U.S. military beef up preparations as war looms larger

KUWAIT CITY, March 17 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In a move that could signal a war with Iraq is imminent, U.N. observers stationed along Kuwait's border with Iraq ceased all operations on Monday, March 17, as a leading newspaper reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is preparing to mobilize as many as 5,000 agents to guard against terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.

The U.N. Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (UNIKOM) had raised its state of alert to phase 4, the highest level, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

"We went to phase four today, which means ceasing all operations" in the demilitarized zone (DMZ), UNIKOM spokesman Daljeet Bagga said.

The observers had no orders to evacuate but were assembling in one place, waiting to hear from headquarters in New York during the day.

"For the time being we are reviewing our security plans in consultation with U.N. headquarters. We will know today if we are staying in the DMZ or moving out," he said.

"The United Nations is proceeding to take appropriate measures to ensure the security of its personnel in the DMZ," Bagga added.

UNIKOM was set up to monitor the 240-kilometre (165-mile) land and maritime border in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War and to ensure no violations occur in the DMZ.

It is guarded by an electrical fence, three-metre (10-foot) high sandbags,   trenches and other barriers as well as being patrolled by the United Nations.

Second Resolution Unacceptable: France

In the meantime, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin reiterated Monday that a second U.N. resolution on Iraq was unacceptable.

"France cannot accept the resolution on the table that lays down an ultimatum," de Villepin told Europe 1 radio.

While his Belgian counterpart Louis Michel said the United States, Britain and Spain "to all intents and purposes decided to attack" Iraq.

"France had proposed further discussions on 30 or so days, they turned it down so if it's less than that (...) that means to all intents and purposes they've decided to attack," AFP quoted Michel as telling RTBF public television.

On Sunday, March 16, U.S. President George W. Bush gave the United Nations “24 hours” to decide whether or not to back a U.S.-led war on Iraq.

"We concluded that tomorrow is a moment of truth for the world," Bush declared after an emergency war summit in Portugal’s Azores Islands with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Premier Jose Maria Aznar.

U.S. Diplomats To Leave Israel, Syria, Kuwait 

Just hours after Bush, Blair and Aznar ended their “war summit,” the U.S. state department ordered its non-essential diplomats and the families of all embassy personnel to leave Israel, Syria and Kuwait.

The department said it had taken the step "as a result of a deteriorating security situation in the region" and because of fears of anti-U.S. attacks with chemical or biological weapons.

"The decision to move is a result of an overall assessment of the security situation in the region due to the threat of military action in Iraq," it said.

The statements were accompanied by dire warnings for U.S. citizens to cancel any plans to travel to the three countries and for Americans already there to depart promptly.

"Private American citizens currently in (Israel and the Palestinian territories, Kuwait and Syria) are strongly urged to depart immediately," the department said.

"Americans in (the three countries) should exercise caution and take prudent measures to maintain their security," it said, urging U.S. citizens to be "vigilantly aware" of their surroundings, avoid crowds, keep a low profile and vary times and routes of their travel.

"In the event of military action in Iraq, there is a risk that Iraq or “terrorist organizations” may use chemical and/or biological materials which could affect the region," the department said.

Louis Fintor, a department spokesman, said Washington was not aware of any direct threat to U.S. citizens in the three countries but made clear the apparent likelihood of war was behind the decision.

“France cannot accept the resolution on the table that lays down an ultimatum,” de Villepin

"We do not have threat information specific to these areas, however, we believe that a move to order departure status represents a prudent measure as we prepare for various contingencies in the region, including the possibility of commercial air service disruptions should military action against Iraq become necessary," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the time had also come for Americans, U.N. personnel, journalists and aid workers to leave or start consider leaving Baghdad.

“My personal advice is they ought to take a hard look at the situation they are in and it would be probably better for them to start leaving or making plans to leave," he told CNN.

Nearly every U.S. embassy in consulate in nations surrounding or near Iraq is now under so-called "authorized departure" status which allows non-essential staff and dependents to leave at Washington's expense. Prominent exceptions are Egypt and Turkey.

The U.S. missions in the Middle East and Gulf currently on authorized departure status are now: U.S. diplomatic missions in Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

FBI Mobilizes For War

In another development, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is preparing to mobilize as many as 5,000 agents to guard against terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, The Washington Post reported Monday.

The agents will monitor or arrest suspected militants and interview thousands of Iraqis living in the United States, officials familiar with the effort told the daily.

"We're prepared for the worst and hoping for the best. There is going to be a very large commitment to anything and everything that could possibly happen," a senior FBI official told the daily.

If war broke out, FBI headquarters and all 56 field offices would immediately staff 24-hour command centers, in conjunction with 66 joint terrorism task forces across the country, the Post wrote.

Sources also told the Post that the Department of Homeland Security could raise the nation's color-coded threat level from yellow to orange, or "high risk," as early as this week.

The measures are part of a detailed contingency plan developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation over the last year in preparation for an invasion of Iraq, officials told the Post.

The FBI operation, which would approach the scale of the investigation into the September 11, 2001 attacks, is a reflection of widespread fears among counterterrorism officials that the risk of attacks will increase dramatically in the event of war.

Australia Readies To Join War

For his part, Australian Prime Minister John Howard called a special cabinet meeting late Monday as his government prepared to defy public opinion and join a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Howard called the cabinet meeting shortly after Bush briefed him by telephone on Washington's decision about the new deadline given to the United Nations to approve a war “to disarm Iraq” or see the United States take unilateral action.

"Military participation by Australia in action against Iraq is now even more likely than it may have appeared a few days ago," Howard said at a press conference.

"I think the thing should be brought to a head and it will be," he said.

Howard said the government had received formal advice from the attorney-general and foreign ministry that an attack on the regime of Saddam Hussein would be “legal” even without a further U.N. resolution.

"If a decision is taken to participate in military action to enforce disarmament on Iraq, then that decision will be completely in accordance with the legal authority already contained in a series of U.N. resolutions," he said.

He has already sent 2,000 troops, 14 fighter aircraft and three navy ships to the Gulf to join a massive U.S.-British military build-up, sparking the biggest protest demonstrations his country has seen since the Vietnam War.

Opinion polls show up to 70 percent of Australians oppose invading Iraq without new and explicit U.N. backing, but Howard said Monday that this would not dissuade him from following the US into war.

Romania Seeks “Democracy” Out of War

Romania's own hard-fought struggle for democracy is the reason for the country's staunch backing of Bush's push to overthrow Iraq's government, President Ion Iliescu wrote in Monday's The Washington Post.

After suffering for years under the totalitarian regime of Nicolae Ceausescu, Romanians are unwilling to tolerate tyranny in any form, Iliescu said.

"For Romanians, any attack against freedom in Europe, the United States and throughout the world is unacceptable," the Romanian president said.

"As a member of the United Nations, Iraq has the obligation to observe the resolutions of the Security Council. Failure to do so has serious consequences, including the use of force," he continued.

"The Iraqi people are educated and talented and have unlimited potential that can be released if they have the chance to live in freedom," Iliescu wooed Iraqis.