US/Iraq Fact Sheet
LAST UPDATE: 3/19/2003 6:44:37 PM
Posted By: Andrea Rigsby
-- President Bush has formally notified Congress he's exhausted diplomacy and may soon order U-S forces into combat. Bush met Wednesday with top defense and foreign policy chiefs.
-- The White House says the war will be as short as possible -- but there are ``many unknowns'' and there could be a loss of American lives.
-- One U-S commander is telling his troops to take the American flags from their tanks -- so they'll enter Iraq as liberators, and not an army of domination.
-- An Air Force planner says on the first day of the attack on Iraq, ten times as many precision-guided bombs will be used as during the start of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Colonel Gary Crowder (KROW'-dur) says far more firepower will be delivered with fewer aircraft.
-- Thousands of U-S troops with armored vehicles and trucks are near Kuwait's border with Iraq, awaiting orders to move across. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has until 8 p-m Eastern time to leave or face an invasion.
-- Some Iraqi soldiers apparently aren't waiting for the war to start before they surrender. Officials say as many as 17 Iraqis showed up at the border with Kuwait Wednesday to turn themselves over to U-S and Kuwaiti troops.
-- Chief U-N weapons inspector Hans Blix told the Security Council on Wednesday that he feels ``sadness that three and half months of work carried out in Iraq have not brought the assurances needed about the absence of weapons of mass destruction.''
-- France, Germany and Russia -- staunch opponents of invading Iraq -- told the U-N Security Council Wednesday there is no proof Saddam Hussein poses a threat.
-- U-N Secretary-General Kofi Annan (KOH'-fee AN'-nan) says war in Iraq ``could easily lead to epidemics and starvation.'' He's urging the United States and its allies not to forsake humanitarian aid while waging war.
-- British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons Wednesday he believes Saddam Hussein has to be removed from power.
-- Iraqi officials remain defiant, with members of Parliament meeting in extraordinary session Wednesday and declaring their loyalty to Saddam. Armed members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party fanned out across Baghdad in a show of force.
-- Hundreds of Saddam Hussein's supporters are taking up positions behind sandbags throughout Baghdad. Stores are shuttered and residents are streaming toward the countryside.
FAMILIAR FACES, NEW JOBS
A look at what some top Bush administration officials did during the Persian Gulf War and where they are now.
COLIN POWELL: then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; now secretary of state.
DICK CHENEY: then defense secretary; now vice president.
TOMMY FRANKS: then assistant division commander for the First Cavalry Division; now head of the military's Central Command, which would lead any E-S gar against Iraq.
PAUL WOLFOWITZ: then undersecretary of defense for policy; now deputy secretary of defense.
RICHARD ARMITAGE: then special emissary to Jordan's King Hussein; now deputy secretary of state.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE: then senior director of Soviet and East European affairs in the National Security Council+ now national security adviser.
DONALD RUMSFELD: then chairman and chief executive officer of General Instrument Corp.; now defense secretary.
RICHARD MYERS: then part of the Tactical Air Command's headquarters staff at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia; now chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
GEORGE W. BUSH: then managing general partner of Texas Rangers baseball team; now president and commander-in-chief.
CURRENT POSITIONING OF U-S FORCES WITHIN STRIKING DISTANCE OF IRAQ:
Nearly 300-thousand U-S troops are or soon will be massed in the Persian Gulf region for possible war.
Nearly a third of the personnel total is in Kuwait, which would be the main launching pad for a U-S-led invasion to disarm Iraq.
_Kuwait: More than 26-thousand U-S troops, and the number will continue to grow. There are multiple desert Army and Air Force bases. The main Army post is Camp Doha, about 35 miles from the Iraqi border.
BASES:
_Saudi Arabia: Prince Seltan Air Base near Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
_Bahrain: headquarters for the Navy's 5th fleet.
_Qatar: The main location for thousands of troops is al-Udeid air base, which could serve as a hub of air operations if the Saudi's do not allow the United States to run the air war from their Prince Sultan air base.
_Oman: American forces use three air bases: al-Seeb, Thumrait and Masirah. In addition to flying aircraft from these bases, the United States also stores war reserve materiel at the three sites.
_Turkey: U-S air crews fly regular missions over northern Iraq from Incirlik air base in south-central Turkey. U-S officials have discussed with Turkish authorities the possibility of using other Turkish bases.
IRAQ'S MILITARY STRENGTH:
According to military officials and experts at Jane's, Periscope and the Center for Strategic and International Studies:
Troop strength:
_Army has between 350,000 and 400,000 troops.
Weapons:
_2,200 main battle tanks.
_1,000 armored reconnaissance vehicles.
_8 0 light tanks/infantry fighting vehicles. _2,000 armored `personnel carriers.
_200 self-propelled artillery guns, 1,500 towed artillery guns.
Aircraft:
_200-300 interceptors and attack aircraft, and 100 combat helicopters.
Air defenses:
_400 surface-to-air missile launchers.
_1,000 portable surface-to-air missiles.
_6,000 anti-aircraft guns.
Missiles:
_Short-range (less than 90 miles) surface-to-surface missiles.
_Between 2 and 20 Scud launchers and missiles.
The A.P.'s practice is to refer to Saddam Hussein on second reference as Saddam, based on two considerations:
First, Hussein is not his family name. Saddam is his given name; Hussein is his father's given name; this is common in Arab families. His full name is Saddam Hussein al-Majd al-Tikriti, but he says neither al-Majd, which is akin to a family name, nor al-Tikriti, which is a name for his extended family or clan derived from the Tikrit region where the leader is from.
Second, he is not usually referred to as Hussein by people in Iraq or elsewhere in the region. Political leaders, newspapers and Iraqis call him simply Saddam or by both names. |
