When are our new forces arriving?

MSNBC ^ | 3/25 | John Craven

[only1percent]

March 24 - Fort Hood's Fourth Infantry Division expects to finally ship out sometime this week, after their deployment was held in limbo for weeks. Getting them out of here will be a huge logistical challenge, though (cut).

[only1percent]

In addition to adding forces, we're going to have to start rotating out the spearhead battalions.

What about the rest of our forces?

We've got a ten plus divisions worth of Army and Marine Infantry -- two are committeed to East Asia, but what about the rest?

[Boston Capitalist]

These are good questions. Someone on Fox said that it would take about 2 weeks to have the 4th outside of Baghdad and he also mentioned one or two other divisions were on that time scale. There was some talk of doing a mass airlift of tanks from Germany into western Iraq. That sounds *really* expensive.

[Fitzcarraldo]

Perhaps the 4ID will come through Aqaba or Yanbu.

[Fitzcarraldo]

http://www.debka.com/

DEBKAfile’s military sources: Coalition War Command ponders Baghdad offensive Saturday timeline. Allied advance on capital is slowed by stiff Iraqi resistance and counter-attacks in Basra and Najef region and hold-up of US 4th Armored Division by closure of Turkish route. 4th troops landing at Saudi Red Sea port of Yanbo

[an amused spectator]

Debka should figure out that the name of the division is the 4th Infantry (Ironhorse). ;-)

[Fitzcarraldo]

http://www.casi.org.uk/discuss/2001/msg00088.html

Iraq exports its oil from two terminals approved by the United Nations: the
southern terminal of Mina al-Bakr on the Gulf and Turkey's Ceyhan terminal
on the Mediterranean. Iraq has two other idle pipelines, one to Lebanon's
northern port city of Tripoli and one through Saudi Arabian territory to the
Red Sea port of Yanbu. Iraq has begun work on its side of a pipeline to
Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba, but the Jordanians have yet to start
building their side of the pipeline.

There'd be a road along the Yanbu pipeline that would lead straight into Iraq! Looking for a map...

[Cyber Liberty]

Here's one of Saudi Arabia