Hi Carl - when it comes to predicting the future, Pravda has been about as reliable as Debka. Back when Debka was claiming that the Chinese were going to send ground troops to assist the Taliban, Pravda was carrying the same line. (Sometimes when I am feeling paranoid, I wonder whether it was true but the Chinese came to their senses.)
On the other hand, much of what was in the article has also been reported in other sources, some of them usually reliable, like today's Singapore's Straights Times (curiously, crediting the New York Times but I can't find the article on the NY Times website. Tomorrow's edition, maybe?):
>> US building up war supplies around Iraq
The weapons, food and fuel could prove critical if Bush decides to declare war on Saddam
Hussein
WASHINGTON - In the first tangible signs of a logistical build-up around Iraq, the Pentagon is sending
weapons and other supplies to the Middle East which could be a critical part of the war stocks if
President George W. Bush decides to attack President Saddam Hussein.
According to interviews given by the Defence Department and military, the Pentagon has hired two giant
cargo ships to carry armoured vehicles and helicopters, among other war material.
It has also ordered eight additional cargo ships capable of carrying ammunition, tanks and ambulances.
The air force is stockpiling weapons, ammunition and spare parts, including airplane engines, at depots in
the Persian Gulf region and in the United States.
Arsenals of air force and navy precision-guided weapons, which proved devastating in Afghanistan,
should be fully replenished by autumn, military officials said.
Senior Pentagon officials, however, say the logistical movements do not represent a stealth deployment
and should not be interpreted as evidence that a campaign against Iraq is imminent, or even a certainty.
Indeed, some movements now under way were ordered months or even years ago.
But taken together, they suggest that those responsible for arming US' fighting forces in time of war are
beginning serious planning.
'We don't know when the next contingency might be, but we want to get this in the hands of the war
fighters,' General Lester L. Lyles, chief of the Air Force Matriel Command, said in an interview.
Of course, with the US having just waged war in the region, a certain amount of replenishment is to be
expected.
The Pentagon is contracting for one ship to move troop-carrying combat vehicles from Europe and the
US to the Persian Gulf to join equipment for four armoured brigades already stored there.
Another will carry vehicles, helicopters and ammunition to a Red Sea port for a military exercise this
year. The Defence Department also has awarded a contract to Maersk Line to operate eight cargo ships
capable of carrying ammunition and tanks.
The ships will be positioned near the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, home of a British base used
by the US as a staging point.
Senior officials acknowledge that the shipments could support war options that General Tommy R.
Franks, the chief of the military's Central Command, recently presented to Mr Bush.
Logistics planners are closely tracking the various war options, officials said. The mundane task of setting
aside food, fuel and weaponry is essential for sustaining any major military operation.
It takes time, and to avoid tipping adversaries off about a military operation, Pentagon officials say, it is
prudent to start the flow of supplies now, even without specific orders.
Indications of American resolve and advance placement of weapons are intended to reassure skittish Gulf
allies and Iraqi opposition groups, officials said, and to convince Iraqi officers and their troops that the
US would win - especially the Iraqis responsible for weapons of mass destruction and the missiles or
artillery to deliver them.
US planners hope that Iraqi officers will not pull the trigger after calculating the punishment awaiting them
if they unleash weapons on behalf of a crumbling government.--New York Times
Tanks, helicopters and ambulances stockpiled
SOME details available of the Pentagon's preparations around Iraq:
The Pentagon has hired two giant cargo ships to carry armoured vehicles and helicopters, among other
war material.
It has also ordered eight additional cargo ships capable of carrying ammunition, tanks and ambulances.
Plans are under way to store armaments in 37 warehouses, each averaging 5,600 sq m, in Kuwait and
Qatar.
Each of those countries holds in storage about 115 M-1A1 Abrams tanks, 60 M-2A2 Bradley fighting
vehicles, 100 armoured personnel carriers, 25 mortars and 20 155-mm howitzers.
Ammunition is stored in both countries, with field artillery rounds in Kuwait. The warehouses also hold
30 days' worth of food and fuel. - New York Times<<
straitstimes.asia1.com.sg |
