WASHINGTON — The buildup of U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf
region is now approaching 90,000 land, sea and air forces. That number
likely will double within two weeks, officials said yesterday.
Nearly a third of the total is in Kuwait, which would be the main
launching pad for a U.S.-led invasion to disarm Iraq.
The Pentagon is not announcing either specific unit deployments or the
arrival of forces in the Gulf area, but officials familiar with details of
the buildup said it is growing steadily and by thousands each week.
By mid-February, there are expected to be nearly 180,000 troops in the
region, and the total could reach 250,000 later.
The Bush administration hopes the accumulation of U.S. and allied
military firepower on Iraq’s periphery will persuade President Saddam
Hussein either to decide to disarm or to flee his country. President Bush
said yesterday that exile by Saddam and members of his inner circle was
one possible peaceful solution.
“Hopefully, the pressure of the free world will convince Mr. Saddam
Hussein to relinquish power,” Bush said.
Small numbers of American troops already are in areas of northern Iraq
not controlled by the government. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday there were “no significant
numbers” there now, but he declined to say more.
U.S. military psychological warfare is continuing, with leaflet drops
from U.S. aircraft designed to rattle Iraq’s government, to turn more
Iraqis against their government and to intimidate its military.
American planes yesterday dropped 480,000 leaflets over or near five
cities in southern Iraq, Central Command said. It was the eighth leaflet
drop in January and the 18th since October 2002. The latest leaflets
carried a variety of messages, including a warning that military fiber
optic sites in southern Iraq have been targeted for destruction by U.S.
aircraft because they are part of Iraq’s integrated air defense system.
The leaflets warned that anyone caught repairing the sites could be
bombed.
The President met at the White House yesterday with Myers, Defense
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the military’s top commanders,
including Gen. Tommy Franks of Central Command, who would run a war
against Iraq. Most of Franks’ battle staff, who normally operate from
Tampa, Fla., are at a command post in Qatar. Franks would be expected to
go there soon unless the momentum toward war is reversed.
Franks could launch an attack on Iraq as early as mid-February, but
officials say a more optimum time would be late February or March.
During a visit to the Middle East last week, Franks clinched an
agreement with Jordan to allow the stationing of some U.S. troops there,
including some to operate Patriot air defense missile systems and others
for potential search-and-rescue missions from Jordanian airfields,
according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
American warplanes also would be allowed to pass through Jordanian
airspace during an Iraq war, the official said.
Although the main ground attack would come from Kuwait into southern
Iraq, the Pentagon wants to open a northern front to keep Iraqi forces
split. It might do that by having the Army’s 4th Infantry Division
attack from Turkey. That unit’s equipment is en route to the Gulf
region, but its 16,500 soldiers still await word to move out.
More than 26,000 U.S. troops are now in Kuwait, and the number will
continue to grow.
Eventually, the total American force in the Gulf region could approach
250,000 troops, although some of that might be held in reserve to enter
Iraq after the main fighting is over and to act as part of a stabilization
force, Pentagon officials say. In the 1991 Gulf War to drive the Iraqi
army from Kuwait, the United States committed 500,000 troops.
Within a couple of weeks, Franks will have doubled the number of
aircraft carrier battle groups within striking distance of Iraq. The USS
Abraham Lincoln and the USS Theodore Roosevelt have been ordered to head
for the Gulf region to join the USS Constellation and the USS Harry S.
Truman on station there.
If Bush waited a few additional weeks, the Navy could get two
additional carrier battle groups to the region, for a total of six. Each
carrier has more than 70 aircraft, including fighters and surveillance
planes.
Two seven-ship Navy fleets — Amphibious Task Force East and
Amphibious Task Force West — are en route to the Gulf with about 15,000
Marines aboard, and the 1st Marine Division is arriving with its equipment
in Kuwait
