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Rumsfeld Heads to Middle East for Defense Consultations
WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (News Agencies) - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld left late Tuesday on a trip taking him to Saudi Arabia, Oman, Egypt and Uzbekistan, as part of Washington's drive to continue building a broad coalition to combat international terrorism.
Rumsfeld left Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, shortly after 9:00 pm (0100 GMT Wednesday) for Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, the United States' strongest Arab ally.
Before he left, Rumsfeld declined to give any information on widely expected U.S. strikes on Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders are believed to be hiding.
"We have a lot of activity in the region of the defense department, and I have not been able to be there yet this year," Rumsfeld said after meeting with Indian defense and external affairs minister Jaswant Singh.
Rumsfeld said his message would vary from country to country and that he hoped to visit U.S. troop stationed in the region.
The trip comes as the U.S. military presence in Southwest Asia has swollen to about 30,000 personnel over the past two weeks, according to Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke.
In addition, two aircraft carrier battle groups, an amphibious assault force and about 350 military aircraft are now in the region, she said.
The defense secretary mentioned joint military exercises Bright Star under way in Egypt, saying he hoped to be able to meet with their participants.
He declined to make any comment about possible military strikes against targets in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks on New York and Washington that have left about 5,700 people dead or missing.
The administration of President George W. Bush has blamed Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden, who has taken refuge in Afghanistan, for the attack.
Bush has said Afghanistan's Taliban rulers will have to bear the consequences if they refuse to surrender bin Laden and his associates and close terrorist training camps on Afghan soil.
Rumsfeld said he believed no presentation of additional evidence was needed to persuade countries to join Washington's worldwide campaign against terrorism.
"It's been on television, the damage that was done," he said. "The relationships among terrorists and terrorist networks are abundantly clear."
The United States has had an extensive military presence in the Gulf since the end of the 1991 Gulf war, but Saudi Arabia and other states in the region have been reluctant in the past to allow the use of their territory for offensive military operations.
Pressure on Afghanistan hit a new level Tuesday as British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned Taliban leaders in Afghanistan to "surrender the terrorists or surrender power."
The Taliban has refused to yield to U.S. demands that bin Laden and his lieutenants in the al Qaeda network be handed over to Washington, setting the stage for a military confrontation.
Top administration officials also have left open the possibility that future phases of the campaign could take on Iraq.
Clarke said the focus should not be just on bin Laden and the al Qaeda network in Afghanistan.
"This is not about the center of power. This is about draining the swamp. This about eliminating the support, getting rid of all those entities that support terrorism and allow its continuance," she said.
Besides U.S. forces now in the region, the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk was steaming from its homeport in Yokosuka, Japan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The carrier departed without a naval escort or its airwing, which raised the possibility that it could be used as a platform to stage a helicopter-borne assault force.
General Henry Shelton, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff until his retirement Monday, made just such an innovative use of a carrier in deploying army assault forces for an invasion of Haiti.
The country's generals surrendered just before the invasion was launched, allowing for the forces' unopposed entry.
The amphibious ready group in the region, which includes an amphibious assault ship, also would have about 2,200 combat-ready marines aboard.
A fourth carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, was in the Mediterranean exercising with Egyptian forces. Its original deployment plans called for a six month cruise through the Mediterranean and the Gulf.
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