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US sends second wave of troops
And a third, then a fourth ...
Military officials said yesterday they had ordered 60,000 US troops to the Gulf and expected to send between 20,000 and 30,000 in the next few days as part of a second wave of the planned invasion force. The new deployments, including tank divisions from Germany and Fort Hood, Texas, push the number of US troops heading to the region to about 300,000. Britain is also expected to send 6,000 troops in the next few days, to supplement the 20,000 already in position in Kuwait.
Kuwait's going to look like a Thanksgiving turkey — stuffed.
The final destination of the American soldiers was not certain because of Turkey's refusal to allow Washington to deploy ground troops there. Pentagon officials said the initial plan was to send the troops and equipment to Turkey, but that they might have to be diverted to Kuwait, where more than half of the American build-up is already stationed.
How about Basra? Is there room in Basra?
General Tommy Franks, the head of US Central Command, was beginning two days of talks in Washington yesterday and the issue of troop deployments and war plans in the light of the Turkish decision was likely to be high on his agenda.
I hope to hell they're in the middle of implementing Plan B, and not writing it...
The call-up notices went out to 26,000 members of the 1st Armoured Division, based in Germany, with 160 of their tanks; 17,000 men from the 1st Cavalry Division in Fort Hood, Texas and 10,000 men from the 2nd Armoured Cavalry Regiment from Fort Polk, Louisiana. The rest were marines and reservists. One official said those men were not expected to arrive in the Gulf for several weeks and would be part of a second wave of any attack.
Just in case. Keeps them out of the way of any WMD attack while we get the first wave in.
Others waiting a call-up were 12,500 members of the 4th Infantry Division from Fort Hood, who had expected to go to Turkey. Their final destination has yet to be determined. The United States already has five aircraft carriers in the Gulf and Mediterranean within striking distance of Iraq with a sixth on the way. Britain also has an aircraft carrier there. The first American B-52 bombers arrived at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on Monday. Other B-52s and B-1 bombers are already in the Gulf area and radar-evading B-2 "stealth" bombers have been told to go to the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, which is within striking range of Baghdad.
Tick, tick, tick.
Posted by: Steve White 2003-03-05
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=10902