All Things Considered (9:00 PM ET) - NPR February 11, 2003
Mobilization of the US military to the Persian Gulf
ANCHORS: ROBERT SIEGEL
REPORTERS: TOM GJELTEN
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
The flow of US forces to the region around the Persian Gulf is set to increase dramatically this week. The Pentagon has mobilized 47 commercial passenger aircraft to ferry troops to the region, and those flights officially begin today. In addition, US Navy ships are converging on the region. Military analysts say the deployments mean that within the next two or three weeks, the United States will have all the forces and equipment needed to launch a massive war against Iraq. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.
TOM GJELTEN reporting:
Logistics experts say the most challenging part of a military buildup is the movement of heavy equipment and supplies. Most of that has to go by ship. For that reason, tanks and vehicles have been moving into the Gulf region for weeks. Now it's time for the easy part: bringing in the people. The fastest and cheapest way to do that is by using commercial passenger aircraft. Over the weekend, the Pentagon mobilized Stage I of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, or CRAF, making 47 commercial planes available for military use. Navy Captain Steve Honda, of the US military's Transport Command, has today's tally. Captain STEVE HONDA (Transport Command): We have 15 missions scheduled. Those 15 missions are flying out of one location in Europe and three locations on the East Coast of the US.
GJELTEN: Honda says there should be about 15 flights each day for an initial period. With each aircraft carrying around 250 passengers, that means the US military would be moving between 3,500 and 4,000 additional troops a day into the Gulf region. Patrick Garrett, of GlobalSecurity.org, has been monitoring the military deployments to the Gulf.
Mr. PATRICK GARRETT (GlobalSecurity.org): The fact that the CRAF activation did take place is really a key indication that the military is going to begin ramping up its deployment cycle within the next couple weeks.
GJELTEN: The US military is not identifying which units are being flown into Kuwait except to say they're soldiers and Marines. But divisions are announcing their own deployment orders. Some units critical to a ground war as of recently had not yet been alerted, but Garrett says that has changed within the last week or two.
Mr. GARRETT: Those units are finally getting their deployment orders, such as the 101st Airborne Division, such as elements of the 1st Infantry Division in Germany. So a lot of these units and a lot of other carrier battle groups are now beginning to get those deployment orders that a lot of people have been expecting for the last couple of months.
GJELTEN: In fact, a clear outline of the force that will be available to US commanders is now emerging. Within the next two or three weeks, there should be 150 to 200,000 troops deployed. There are already about 450 planes, including F-117 and B-2 stealth aircraft, which would be used in the early days of an air war. Three aircraft carriers and their associated battle groups are in the region, and two more are on their way. Additional forces are likely to arrive in Turkey in the coming days now that the government there has given a green light. Anthony Cordesman, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, sees a huge operation taking shape.
Mr. ANTHONY CORDESMAN (Center for Strategic and International Studies): This is really a very powerful two-front war in the classic mechanized sense, but supported by massive, very different amounts of airpower by Special Forces, some of which have been in place, particularly in the north, for months, and by very innovative uses of attack helicopters and troop helicopters, which can move across water barriers or bypass Saddam's strong points.
GJELTEN: Cordesman and other analysts say enough troops and equipment are already in place that the war could begin now. But waiting another two or three weeks, he says, would allow US commanders to field a military force that could overwhelm any Iraqi resistance.
Mr. CORDESMAN: If you want to do this war with minimum collateral damage, with minimum civilian casualties, do it quickly and decisively with no chance that Saddam could create citadels or major problems with urban warfare, you want all of those forces in place, which will probably be some time in early March.
GJELTEN: Even with overwhelming force, a war in Iraq could be bloody and difficult. There could be chemical or biological weapons attacks, for example, or an Iraqi strike on Israel could immediately widen the war. Tom Gjelten, NPR News, Washington.
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