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U.S Central Command Possibly Moving to Qatar
WASHINGTON,
September 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The U.S. Central
Command announced plans Wednesday, September 11, to move 600 staff and
a deployable headquarters to Qatar for an exercise as the
administration mulls a permanent move of the command to the tiny Gulf
state.
A
senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
said the U.S. national security leadership was considering moving the
entire Tampa, Florida-based headquarters to Qatar.
News
agencies report the shift suggests further preparations by the
Pentagon for an expected military assault on Iraq.
The
official said senior officials had first advocated moving the command
to the region last fall as U.S. forces were launching a military
assault on Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 terrorist
attacks.
At
the time, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld rejected such a move
as too costly and time consuming, the official said.
But
the disadvantages of directing the Afghan campaign from Florida arose
repeatedly during the campaign, and now have resurfaced as the
administration appears to be preparing for war with Iraq.
The
Central Command, saying the shift will be a one-week exercise, said it
plans to deploy 600 headquarters staff to Qatar where U.S. air forces
have the use of the sprawling Al-Udeid air base, one of the largest in
the region.
"As
part of the biannual exercise 'Internal Look 03", U.S. Central
Command will deploy a portion of its command staff to Qatar sometime
in November," said Lieutenant Commander Nick Balice, a spokesman
for the command.
The
command also will move and test a new deployable headquarters
consisting of several modular buildings designed for command and
control and communications activities, he said.
Although
the command has held command post exercises every two years since
1990, this is the first involving a move of personnel and equipment to
the Gulf.
Pentagon
officials would not rule out the possibility that the headquarters and
staff may be left in Qatar after the exercise is over.
"Nothing
is definite," said one official, who asked not to be identified.
"A lot can happen between now and then."
Another
spokesperson said, "We don't comment on operations or future
moves."
However,
Army General Tommy Franks, the commander of U.S. forces in the region,
has said the base, 28 miles west of the capital Doha, was being
developed for "times of crisis."
The
Central Command headquarters staff at McDill Air Force Base in Tampa,
Florida, has grown to about 2,000 people since the September 11
terrorist attacks.
"A
sizeable portion of the Central Command staff will remain here in
McDill," Balice said.
It
was unclear whether Franks would be taking part in the exercise.
"He
travels frequently and it’s typical for him to travel to participate
in exercises he's conducting," said Balice.
The
Central Command is responsible for U.S. forces throughout southwest
Asia, an area with a quarter of world's oil reserves and simmering
tensions that spans 25 countries from Egypt to Afghanistan. In between
are Iran, Iraq and nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.
The
region is already headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, which is based
in Bahrain. U.S. forces also are stationed in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Further east, Central Command forces support operations in Afghanistan
from bases in Pakistan and Central Asia.
Threats
of terrorist attacks prompted the command to put all U.S. forces in
the region - some 60,000 of them afloat and ashore - on the highest
state of alert, force protection condition Delta, Pentagon officials
said.
Throughout
the Afghan campaign, Franks has kept his headquarters in Tampa,
believing he could lead as effectively from Florida as from the
region.
But
he recently designated a commander for U.S. forces in Afghanistan and
moved army headquarters for the region to Kuwait.
During
the 1991 Gulf War, General Norman Schwarzkopf commanded coalition
forces from Saudi Arabia.
More
than 5,000 U.S. troops are still based in Saudi Arabia, mostly at the
Prince Sultan Air Base, which boasts a state-of-the-art combined air
operations center that was used to direct the air war over
Afghanistan.
But
the Saudis have said Washington can no longer use Saudi territory for
military offensives against Iraq.
Instead,
the Central Command has sought to diversify its forces in the region,
upgrading the Al-Udeid base over the past year as an alternative to
the Prince Sultan Base.
The
base stands next to a sprawling arms warehouse, where Central Command
has stored tanks, armored personnel carriers and enough weapons to
equip an entire brigade.
Franks
has said the base, 28 miles west of the capital Doha, was being
developed for "times of crisis."
Washington
expanded the Al-Udeid airbase three years ago, but work shifted into
high gear in November after Saudi Arabia refused to let U.S. planes
and troops heading to Afghanistan use the Prince Sultan base, reports
news agencies.
News
agencies report the Al-Udeid base has been transformed in the past few
months into a state-of-the-art facility with one of the longest
runways in the Middle East, which at 14,760 feet can accommodate up to
120 fighter jets and enough ramp space and shelter to house an air
expeditionary force of 30 to 40 fighter jets.
The
air base hosts around 3,000 U.S. troops and 50 planes, and once
complete will be home to 10,000 troops.
Currently,
U.S. tanker refueling planes and air transports use the facility.
Other
Central Command forces in the Persian Gulf region include more than
5,000 U.S. Army soldiers at Camp Doha, Kuwait; a few thousand U.S. Air
Force personnel in Kuwait and a few thousand U.S. sailors in Bahrain,
reports news agencies.
Qatar,
however, like other Arab states, has warned the U.S. against launching
a military strike on Iraq.
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