[Peace-discuss] hmmmm

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

U.S. War Staff Assembles in Persian Gulf
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 
Filed at 2:06 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- War may not be at Iraq's doorstep yet, but American war 
planners soon will be. Amid an accelerating flow of U.S. troops and weapons 
to the Persian Gulf region, the battle staff that would run a military 
campaign against Iraq is beginning to assemble at a command post in the 
central Gulf.

Battle planners from Central Command are heading from their permanent 
headquarters in Tampa, Fla., to Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar to be in position 
to carry out any attack order from President Bush, senior officials said 
Tuesday.

The officials stressed that the move to Qatar does not mean war is imminent 
or inevitable. But it is an important step in the assembling of troops, 
weapons, supplies and technology needed to carry out an invasion.

The same Central Command planners were at the command post last month for a 
weeklong exercise before returning to their headquarters in Florida, but this 
time it is not an exercise.

A senior official who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity said the 
movement of Central Command battle planners, which began this week, is part 
of an accelerating buildup of forces in the Gulf region. Tens of thousands 
more combat forces are scheduled to flow into the region over the next few 
weeks.

Among the forces expected to deploy from U.S. bases in the next several days 
are F-15E and F-15C fighters and B-1B bombers.

Jim Wilkinson, the Central Command director of strategic communications, 
confirmed the decision to send the battle planners to Qatar, but declined to 
provide details on when they would arrive or when the command post would be 
ready to kick off a war.

``Central Command continues to cycle personnel into and out of the region,'' 
Wilkinson said. ``We refuse to discuss deployments in advance. However, you 
can expect to see continuing deployments to Qatar and elsewhere in support of 
ongoing diplomatic activities.''

Other officials said the command post at As Sayliyah will be operational 
before the end of the month.

In December, the commander of Central Command, Gen. Tommy Franks, oversaw an 
extensive computer-based exercise at As Sayliyah that many viewed as a 
tune-up for a war against Iraq. Franks said the exercise verified 
technologies that would enable him to coordinate with air, ground and naval 
commanders in the region.

Franks and his battle staff returned to their headquarters in Tampa before 
Christmas.

In the next several days, most of the same battle staff will be back at As 
Sayliyah, a desert encampment with newly designed command posts hidden inside 
enormous warehouses near the capital of Doha.

In the December exercise, about 1,000 battle planners participated. Wilkinson 
would not say how many will be returning this month, but other officials said 
it probably would be about the same as the December group.

If there is war, Franks would run it from As Sayliyah, but he is not 
returning immediately with his battle staff, officials said.

The senior officer at As Sayliyah in coming days will be Army Lt. Gen. John 
Abizaid, a deputy commander of Central Command. The other deputy commander, 
Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Mike DeLong, is at the Tampa headquarters.

Although the officers at As Sayliyah would command the overall war, the air 
portion of the campaign would be run from a facility at Prince Sultan Air 
Base in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have not publicly confirmed that they would 
permit use of the facility for war against Iraq, and there have been 
questions about the degree of Saudi government support for the Bush 
administration's policy of overthrowing the Iraqi regime.

In a sign of closer U.S.-Saudi military cooperation in the war on terrorism, 
a U.S. official said Tuesday that the Saudis for the first time have assigned 
a military representative to Central Command headquarters in Tampa. 
Forty-three other countries have representatives there; most arrived shortly 
after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Saudi decision is unrelated to the 
prospect of war against Iraq, officials said.

Franks is in Washington this week for consultations with Defense Secretary 
Donald H. Rumsfeld and Bush on the Iraq situation and other matters.

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On the Net:

Central Command: http://www.centcom.mil