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QUESTION:PRESIDENT Bush continues to tell the world that he has not made up his
mind about attacking Iraq. But in the Kuwaiti desert, the US Army is
busy preparing for war.
At their huge military base on the outskirts of Kuwait City, hundreds of
American army tanks are being prepared to roll
northwards towards Baghdad. As US military hardware piles up at Camp
Doha, the locals have given it a suitably gung-ho nickname - "Camp F***
Iraq".
As the US army's Abrams tanks and Apache gunships venture out into the
desert, ostensibly for "training exercises", they look ready to roll
northwards at very short notice.
Posted all along the road north, from Kuwait City to the Iraqi border,
are small detachments of GIs, hidden under camouflage
netting and cautiously watching the desultory traffic passing them by.
Kuwaiti construction teams are hard at work improving the road, fitting
lighting and laying new tarmac, despite the fact that the border has
been closed since the Gulf War 11 years ago. "Either the Kuwaitis are
very optimistic about a speedy and peaceful resolution to the crisis, or
the US military want to have their main supply route into Iraq in
tip-top condition," was the wry comment of one western diplomat.
"They have not come here for fun", was the conclusion of a British
engineer, watching the display of military might from an oil field only
20 miles from the Iraqi border. "The Yanks tell us they will be ready to
go after Ramadan in early December."
Less than a mile from Camp Doha, however, the residents of the oil-rich
Gulf Emirate still know how to party.
At the Entertainment City theme park, Kuwaitis can ride the
roller-coasters, take the African jungle cruise, or a car ride round
Europe. Alternatively, they can take aim at cartoons of Saddam Hussein
on the Wild West shooting gallery.
"Saddam is finished," commented Mustafa, the gallery attendant, as he
reloaded for more eager customers. "Then we will have to put up a
picture of Ariel Sharon".
Residents of the Emirate, from where it is widely assumed the main US
armoured thrust would begin, seem to share none of the doubts of their
fellow Arabs about the wisdom of toppling Saddam.
This week, the Kuwait government said that it would allow the US and UK
to attack Iraq from its bases - in sharp contrast to a sensitive Saudi
Arabia, which has ruled out use of bases on its soil, Kuwait public
opinion seems strongly in favour of a US attack.
Unlike in previous Iraqi crises over the past decade, Kuwait has so far
remained very calm. There have been no mad rushes to the airport or
panic buying of war supplies. Even sales of gas masks have barely picked
up.
Yacoub Al-Saleh, executive manager of Kuwait's largest military supply
store, told The Scotsman: "The people's fear is still at a minimum
level. Mainly educated people are buying - those who have some awareness
of the situation. That is a sign of the temperature. I feel it is low at
the moment."
Kuwait City remains a bustling metropolis, hardly feeling like a city 50
miles from a potential war zone. There are early morning traffic jams
and business is brisk, from the traditional souks to western-style
shopping malls.
The decision to close down the Kuwait city bureau of the Arabic
al-Jazeera satellite television station highlighted government
nervousness over Islamist groups.
For the record, the US Army is saying almost nothing about its
preparations for war, beyond parroting comments from President Bush that
"no decisions" have been made.
Inside the sprawling Camp Doha, the US Third Army's spokesman,
Lieutenant Colonel Rick Thomas, was unable to provide details of 10,000
strong US forces in Kuwait or the continuing troop build up.
His only comment was that, "US Central Command is re-positioning forces
in the region to support the President's global war on terrorism."
In private US Army officers display no doubts that there is only one
outcome to the crisis - war. Their contingency invasion plans are ready
and they are just waiting for the "execute" order.
Two scenarios seem ready, a surprise assault that could be launched
within days, or a more deliberate campaign with a start
date in late January or early February. The latter seems to be their
preference, with a major build up of supplies and equipment building up
to a peak in December.
Last week a brigade combat team of the 3rd Infantry Division moved out
of Camp Doha into the desert for a extensive series of exercises that
will culminate in live firing by Abrams tanks later in the month. All of
the north west of the Emirate, a quarter of Kuwait's land mass, has been
declared a military zone and sealed off to allow the exercises to take
place.
Currently two armoured brigades are known to be in the Emirate, and
Kuwaiti military sources say that since June the tanks,
armoured vehicles, artillery and other heavy equipment for one to two
more armoured brigades has arrived. This would allow a further 10,000
GIs to fly in, link up with the heavy equipment and be ready for combat
in 72 hours. Plans are underway to move the heavy equipment for another
US division, to equip in excess of 18,000 troops, into Kuwait by
December.
Three US Military Sealift Command ships have been dispatched to the Gulf
carrying armoured vehicles and helicopters. The Pentagon is contracting
for commercial vessels to carry 300 containers of ammunition to the
Middle East by the middle of December. Apache attack helicopters are
already flying patrols over the desert in the west of the Emirate.
In a further sign of the relentless American build-up, the US Army has
begun contracting local construction firms to begin building at least
one huge tent city out in the western desert - to accommodate a further
3,000-5,000 troops. All the facilities are to be up and running by the
end of December.
From the Kuwaiti desert, it appears the countdown to war has already
begun.
ANSWER: A complete lie. I have a friend in Kuwait. She tells me that
*everyone* there that she knows hates America more than ever, and that
she does not know one person who supports the US attacking Iraq. Not
one. This article is a total lie, IMO.
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