Saudi still has the best airbase. Way out in the middle of nowhere.
Prince Sultan Air Base
Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia
24°03'48"N 47°34'50"E
Posted on 08/13/2002 9:00:28 AM PDT by Kennesaw
4,000 U.S. troops arriving in Jordan for major exercises
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM Tuesday, August 13, 2002 AMMAN — Jordan is preparing for the arrival of thousands of U.S. troops for a large-scale military exercise later this month.
Jordanian officials said the 4,000 U.S. soldiers are sailing through the Red Sea toward the Hashemite kingdom. They said the first U.S. soldiers arrived on Monday, Middle East Newsline reported.
The officials said the exercises would not take place in the eastern areas of Jordan near the Iraqi border.
Western diplomatic sources said Jordan has imposed additional restrictions on the media on the eve of the arrival of the U.S. soldiers. They said the closure of Doha-based A-Jazeera television last week was meant to halt unauthorized reports on the U.S. military exercise.
Jordanian Information Minister Mohammed Adwan said Jordanian and U.S. troops would conduct a two-week exercise in a training area in southern Jordan. Adwan termed the exercise as routine and said the U.S. troops would leave the kingdom after the exercise. Adwan said Jordan is one of several Arab countries that conduct regular military exercises with the United States. He cited Bahrain, Egypt, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Jordanian officials said the U.S.-Jordan maneuvers will focus on improving the combat skills of the Hashemite kingdom as well as interoperability between the two militaries. The exercise will include special operations forces from both countries. They said the exercise will not simulate a U.S. military attack on Baghdad nor will U.S. soldiers operate along the Iraqi border.
The sources said the Amman government decided to preempt the arrival of the U.S. troops and release details of the exercise. The sources said Jordan and the United States have agreed to hold two ground and air exercises per year and that all U.S. soldiers will leave by Sept. 8, days after the completion of the exercise.
Saudi still has the best airbase. Way out in the middle of nowhere.
Prince Sultan Air Base
Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia
24°03'48"N 47°34'50"E
About 3,300 American troops are in Qatar - Freshly paved runways and aircraft parking ramps stretch deep into the desert. Al-Udeid's (airfield) main, 15,000-foot runway is the longest in the region and can handle the largest Air Force transport planes.
Nearly 10,000 U.S. Army soldiers are at Camp Doha in Kuwait
4,200 troops are in Bahrain, headquarters for the Navy's 5th Fleet.
Several thousand are in Saudi Arabia and a few thousand in Oman.
U.S. quietly bolsters forces in Qatar desert
And then there is Turkey: U.S. helps Turkey prepare for offensive against Iraq
And from today's Arab News (Saudi Arabia): US readies for strike, tries to move heavy arms to Red Sea
The only signal that needs to be sent to Saaaaadam is that voluntary euthenasia would be best for him now.
Seriously, do you really think that the ongoing preparations for the invasion of Iraq are about sending a signal? I thinks it's WAY too late for that.
Why not some target practice using Saaaadam's palaces?
I would prefer to see Iraq used as a staging ground for an invasion of Saudi Arabia.
The animal would also be quite dead at ground zero of a twenty-five megaton hydrogen bomb detonation.
Yes. And nice pix. We have been upgrading that base for a long time, all the latest gear. Too bad we will have to destroy it soon.
You may recall during the Gulf War Jordan left its border open to Iraq. The presence of U.S. troops signals to Iraqi dissidents and other Arab countries that won't happen again, that this time Saddam has no friends and we really are serious about a regime change. That should encourage dissidents to work with us and discourage any other Arab countries from being tempted to climb up on the scaffold with Saddam.
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