Rumsfeld orders 60,000 more troops to the Gulf
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has ordered about 62,000 more US troops to head for the Gulf in coming days, doubling the size of the force in the region.
The movements make clear that the Pentagon intends to have sufficient force in place for an Iraq war as early as the first weeks of February, although the White House says President George Bush has not yet decided to attack.
Just hours after officials disclosed on Friday that Rumsfeld had ordered nearly 35,000 troops, including two large Marine units, to ship out for a possible war with Iraq, the Defence Secretary signed another order to deploy 27,000 more troops, mainly Army and Air Force combat units.
One senior official with access to the deployment orders said the units designated for deployment in the latest order include a squadron of Air Force F-117 stealth fighter-bombers. The F-117s, based at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, played a key role in the 1991 Gulf War.
The order also includes thousands of Marines and an Army airborne infantry brigade, the official said.
The troops’ actual departure for the potential war zone will be spread out over the rest of January.
Central Command, the headquarters that would run any war against Iraq, has begun dispatching its battle staff to a command post in Qatar, and it is expected to be operational near the end of January.
The Navy has two aircraft carriers within striking distance of Iraq, plus two others ready to join them on short notice. A fifth carrier, the USS Kitty Hawk, has received an order to prepare to deploy to the Gulf region from its homeport in Japan, Navy officials said this week.
At Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, officials said on Friday that about 7,000 Marines would be leaving soon. They are part of an amphibious task force, to include a variety of air and ground forces. A second amphibious task force of another 7,000 Marines has been ordered to deploy from the West Coast.
The two task forces are the centrepiece of Rumsfeld’s deployment order. Officials would not reveal other details except to say the order includes forces from services other than the Marine Corps.
Elsewhere, officials said soldiers and fighter pilots from North Carolina bases and B-1 bombers and crews in South Dakota will leave soon for the Gulf region. Two B-1s left Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, on Wednesday to begin their deployment. Eventually, about a dozen of the bombers will go, along with about 500 personnel.
Rumsfeld’s first major deployment order was signed on December 24 and called for about 25,000 troops to head overseas. Earlier this week, he signed another order for about 5,000 more troops.
With the addition of 35,000 on Friday and 27,000 on Saturday – plus the 60,000 already in the Gulf region – the Pentagon is well on its way to exceeding its goal of having 100,000 there by January 31.
Eventually the size of the US force arrayed against Iraq could reach 250,000, but defence officials have said any US attack ordered by Bush could begin with 100,000 or fewer troops in place. The rest could be brought to the fight later or held in reserve.
