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| Axis of Evil |
| Bush Orders Battle Staff And Ground Troops To Kuwait |
| 2002-10-14 |
| The Bush Administration stepped up its preparations for war against Iraq yesterday by ordering the deployment of key US Army and Marine Corps battle staff and ground troops to Kuwait. The move, the first non-routine dispatch of conventional troops to the Gulf in recent months, came as Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, prepared to order smallpox vaccinations for up to 500,000 troops. The deployment of the battle staffs of the Army's V Corps, with headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany, and the Marine Corps' 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, California, largely completes the command structure that would manage an Iraqi invasion. More than 600 battle staff from US Central Command, which would have overall responsibility for an Iraqi invasion, are to move to a new air base in Qatar next month from their headquarters in Tampa, Florida. General Franks has his naval command staff in Bahrain, headquarters for the US 5th Fleet. That will probably lead to an increase in the number and intensity of al-Qaeda attacks like we've been seeing. I hadn't thought there was a connection between Iraq and the terror machine except at a casual level, but the Bad Guys seem to be doing their best to draw attention and resources away from Sammy. I'm beginning to think there is a connection there, very well hidden in the background, and that Iraq is more important to them than I originally thought... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #8 Chuck, MacDill was a compromise HQ for CENTCOM after not a single one of our "allies" was willing to take responsibility for being landlord. There are strong hints that Qatar has found an empty apartment or two we can use. We might even be allowed to put our name on the mailbox. And as attractive as an invasion of Saudi may seem to a number of warbloggers, it makes little sense, since we don't want the REST of the billion Muslims to think infidels will march into Mecca. We want to keep this problem manageable, capisce? We're going to use our soft power there to gradually weaken the royals, lean on them hard to restore the assembly and stuff like that. Middle term, look for us to get involved in palace politics, make sure that Abdullah doesn't get promoted when Fahd dies, that sort of thing. |
| Posted by: Dan Hartung 2002-10-15 03:21:05 |
| #7 ". . .It's central location will allow U.S. forces to dominate the region. Draw a 600 mile circle around that new U.S. airbase east of Baghdad." Like someone here (or was it over at LGF?) once said, Iraq makesa great staging area for an attack into the Arabian peninsula. Delinda est Sa'ud!!! |
| Posted by: Mike Morley 2002-10-14 19:49:58 |
| #6 It also cuts off the supply lines from Iran to the West Bank. It genuinely screws things for lots of people who would otherwise like to kill us all. Dont be shocked to find all sorts of things coming unglued within 24 hours of our making the first moves into iraq. ( My bet is on for week of December 2nd). I dont think yasser is going to see next years st patties day parade. |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2002-10-14 19:19:52 |
| #5 Ok, I have to apologize. I think I miss construed what the author of the first post was trying to say. Must think before I type, otherwise I suffer foot in mouth syndrome. |
| Posted by: John 2002-10-14 16:46:28 |
| #4 "Iraq is more important to US than you think. It's central location will allow U.S. forces to dominate the region. Draw a 600 mile circle around that new U.S. airbase East of Baghdad. Posted by: Anonymous 10/14/2002 11:44:54 AM " Your point is what? Good, maybe it is time the US starts to annex those troublesome areas. Maybe after we annex those areas we can start commiting the human rights atrocities that have been attributed to us. It will just me more welfare dollars, generated from that evilllll oilllll, for idoits like you ! |
| Posted by: John 2002-10-14 15:44:24 |
| #3 Putting Centcom into its own area of operations has made sense for years. What moron based them at McDill? I LIKE the domino theory. Syria's next? I like Iran to take care of itself, more and more rumbles to that effect. There was too big a middle class there to tolerate the mullahs forever. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2002-10-14 13:27:48 |
| #2 I've been thinking in terms of a domino theory. Iraq will give us a keystone position in the Middle East, and it'll cut a part of the funding for the Paleostinians. But I've been discounting the claims of ties to al-Qaeda. It seems, though, that with the pressure going on Sammy, the bin Laden bunch is trying hard to take it off. I don't know if that's only because they're "on the same anti-American team," or if they're both tied in with the Learned Elders of Islam. I suspect that there's intelligence showing where the tie exists. |
| Posted by: Fred 2002-10-14 11:53:14 |
| #1 Iraq is more important to US than you think. It's central location will allow U.S. forces to dominate the region. Draw a 600 mile circle around that new U.S. airbase East of Baghdad. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2002-10-14 11:44:54 |