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New HQ to be based first aboard a naval command ship, but could move ashore
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WASHINGTON,
November 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – U.S. defense officials
have confirmed that they are planning to establish a military
headquarters in the Horn of Africa to help in the hunt for suspected
terrorists.
It
could also free up other military commanders to concentrate on planning
for possible military action against Iraq, reported the BBC Sunday,
November 3, on its web site.
The
Horn of Africa has become a main focus of the Americans' so-called
global war on terrorism and their hunt for suspected al-Qaeda members
and their sympathizers.
Several
hundred U.S. army and special forces troops are already stationed in
Djibouti.
The
new joint headquarters would help co-ordinate their efforts and U.S.
cooperation with local states.
Pentagon
officials say the headquarters is likely to be based first aboard a
naval command ship, but then could move ashore.
It
could also free up other commanders in U.S. central command, which has
overall responsibility for the region, to spend more time on planning
and preparation for a possible military offensive on Iraq.
The
Americans could eventually have three regional headquarters in the area,
each with its own responsibilities.
As
well as the new command centre in the Horn of Africa, there is one at
Bagram air base in Afghanistan, and there could be a third in the Gulf.
A
major command post exercise begins in Qatar in the next few weeks, and
the Pentagon has left open the possibility that equipment and military
staff could stay on there after the exercise is over.
The
2nd Marine Division based in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, has received
orders to deploy a few hundred headquarters staff for a joint task force
for the Horn of Africa, Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted Pentagon
officials as saying on October 31.
A
strike force of some 800 U.S. special operations forces and marines
already are on station in the former French colony of Djibouti.
No
operations have been launched so far, and the forces in Djibouti have
engaged mainly in training and expanding contact with government forces
in Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya and Yemen, they said.
But
they are on the lookout for al-Qaeda leaders, particularly in Yemen.
"If
something breaks, and you find something and go after it, you have to
have someone focused on it," a defense official said, explaining
the decision to create a joint task force.
More
broadly though, the move will allow General Tommy Franks, the commander
of U.S. forces in the Gulf, to concentrate on planning for possible
military action in Iraq, said the official, who asked not to be named.
The
Pentagon earlier this year set up a similar task force in Afghanistan to
direct U.S. operations there and ease the demands on Franks, who would
likely command any U.S. invasion of Iraq.
U.S.
forces in the region now number more than 60,000, climbing in recent
days as forces flow into Kuwait from Europe and the United States, and
as the navy rotates its warships into the region.
"Some
helicopters and some headquarters elements are starting to arrive in
Kuwait," said the official.
He
was referring to 24 AH-64 Apache helicopters from an army aviation
regiment and headquarters staff from the fifth Corps in Germany, and
headquarters staff of the first Marine Expeditionary Force based in Camp
Pendleton, California.
An
amphibious assault group led by the helicopter carrier USS Nassau
transited the Red Sea this week with a contingent of some 2,200 Marines,
relieving an amphibious ready group led by the USS Belleau Wood.
In
another sign of stepped up preparations for war in the Gulf, the head of
the U.S. missile defense agency called for accelerated production of the
latest generation of Patriot interceptor missiles, called PAC-3.
The
PAC-3 missile is designed to intercept and destroy cruise and ballistic
missiles with ranges of up to 1,000 kilometers (600 miles).
But
the Pentagon only has 40 of the missiles in stock, which means it will
have to rely on less capable Patriot-2 missiles to protect U.S. forces
from possible Iraqi Scud missile attack.
