USA TODAY April 2, 2003
Allied forces said to control air, land in western desert Troops searching for banned weapons
By Vivienne Walt
AMMAN, Jordan -- U.S., British and Australian special operations forces have captured two key air bases in Iraq's western desert and are running patrols along one of Iraq's major international arteries.
Coalition forces now control the H2 and H3 airfields and are maintaining surveillance on the highway that connects Jordan's capital, Amman, with Baghdad, Lt. Col. Mark Elliot, spokesman for the Australian military forces fighting in Iraq, said by phone from Qatar on Tuesday.
"Anything moving on that road comes under our observation, and we can deal with it," Elliot said. "We've had a very active campaign on that road."
At the Pentagon, the vice director of operations for the Joint Staff, Army Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, said Monday that allied forces were "cutting Iraqi communications lines" in the western desert. "Our forces are moving throughout the area without significant opposition," he said.
Reports on coalition activity in the western desert are emerging slowly.
The operation probably began long before the war in Iraq erupted two weeks ago, said Garth Whitty, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense Studies, a think tank in London. "It's a pretty tough environment. There are extreme temperatures. And you don't have the logistics train you have in the south."
U.S. officials believe that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein hides mobile chemical or biological laboratories in the west. It's an ideal place to conceal banned weapons. There are no major towns and few people.
Coalition forces are searching the desert for the banned weapons. They have not found a hidden arsenal. But the operation also is crucial for preventing Iraq from launching Scud attacks against Israel, which was hit with 39 missiles during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Israel has said it would retaliate against Iraq this time, and the United States fears that would provoke Arab countries to join the conflict.
"Priority No. 1 is eliminating Saddam. Priority No. 2: keep Israel out of this," said Patrick Garrett of Globalsecurity.org, a military research organization in Alexandria, Va. "If Israel got involved, all hell would break loose in the Middle East."
Jordan's strong anti-war sentiment has made it necessary to keep the allied operation in the desert under wraps. The government in Amman opposes the war, but the Bush administration convinced it to host thousands of U.S. forces in exchange for increased aid and continued close diplomatic ties. Jordanian officials continue to insist that the coalition has not used Jordan as a staging ground for the war.
Confirming fears that the U.S. military presence might provoke an attack, Jordanian officials announced Tuesday that they arrested several Iraqis last week for plotting to blow up the Grand Hyatt Amman hotel. Dozens of Western journalists and some U.S. officials have stayed in the hotel in recent months. U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of the Iraq war, stayed there one night last month. Jordan also expelled five Iraqi diplomats last week. The five were reported by Reuters on Tuesday to have a connection to a separate plot: poisoning the water supply that feeds U.S. forces stationed near the Iraqi border.
Drivers who have taken the desert road between Amman and Baghdad say the journey has become increasingly perilous.
"It's terrifying driving that road now. All I could think of is that a missile was going to strike," said a taxi driver who arrived here Monday from the Iraqi capital. With no work in Baghdad, the driver said, he risked the journey for a $ 300 fare -- three times the normal rate. The driver, fearing reprisals from Iraqi officials, wouldn't allow his name to appear in print.
On Tuesday, the French relief group Children of the World sent a truck loaded with medicine to Baghdad along the road. "They announce to both the Iraqis and the coalition forces 'Listen guys, we're coming down that road,' " United Nations spokeswoman Veronique Taveau said. "They hope they don't get hit."
© Copyright 2003 Gannett Company, Inc.
