M1-A1 Abrams tanks.
Kuwait is also the base for U.S. Air Force fighters enforcing the UN ban
on Iraqi flights south of the 33rd parallel, the southern "no-fly" zone.
A battery of U.S. Army Patriot missiles was pointed north toward Iraq
near the perimeter of an air base.
Closer to Kuwait City, at Camp Doha, a U.S. Army CH-47 popped into the
sky and headed north. The 3rd U.S. Army moved its headquarters and a
three-star general here earlier this year. The general presides over 370
tanks and other armoured vehicles that have been kept battle-ready for
years in 40 climate-controlled warehouses.
Security at the biggest U.S. Army base in the region is extremely tight.
Sensors mounted on the wall check for traces of biological or chemical
weapons, while other instruments register movement.
A concrete barricade keeps traffic 100 metres from the base, except at a
choke point where a warren of barricades hems in vehicles so military
police can search them.
The Army has been rotating as many as 10,000 troops at a time through
Camp Doha. Now in residence are soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division
(Mechanized) from Fort Stewart, Ga., headed to another "routine
exercise" near the Iraqi border.
Specialist Web sites indicate there is enough kit already in Kuwait for
another 10,000 armoured troops. The tanks, armoured personnel carriers
and artillery for two more brigades are only a week away at a base on
Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean leased from Britain.
At Bahrain, the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is under the
command of a third three-star officer. This admiral is responsible for
the dozens of U.S. and coalition warships already in the Persian Gulf,
the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, as well as the Marines now in
Kuwait, another group of Marines off the coast of Yemen and a third
group expected to arrive by sea in the next few weeks.
In Bahrain, a civilian airfield handles U.S Air Force transport flights
to Europe, Asia and the United States, and U.S. Navy P-3 Orion maritime
reconnaissance aircraft. At a military airfield nearby, the U.S. Air
Force has B-1 bombers. Somewhere in the emirate is a unit of elite Navy
Seals.
To enforce the northern no-fly zone, the United States keeps three types
of warplanes at its NATO base in Turkey and has asked permission to
bring in more air power.
More refuelling tankers and reconnaissance aircraft are kept at bases in
Oman and B-52 bombers are based at Diego Garcia.
The island may also soon be home to B-2 bombers.
THE U.S. MILITARY PREPARES FOR WAR
TURKEY: U.S. air base at Incirlik, home to 1,700 troops, is used to
police no-fly zones. Located 500 nautical miles from Baghdad, beyond
Iraqi missile range.
KUWAIT: Camp Doha is home to 3rd army headquarters and more than 350
tanks.
BAHRAIN: Headquarters of U.S. 5th fleet and base for 4,200 military
personnel plus pre-positioned equipment stockpile.
SAUDI ARABIA: U.S. keeps 6,000 personnel and undisclosed number of
planes at Prince Sultan air base.
DIEGO GARCIA: Tanks, armoured personnel carriers and artillery assembled
at Indian Ocean atoll leased from Britain. 12,000-ft runway used to
launch B-52 bombers.
DJIBOUTI: 800 U.S. special forces troops assembled, reportedly under CIA
command to cloak their operations.
QATAR: Upgraded al-Udeid air base to become forward command base for
attack. 600 U.S. strategists to arrive in November. Runway is longest in
Middle East.
AT SEA: Fleet of U.S. aircraft carriers planned for Gulf in case U.S.
loses air bases in Arab states.
© Copyright 2002 National Post
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