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| Iraq |
| As debate goes on, preparations are made for U.S. presence in Turkey |
| 2003-02-26 |
| As the Turkish parliament was debating the entry of 62,000 U.S. combat troops into the country, the Navy’s Fast Sealift Ship USNS Capella was preparing to berth at Turkey’s Iskenderun seaport. Loaded down with hundreds of trucks, communications equipment and supplies, the Capella is the third roll-on/roll-off cargo ship to arrive at Turkey’s eastern-most port. Teams of U.S. soldiers were seen inspecting rail head facilities inside the port as dozens of flat-bed rail cars were being staged near the docks. Cool, rail transport is much faster than trying to drive a convoy along roads. We've got a lot of practice using them, the loading will be quick. Hundreds more vehicles — many of them from the Germany-based 1st Infantry Division have already been unloaded along the docks as the United States lays the logistics foundation for an invasion of Iraq. Deeper into eastern Turkey — along the main road leading to the Iraqi border — Turkish construction workers were busy building a bridge bypass over a muddy river flowing into nearby Syria. The old crumbling bridge spanning the rushing river is too weak to handle the dozens of 60-ton M1-A1 Abrams tanks that will have to cross over the bridge if Turkey approves the combat forces. A new white gravel road already snakes its way down to a new crossing site where engineers were maneuvering loud, clanking earthmovers. Workers said they had been hired by EMTA, a Turkish contractor that routinely fills construction contracts at Incirlik. The rush job began two weeks ago, they said, with a deadline of Saturday. That's interesting, isn't it? Heavy rains in recent days, however, were complicating matters. With the riverbanks swelling, crews were racing to pump water out of the construction area while still working on the crossing point. With U.S. war planners eager to position combat units along Iraq’s northern frontier as soon as possible, the bridge is just one of many unfinished details still hanging in the balance. There has been bad weather all over the Middle east. Could slow things down. |
| Posted by:Steve |