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U.S. troops get in place in the Gulf
By Wolf Blitzer
DOHA, Qatar (CNN) -- The U.S. military is methodically putting the finishing touches in place for a possible war with Iraq. A dozen years ago, following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, it took the Pentagon and its coalition partners six months to deploy 500,000 forces in the Persian Gulf. This time the process is moving along much more quickly -- in part because current U.S. war plans call for far fewer troops. More sophisticated, higher-tech firepower has made the large number of troops deployed during the first Gulf War unnecessary. The planning is currently at an advanced stage -- with commanding Gen. Tommy Franks preparing in the coming days to lead a simulated war game code-named Internal Look. By all accounts, it's a rehearsal for the real thing.
Gen. Franks will be here at the As Saliyah base in Qatar with about 1,000 of his Central Command troops. They are being joined by a modular command and control operation that's been airlifted from their headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Another 3,000 U.S. troops were already in place in Qatar. Gen. Franks, who commanded the Afghan war, will be in constant communication with other U.S. forces in the region and in Florida and at the Pentagon. Quietly, without fanfare, U.S. troops are getting in place to surround Iraq: • In Kuwait, where some 12,000 U.S. ground forces are training along the border with Iraq. • In Saudi Arabia, where 6,600 U.S. mostly Air Force personnel are based at the Prince Sultan Air Base near Riyadh. • In Bahrain, where 4,200 U.S. sailors from the Fifth Fleet are based. • In Oman, where some 2,000 U.S. Air Force personnel operate two dozen fighter aircraft poised to strike. • In Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, where an air base has been reconfigured to accommodate B-2 stealth bombers. • In Turkey, where nearly 4,000 U.S. personnel operate out of the Incirlik Air Base. Beyond that, the U.S. Navy shortly will have four aircraft carrier battle groups in the region. That is what the Navy had in place during the first Gulf War as well.
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