WASHINGTON, 20 August — The Pentagon is busy stockpiling weapons and logistical supplies in the Middle East, for use in a possible US attack against Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein.
Though some of the preparations were decided many months or even years ago, and are no more than the replenishment of precision-guided munitions run down during the campaign in Afghanistan, their revelation now is a clear signal to the Iraqi leader that Washington’s talk of military action against him is in deadly earnest.
According to the New York Times, which reported the build-up yesterday, the Pentagon has chartered ten cargo ships to carry helicopters, armored vehicles and other key equipment to the Gulf region and the staging post Indian Ocean base of Diego Garcia.
These supplies are on top of equipment pre-positioned since the end of the 1991 Gulf War, enough for four Army and Marine armored brigades, totaling 18,000 men, who could be airlifted in from the US within 96 hours.
The US also has significant air power based in Turkey, Kuwait, and at sea aboard aircraft carriers which could be swiftly deployed in the region. Even so, the sum total of all these resources is nowhere near the force of 250,000 men needed for a comprehensive assault on Iraq.
News of the build-up came ahead of a meeting of President Bush and his top national security advisers at his Texas ranch tomorrow. Despite White House denials, the session is expected to focus on Iraq — as well as the reservations about any attack now being voiced by senior former Republican foreign policy makers.
Those attending include Vice President Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, the defense secretary, two of the most forceful advocates of force to achieve the desired ‘regime change’ in Baghdad, as well as Bush’s National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice who last week insisted Washington had a powerful “moral case” for moving against Saddam. (The Independent)
