Officials: U.S. may begin military buildup near Iraq

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Pentagon may begin an aggressive buildup of U.S. military forces in the Persian Gulf region in January, depending on decisions made in the next few days, Pentagon officials said.

The buildup would "tighten the noose" around Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, according to one Pentagon official.

Talk of the buildup comes as the top U.N. weapons inspectors were expected to go before the U.N. Security Council on Thursday to say that Iraq's declaration of its weapons program falls far short of being complete and accurate.

Military sources said the proposed deployment would be largely support units and ground troops. If approved, the plan would include engineering battalions, truck companies, medical units, supply corps, air defense batteries and possibly some A-10 anti-tank aircraft and Navy warships.

Additional deployment orders for more aircraft, naval and ground units are being considered.

Any initial buildup would not occur until after the December holidays, and the additional troops would not arrive until in mid-January at the earliest, a senior defense official said Wednesday.

Several military officials said these deployments will be more visible than deployments in recent months because the Bush administration wants to use the "optics" of media coverage to send a message to Saddam and the American people that the White House is serious.

The deployments would roughly double the number of U.S. troops in the region, from 60,000 to more than 100,000, officials said.

But the timeline for the deployment depends on decisions that will have to be made in meetings scheduled for the next few days.

U.S. Central Command's Gen. Tommy Franks, who would lead a possible U.S. war against Iraq, is in Washington for the talks, sources said.

Pentagon officials stressed that there has been no decision about the deployment of additional forces and equipment and that President Bush has still made no decision to go to war.

A senior U.S. official said Wednesday that the White House was pointing to a late-January to mid-February time frame for making a decision on possible war with Iraq.

An official aide said it would be "a fair assessment" that a troop buildup would be intended to put more pressure on Saddam's regime as well as shorten the time it would take for military action if Bush orders it.

The closest U.S. ally, Great Britain, also announced Wednesday that it would be sending six warships and a submarine to the Persian Gulf region on what it called "contingency provisions" for possible war with Iraq

"What we are doing is ensuring that we have a range of military options available should they be required," British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon. "This process does not lead inexorably to military action."

CNN Correspondents Jamie McIntyre and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

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