Iraq in Sights As Us and British Practise in Qatar
The US Central Command field headquarters, from where any future offensive against Iraq would be run, will be deployed in the Gulf state of Qatar indefinitely after military exercises there next week, military officials said yesterday. Nearly 400 British officers will join the American...
The US Central Command field headquarters, from where any future offensive against Iraq would be run, will be deployed in the Gulf state of Qatar indefinitely after military exercises there next week, military officials said yesterday.
Nearly 400 British officers will join the American command's top general, Tommy Franks, and several hundred of his staff for a computerised war game codenamed Internal Look, which is intended to test communications and hone skills for a new Gulf conflict.
They will run the exercise from the mobile headquarters which has been assembled over the past two months and filled with much of the same equipment as Gen Franks' home in Tampa, Florida, from where he commanded the war in Afghanistan.
It is the first time it has been held outside the US. It is expected to start on Monday and last for a week. After that, a senior official said yesterday, "for the time being the headquarters will remain in Qatar".
The exercise will take place largely on computer screens, without major movements of troops, ships, and aircraft.
The purpose of the exercise, another US official said, was to "test contingencies that could possibly happen", including possible scenarios in Iraq, but also military crises in other parts of the Middle East.
Britain's participants in the exercise will be from the permanent joint headquarters at Northwood, north-west London; and the 1st Armoured Division, based in Germany, which has already been earmarked in contingency plans for an attack on Iraq.
A further 400 British officers will participate in the exercise from bases in Britain, the US, and elsewhere in the Gulf, the Ministry of Defence said.
The MoD insisted yesterday the exercise had "nothing to do with any future operations in Iraq". However, Whitehall privately admitted its relevance to a possible attack on Iraq.
The exercise is to be held at Qatar's al-Udeid base. The emirate has not said whether the US has formally asked to use its facilities for an assault on Iraq.
Nearly 400 British officers will join the American command's top general, Tommy Franks, and several hundred of his staff for a computerised war game codenamed Internal Look, which is intended to test communications and hone skills for a new Gulf conflict.
They will run the exercise from the mobile headquarters which has been assembled over the past two months and filled with much of the same equipment as Gen Franks' home in Tampa, Florida, from where he commanded the war in Afghanistan.
It is the first time it has been held outside the US. It is expected to start on Monday and last for a week. After that, a senior official said yesterday, "for the time being the headquarters will remain in Qatar".
The exercise will take place largely on computer screens, without major movements of troops, ships, and aircraft.
The purpose of the exercise, another US official said, was to "test contingencies that could possibly happen", including possible scenarios in Iraq, but also military crises in other parts of the Middle East.
Britain's participants in the exercise will be from the permanent joint headquarters at Northwood, north-west London; and the 1st Armoured Division, based in Germany, which has already been earmarked in contingency plans for an attack on Iraq.
A further 400 British officers will participate in the exercise from bases in Britain, the US, and elsewhere in the Gulf, the Ministry of Defence said.
The MoD insisted yesterday the exercise had "nothing to do with any future operations in Iraq". However, Whitehall privately admitted its relevance to a possible attack on Iraq.
The exercise is to be held at Qatar's al-Udeid base. The emirate has not said whether the US has formally asked to use its facilities for an assault on Iraq.
Use the feedback form below to submit your comments.
Use the form below to email this article to your friends.
- UK Drug Firms Told to Hand Over Files in Iraq Investigation
- US Troops Surge Ends As Violence in Iraq Falls
- Iraq War 'began Last Year'
- Bombers Attack Basra Oil Pipeline
- British Soldier Killed in Iraq Firefight
- SAS Soldier Killed in Iraq Gunfight
- British Hopes Rest on Crucial Showdown
- Iraq Still in the Balance, Says Foreign Secretary
- Q&A: The Battle for Basra
- British Exit Strategy Rests on Basra Battle
- Iraqi Ally to the U.S. Killed in Bombing; Supporters Vow Revenge
- Sen. Chuck Hagel and Sen. John McCain Square Off on Iraq
- Soldier Gets 100 Years for Raping Iraqi Teen, Killing her Family
- Soldiers in Iraq Save Lives with Silly String
- Suicide Truck Bomber Kills Two U.S. Troops in Iraq
- Three Iraq Veterans Become Citizens
- Bodies of 70 Slain Iraqi Hostages Found
- Russia feels US presence in Iraq a threat to its security
- How Britain helped Iraq set up nerve gas plant: a 'dirty secret' exposed
- Iraq: Iraqis Demonstrate in Wake of Bombing
- Mortar Shells Fired into Baghdad Green Zone During VP’s Visit
- George W. Bush Shoe Attacker Released from Iraqi Prison
- Iraq’s National Security Forces May Have Aided Bombers
- Spate of Blasts Kill at Least 95 in Baghdad
- Alleged Talks Between U.S. and Iraq Insurgents Being Investigated
- Angelina Jolie Visits Iraqi Refugee Camp
- U.S. Troop Withdrawal in Iraq Seen as a Turning Point
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wants to Strengthen Iraq Intelligence
- Clinton Assures Iraq that U.S. Won’t Abandon the Country
- 80 Killed and Many More Wounded in Iraq Suicide Bombings
- Iraq and China Team up on New Oil Field
- Iraqi Shoe Thrower Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison
- American Troops to Leave Iraq in 18 Months
- Iraq Sees Journalist, Shoe Thrower as a National Hero
- President Bush Goes on Farewell Tour, Has to Dodge Flying Shoes