the ides of march

[prozak at anus.com]

Washington, DC -- http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030220-
89227416.htm

War's start pushed to mid-March

By Rowan Scarborough

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

U.S. military planners are now looking at mid-March as a starting 
date for
a war against Iraq, a delay caused by diplomatic snags and 
difficulties in
moving heavy Army divisions.

The majority of Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps combat units are in 
the
Persian Gulf poised for an attack.

The timing of the war is critical, U.S. officials said, because it is 
best
for troops and machines to fight in the Gulf's 70-degree winter 
weather
than
its oppressive desert heat of the summer. The temperatures begin to 
rise
in
April.

When war plans were maturing in the summer, planners looked at 
February as
the optimum time to begin military action. But President Bush 
subsequently
decided to take the issue of Iraqi disarmament to the United Nations.

U.S. officials said the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq, after a
four-
year absence, and the need for a debate in the U.N. Security Council,
extended
the war timeline.

The White House continued to signal this week that Mr. Bush will not 
let
the debate at the United Nations push a war decision into the summer.

"There's not a lot of time left," said White House spokesman Ari
Fleischer,
adding that either Turkey agrees to host U.S. ground troops for a 
northern
front or the United States would position them elsewhere. Senior 
officials
have said this month that a war decision is "weeks, not months" away.

The Army, which must move heavy armored forces across the Atlantic, 
is
still several weeks away from being in place to begin a drive toward
Baghdad.

The 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, has shipped its
Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles across the Atlantic. But 
most
of
its 20,000 soldiers remain in the United States, still unsure of 
whether
they
will invade from Turkey in the north, or from some other point.

An Army spokesman said the infantry troops would soon begin boarding
planes
bound for the region but refused to specify the location.

Army officials privately say they could have moved troops faster this
winter had Pentagon civilians acted sooner on deployment proposals.

It is up to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to make decisions on
deployments.

Although the Bush administration's public stance is that the military 
can
fight anywhere anytime, analysts say a winter campaign will be much 
easier
on
troops and equipment, given the moderate temperatures then.

"In the summer, our ability to employ maneuver warfare would be 
needlessly
degraded," said a Marine aviator, who flew more than 30 combat 
missions in
Operation Desert Storm during the 1991 Gulf war.

"Soldiers and Marines can't move as fast when the mercury climbs,
especially if they are required to wear clothing designed to protect 
them
against chemical or biological weapons. Our weaponry, from vehicles 
to
aircraft, can perform in such conditions but generally function 
better in
cooler temperatures."

John Hillen, an Army cavalry officer in the Gulf war, remembers 
beginning
the land invasion on Feb. 23, 1991, at night in mild weather. He, 
however,
pointed out that soldiers train in the blistering heat of the 
California
desert and are prepared for any weather.

"It's better to do it in the winter because you don't have to deal 
with
the
heat, and in military operations you want to deal with as few 
changing
variables as possible," he said.

"But on the other hand, we can operate in the heat and in the desert,
which
we train for all the time. It's an extra inconvenience and could have 
a
marginal effect on operational effectiveness. But it's not decisive."

More than 130,000 U.S. troops are now in the Gulf region. While Mr. 
Bush
seeks a second U.N. resolution, most air and naval units are in 
place.

•The Marine Corps has moved more than 50,000 troops to the region, 
most
assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, commanded by Lt. Gen.
James
Conway. His headquarters are at Camp Commando, a tent city outside 
Kuwait
City.

The 1st Marine Division, the ground element, is based in camps in 
northern
Kuwait along Highway 7.

The 1st Marine Air Wing, the air combat element, has its headquarters 
at
the Al Jaber Air Base.

•The Navy has positioned four carriers near Iraq, with a fifth, the 
USS
Kitty Hawk, due to arrive in the Gulf region before March 1.

"With the arrival of the Kitty Hawk, we will, for all intent and 
purposes,
be in place," said a Pentagon official.

The five carrier battle groups, plus two British submarines in the 
area,
will give the coalition more than 30 ships capable of firing hundreds 
of
Tomahawk cruise missiles into Iraq.

The Navy may depart from the way it fought in Desert Storm, when it
positioned six carriers in the Red Sea and the Gulf region.

This time, it plans to have three in the Gulf: the Kitty Hawk, the 
USS
Constellation and the USS Abraham Lincoln, which features the new F-
18
Super
Hornet.

It will keep two carriers in the Mediterranean Sea: the USS Harry S.
Truman
and the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Those battle groups will attack from
there,
according to the Pentagon official, with planes either flying over 
Israel
and
Jordan, or traveling through Turkey to get to Iraq.

These plans are not final, the official said.

•The Air Force has in place combat units that the Pentagon deployed 
to the
Gulf region in recent weeks, according to a spokeswoman.

They include the 1st, 4th, 20th and 49th fighter wings of F-16 and F-
15
jets, and the B-1B's 28th bomber wing.

The Pentagon is expected to deploy as many as 16 of its 21 B-2 
stealth
bombers stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.

The planes may execute their first bombing runs from Missouri, then 
go to
bases in England or Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to get a new set 
of
16
one-ton satellite-guided bombs.

(You can all call me names now for posting this. I admit it is in 
part tangential, except that most people haven't realized TRP's 
concept of multi-national manipulation of "left" and "right" and 
"good" and "bad" to distract us proles while they make the big bucks. 
Fight internationalism, globalism, and hell, FUCK MONEY.)

-- 
Backup Rider of the Apocalypse
www.anus.com/metal/
DEATH AND BLACK METAL