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Rumsfeld Discusses Military Response to Terrorist Attacks

(Forces are being repositioned, Defense official says) (540)
By Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr.
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The United States has begun repositioning some combat
aircraft and Navy battle groups in the Middle East region as part of
its response to terrorist attacks September 11th, Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld says.
"What we're engaged in is something that is very, very different from
World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Kosovo, Bosnia -- the
kinds of things that people think of when they use the word war,
campaign or conflict," Rumsfeld said September 20 during a Pentagon
news conference. "I have certainly signed an order, a deployment
order, with respect to the movement of forces."
Rumsfeld said President Bush has made clear that the events of
September 11th are considered a direct attack against the United
States. "And he intends to provide for our defense by taking the
effort to the people who are attacking the United States and those
countries that are supporting that," he said.
He cautioned, though, that any mix of forces should not be compared
with the previous Persian Gulf conflict buildup in late 1990 and early
1991.
Army Secretary Thomas White said September 20 that the current mix of
forces being prepared and deployed, based on Rumsfeld's September 19
order, includes Army and Air Force personnel and equipment. "A lot
more will come," White said. "We are ready to conduct sustained land
combat operations as determined by the secretary of defense and the
president. We are ready to deliver it across the whole array of force
structure -- heavy, light, airmobile, airborne, special operations."
White also said it is more than likely that Army special operations
forces -- which include Special Forces, Rangers, special operations
tactical aviation, psychological operations and civil affairs -- would
take part in any campaigns "and they are ready to go," though specific
options are still under study.
While Rumsfeld acknowledged signing a deployment order with respect to
the movement of forces, he told reporters, "I am not going to describe
what forces we're moving, I'm not going to discuss the dates and times
of when they leave and when they're going to arrive."
The secretary said "we are trying to get ourselves arranged in the
world with our forces in places that we believe conceivably could be
useful in the event the president decided to use them for one thing or
another."
He said this military operation will be much different from waging
military action against a specific country for a specific purpose. He
said the full spectrum of political, diplomatic, economic, and
military resources of the U.S. government are all going to have to be
engaged.
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice said September 19 "the
United States is repositioning some of its forces to support the
president's goal."
Bush was scheduled to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress
September 20 to discuss his goals in the war on terrorism as well as
recovery operations since the terrorist attacks on September 11th.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)