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Wolf Blitzer: General drills U.S. troops in Qatar
DOHA, Qatar (CNN) -- Ahead of a possible war with Iraq, the commander of the U.S. Central Command, Gen. Tommy Franks, led a pre-dawn drill Saturday at the Al Sayliyah military base near Doha, Qatar, after giving about 200 senior commanders a pep talk, U.S. officials told CNN. CNN correspondent Wolf Blitzer reported the latest from Qatar on Saturday. BLITZER: Franks arrived in Qatar Friday to monitor Operation "Internal Look", a bi-annual exercise to test the command, control and communications ability of Central Command headquarters and all of the component commands throughout the area of responsibility of CentCom. The weekend drills are in preparation for the start of the operation Monday. According to its Web page, CentCom coordinates U.S. military operations throughout the "Horn of Africa, South and Central Asia, and Northern Red Sea regions, as well as the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq." "What this exercise is going to do is test and exercise our ability to communicate on the modern battlefield. This exercise is going to be a very complex computer-based and assisted exercise that will not involve combat forces," a senior CentCom official told reporters earlier in the week. According to officials who attended Saturday's opening session, Franks gave a detailed statement explaining the need for troop readiness, flexibility in planning in the ever-changing battlefield and cutting-edge technology, also stressing the importance of coalition partners. "Internal Look" will be run from outside the United States for the first time, and will include U.S., British and Australian personnel.
Mobile command and communications equipment have been erected for the exercise on a heavily guarded military installation in this tiny desert kingdom. The mobile command post will remain in Qatar after the exercise ends next week and could be used in any possible war with Iraq. The officials told CNN that Franks -- at his temporary headquarters here in Qatar -- has everything he needs to stay in touch with his senior staff in the region and back in the United States. They say he can do everything in Qatar he can do at the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, where CentCom is based. The officials said Franks speaks every day with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Joint Staff at the Pentagon and other key defense personnel.
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