U.S. Orders Thousands of Troops to Gulf
TonyZ2001
By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon has ordered a major military force to the
Persian Gulf in preparation for a possible war with Iraq.
Thousands of troops, two aircraft carrier battle groups and scores of combat
aircraft have received orders since Christmas to ready themselves to head to
the region in January and February, defense officials said Friday. Military
personnel will go to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, among other
locations.
The Bush administration waited until after the holiday to issue the orders,
which alert units across the United States and possibly overseas to prepare for
deployment to the Persian Gulf, officials said. Officials said tens of
thousands of military personnel will receive orders to go to the region, but a
precise figure was unavailable.
Some of the units being sent to the region are combat-ready, including infantry
units, warships and strike aircraft, officials said. Many more are logistics,
engineering and support teams, which will prepare for the arrival of even
larger combat units in the months ahead, officials said. They will add to the
50,000 U.S. military personnel already in the region.
``We don't comment on specific unit deployments. However, forces will be
flowing to the region to be in place should the president decide to use them,''
said Jim Wilkinson, a spokesman at U.S. Central Command, which would oversee
operations in Iraq.
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week such
deployments will ``reinforce diplomacy.'' The Bush administration hopes the
threat of military action will increase the pressure on Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein to fully disclose his efforts to acquire chemical, biological and
nuclear weapons.
The Pentagon ordered the Navy to select and prepare two aircraft carrier battle
groups and two amphibious assault groups to go to the region, defense officials
said. The orders, sent in the last two days, require the Navy to have the
vessels ready to sail to the seas around Iraq within 96 hours after a certain
date in January, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
They did not specify that date.
The Navy has determined that one the carriers will be the USS George
Washington. The ship just arrived home to Norfolk, Va., from the Persian Gulf
region and has remained ready to return. The Navy has not yet decided on the
second carrier, but officials said it will either be the Everett, Wash.-based
USS Abraham Lincoln, which is currently in port at Perth, Australia, having
just left the Persian Gulf region, or the USS Kitty Hawk, currently in port in
Japan.
An aircraft carrier battle group includes six to eight surface escorts,
including cruisers, destroyers, frigates and other vessels, dozens of strike
and support aircraft and about 7,500 sailors. An amphibious ready group has
about 2,200 Marines.
The defense officials said the amphibious assault groups have not yet been
selected. Those groups center on a large, carrier-like vessel that can launch
helicopters and carry Marines.
Already in the region is the carrier USS Constellation and the amphibious
assault ship USS Nassau, and their escorts, officials said. The Nassau group
carries another 2,200 Marines.
A fourth carrier group, centered on the USS Harry S. Truman, is in the
Mediterranean Sea.
In addition, the U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort is expected to put to sea from
its home port in Baltimore next week and prepare for action, military officials
said Friday. It will be headed to Diego Garcia, a British island in the Indian
Ocean where the United States bases numerous military aircraft, to support any
potential conflict with Iraq.
The 1,000-bed floating hospital will initially sail with a crew of 61 civilian
mariners and 225 Navy personnel, including enough doctors to support two
operating rooms, said Marge Holtz, spokeswoman for the Navy's Military Sealift
Command. Hundreds more will be flown to the ship as needed, she said.
Air Force officials said units from five U.S.-based combat wings have received
orders to prepare to deploy. They include F-15 fighters from Langley Air Force
Base, Va.; F-15E Strike Eagles from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.; B-1B
bombers from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D.; rescue helicopters and Predator
drones from Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.; and C-130 cargo planes and possibly
more rescue helicopters from Moody Air Force Base, Ga.
Air tankers and transport aircraft are also expected to take part, officials
said. Dozens of fighters already based in the Persian Gulf fly daily patrols
over most of Iraq.
The size of the Army deployment was not clear, but it included infantry as well
as support units, officials said. The Army also keeps air defense units in the
region.
Last week, officials said the Army was expected to deploy troops from the 1st
Armored Division and 1st Infantry Division, both based in Germany, as well as
an air mobile unit.
The main Marine Corps contingent is likely to be the 1st Marine Expeditionary
Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The 1st MEF's headquarters unit already
has moved to Kuwait to prepare for combat operations.
A Coast Guard unit, based in Tacoma, Wash., that operates six small patrol
boats has been deployed to the Persian Gulf, according to the office of Sen.
Patty Murray.
On the Net:
DefenseLink: http://www.defenselink.mil
USS George Washington: http://www.spear.navy.mil/gw/
U.S. Central Command: http://www.centcom.mil/
12/28/02 05:56 EST
Woodswun
>U.S. Orders Thousands of Troops to Gulf
>
>By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
>WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon has ordered a major military force to the
>Persian Gulf in preparation for a possible war with Iraq.
Of course it has. Congress just voted itself a big fat raise and unemployment
is rising at a time when reports of a dismal Christmas shopping season is
making its way into the press. *Something* has to distract people from the
politics at home!
Woods
TonyZ2001
wrote:
>Of course it has. Congress just voted itself a big fat raise and
>unemployment
>is rising at a time when reports of a dismal Christmas shopping season is
>making its way into the press. >*Something* has to distract people from >the
politics at home!
Yeah, as if they just came up with this idea.
If I'm not mistaken Christmas sales were up from last year, just not enough to
satisfy most people.
Tony
Woodswun
>>wood...@hotmail.1V05P41V1.com >(Woodswun)
>wrote:
>
>>Of course it has. Congress just voted itself a big fat raise and
>>unemployment
>>is rising at a time when reports of a dismal Christmas shopping season is
>>making its way into the press. >*Something* has to distract people from >the
>politics at home!
>
>Yeah, as if they just came up with this idea.
The scuttle was that the war would be put off for quite some time, was it not?
And there is that pesky little bit about North Korea spitting in our face,
while we do absolutely nothing (not that we really can, but they are clearly
more of a destabilizing quantity than Iraq is at the moment ...)
>
>If I'm not mistaken Christmas sales were up from last year, just not enough to
>satisfy most people.
The economy is dependent on people spending, which in turn is dependent on
people feeling secure about their economic future. If the *reports* are
saying that Christmas sales were dismal, and this is what they have been
reporting, then there is a distinct possibility that spending will drop like a
rock, taking the economy down with it.
The house of cards that is the US economy is dependent on how secure people
feel. Scary thought, is it not?
Woods