Posted on 10/03/2001 9:25:39 AM PDT by hispanarepublicana
The United States and Britain yesterday called off military strikes against terrorist targets in Afghanistan at the last minute.
Washington officials say today that a severe attack of last-minute cold feet by some key Arab members of the coalition caused President Bush to postpone the operation.
The waverers are Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Oman, and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is embarking on an urgent mission today to strengthen nerves in these countries.
Prime Minister Tony Blair is also about to undertake a hasty visit to the region. Saudi Arabia's support is especially vital, because Allied aircraft and commanders need its base facilities.
Two senior US officials have told reporters that until yesterday the Saudis were firm in their offer to provide assistance for strikes, including use of a state-of-the-art command centre at the Prince Royal Sultan Air Force Base.
Then the situation changed. One US official told Knight Newspapers: "That is no longer true. We fear there is something deeper here."
Mr Rumsfeld's trip to the Middle East is intended to mend these unexpected ruptures.
Downing Street, meanwhile, confirmed Mr Blair will be departing on a mission tomorrow but refused, on security grounds, to be drawn on any of the detail. Amid clear unease over the advance leaks of the trip, a spokesman dismissed all reports as "speculationî maintaining that some of the suggested calling points for the Prime Minister were simply wrong.
Mr Rumsfeld's tour, which includes Saudi Arabia, Oman, Egypt and Uzbekistan, is being compared to the stage-setting trip made by Dick Cheney, then Defence Secretary, to the Gulf just before the start of Desert Storm.
This time there is more at stake. Near the top of Mr Rumsfeld's list of priorities is to talk his way to an agreement with Uzbekistan, on the northern border of Afghanistan, to use the country as a staging area for the attack.
Uzbekistan is now regarded as a potential key asset in the coming showdown, but is rated the coalition's single most fragile link.
Highly attractive to the US are the number of abandoned air bases there, once used by the Soviet Union.
This will be Mr Rumsfeld's first face-to-face meeting with the ruling regime there. It has demanded that the US negotiate a complete Status of Forces Agreement before it will permit the use of its military bases - an unrealistic condition which could be tangled up in legal knots for years.
The trip, undertaken at the request of President Bush, is expected to last three days.
Oman, also skittish, is regarded as an important support base for a ground incursion. US special operations forces can be flown there and then put on amphibious invasion ships.
US officials are not sure whether this is a case of lastminute jitters, or " something more serious".
One notable omission on Mr Rumsfeld's itinerary is Pakistan. "The last thing Pakistan needs is a high profile visit by a US Secretary of Defence," said a Pentagon official.
The country is contending with ferocious anti-American demonstrations, with Mr Bus burned in effigy and hordes shouting: "Death to America! Let Americans come here to be buried!"
Washington officials advised reporters not to assume military action was only hours away. They stressed that Mr Bush will act only when he is convinced, by Mr Rumsfeld and others, that "all the pieces are in place". Such action will come "at various stages and times", they said. The President himself told reporters there is "no calendar" for the start of hostilities.
Then again this is what GW told us would happen in his speech to the Congress. He stated that this war would be conducted in secret, unlike the broadcast of our every move during the Clinton years. Dis-information is a component of running a secret campaign. So, it does not surprise me that we are going to see a lot of information in the press that doesn't pan out.
Bingo. Been saying this for days. I got out my "phases of the moon calendar, the day after bush promised military actions...
This is stalling for essential troop buildup, prior to attacks. Afghanistan will not have a government by the time we strike in a "military" fashion. Russia, special ops and the Northern Alliance will be done with most of the heavy lifting by the fifteenth. Although there may be some bombing in the meanwhile.
EVEYRY BODY knows that afghans are not the primary source of our woes... THIS ACTION had multistate backing. This is a multinational coalition of arabic/muslim states against the USA... THEY want and are prepared for a war against us. THEY started this war, because they think they have something to "take us out with" or they would not have started it.
Iraq is not the only target either... no big surprise. If we don't think there is a MAJOR "secret agreement" between these middle eastern nations, we all inhaled WAY too much. CHINA cannot be trusted. North Korea and Indonesia are probably involved too.
My bible thumping friends think this is all only about Israel. I understand why... but that is NOT the truth. This is about tyrannical "idealogically" driven nations, who have been increasingly stymied in their attempts to carry out their "tyrranical" activities, by USA POLICY. Our policy has never been perfect, but our heart has been in the right place.
Muslims states are NOT our friends. But, the attempt to build "coalition" may have bought us some much needed time.
These are dangerous times indeed.
Why in the world, ANYBODY would think we needed ANY muslim nation to BACK us in this is beyond me. If the UK and her "family" of offspring nations, INCLUDING the US... plus Russia, India and Israel cannot get the job done, along with a few Nato partners... WHO and WHAT do we really think we are up against?
Muslim states need to be assured, if they turn against us, or continue to act against our interests... medina and mecca are going bye bye... along with their capital cities in EVERY one of them. I am willing to bet we know how to run the oil systems WE put in place, with or without them.
Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt, Sudan, Saudis, Pakistan, China, North Korea, Indonesia and crew... a long list, and two of them with nukes... not a pretty sight.
Bush did say he was going to "smoke them out". These on again off again signals are probably part of the smoke.
It's not about retribution. It's about preventing more attacks. Big difference.
We OWN the night. When it gets really dark, they die!
Nothing is more dangerous than a patient general.
Uh huh. Well, you can take that up with George H.W. Bush. His son, our current President, hasn't made any moves yet. Apparantly, most so-called conservatives on this forum don't want to give him the chance to act.
Oman, also skittish, is regarded as an important support base for a ground incursion. US special operations forces can be flown there and then put on amphibious invasion ships.
Amphibious Invasion Ships? Afghanistan is 500 miles from the nearest body of water. What invasion ships? The writer has no idea what he is talking about.
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