Posted on 12/04/2002 12:14:15 PM PST by kattracks
DOHA, Qatar, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The following U.S. and British forces are in or near the Middle East and could be used in any U.S.-led attack on Iraq. U.S. officials say "host-nation sensitivities" prevent them from discussing basing arrangements of many U.S. forces in the area.
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AIRCRAFT CARRIER GROUPS
Two U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups are within striking distance of Iraq -- the George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. A third, the Constellation, is en route and a fourth, the Harry Truman, was leaving Norfolk, Virginia, on Thursday. A fifth, the Kitty Hawk, is on standby, according to Navy officials.
Carriers typically deploy about 75 warplanes. Each is shepherded by a half dozen or so cruisers, destroyers and submarines armed with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, the Navy's land-attack weapon of choice.
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U.S. TROOPS
According to unofficial estimates, a U.S. attack on Iraq could involve up to 250,000 troops.
About 57,000 U.S. forces are now in and around the Gulf, with Kuwait the main depot. At least 17 U.S. Navy and chartered ships loaded with tanks, heavy armor, vehicles and other supplies for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps are anchored at Diego Garcia, a week's sail from Gulf waters.
Six vessels -- U.S. Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Two -- contain equipment and supplies to support 17,300 Marines for 30 days, according to the Navy's Military Sealift Command.
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CENTRAL COMMAND
Army General Tommy Franks, head of the Tampa, Florida-based U.S. Central Command, will preside over a week-long computer war game exercise based in Qatar starting Dec. 9. A mobile "CentCom" command post, shipped from Tampa to Al Udeid Air Base near Doha, will be staffed by more than 1,000 U.S. communications troops and several hundred British counterparts and would likely serve as the command-and-control nerve center for any invasion of Iraq. Central Command officials say the mobile post, linking bases and forces throughout the region, will remain in Qatar "indefinitely."
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AIR BASES
Turkey said on Tuesday it would let its air bases be used by U.S. and British jets for any invasion of Iraq. These would join more than 200 other U.S. F-15 and F-16 strike jets and F-111 "stealth" fighters that would be based in Gulf states.
The United States has bases in Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, though it remains unclear whether the Saudis would allow the use of those on its soil for an attack on Iraq. Qatar's al Udeid air base, home to the longest runway in the Gulf, has recently been upgraded by the United States. Air-to-air refueling KC-10 and KC-135 tanker aircraft operate there in support of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and to police Iraq's southern no-fly zone.
The U.S. Air Force has built facilities for radar-evading B-2 stealth bombers on the British Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. The planes, which can carry 40,000 pounds of satellite- and laser-guided bombs, were most recently used in U.S. attacks in Afghanistan, flying round trips from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. Diego Garcia, 3,340 miles (5,345 km) from Baghdad, is also home to a fleet of Vietnam War-era B-52 heavy bombers, upgraded to drop satellite- and laser-guided "smart" bombs.
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BRITISH FORCES
Britain is expected to contribute ground forces and an aircraft carrier to any attack on Iraq. Its main ground force is a single armored division, based in Germany, made up of two armored brigades, the Fourth and the "Desert Rats" Seventh, with about 250 tanks and more than 15,000 men together.
A British naval task force is due to set sail next month led by the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal.
British defense officials say the deployment is routine and is undertaken every three years. Some 25 countries will be visited in a deployment lasting some six months. The task force will transit the Suez canal and will be in close proximity to the Gulf. The carrier will be accompanied by the frigate HMS Marlborough and the destroyer HMS Liverpool. ((jim wolf, U.S. Aero/Defense Team, Phone 202-898-8402, jim.wolf@reuters.com)) ((For top stories on the Iraq crisis, double-click on [TOP/IQ\]))
© Reuters Limited.
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U.S., British forces in striking distance of Iraq
REUTERS - Loose Lips Sinking Ships since 1851.
F-111 ? How can Reuters make that gross of an error? Not only was the F-111 never "stealth," it is no longer in service. This is not a simple typographical error - how does the F-117A become F-111? And they say casual drug use does not hurt anybody.
What idiots. The F-111, no longer flown by the USAF, does not even remotely come close to looking like a stealth fighter.
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