US tanks ready to roll on Baghdad

PRESIDENT Bush continues to tell the world that he has not made up his mind about attacking Iraq. But in the Kuwaiti desert, the US Army is busy preparing for war.

At their huge military base on the outskirts of Kuwait City, hundreds of American army tanks are being prepared to roll northwards towards Baghdad. As US military hardware piles up at Camp Doha, the locals have given it a suitably gung-ho nickname - "Camp F*** Iraq".

As the US army’s Abrams tanks and Apache gunships venture out into the desert, ostensibly for "training exercises", they look ready to roll northwards at very short notice.

Posted all along the road north, from Kuwait City to the Iraqi border, are small detachments of GIs, hidden under camouflage netting and cautiously watching the desultory traffic passing them by. Kuwaiti construction teams are hard at work improving the road, fitting lighting and laying new tarmac, despite the fact that the border has been closed since the Gulf War 11 years ago. "Either the Kuwaitis are very optimistic about a speedy and peaceful resolution to the crisis, or the US military want to have their main supply route into Iraq in tip-top condition," was the wry comment of one western diplomat.

"They have not come here for fun", was the conclusion of a British engineer, watching the display of military might from an oil field only 20 miles from the Iraqi border. "The Yanks tell us they will be ready to go after Ramadan in early December."

Less than a mile from Camp Doha, however, the residents of the oil-rich Gulf Emirate still know how to party.

At the Entertainment City theme park, Kuwaitis can ride the roller-coasters, take the African jungle cruise, or a car ride round Europe. Alternatively, they can take aim at cartoons of Saddam Hussein on the Wild West shooting gallery.

"Saddam is finished," commented Mustafa, the gallery attendant, as he reloaded for more eager customers. "Then we will have to put up a picture of Ariel Sharon".

Residents of the Emirate, from where it is widely assumed the main US armoured thrust would begin, seem to share none of the doubts of their fellow Arabs about the wisdom of toppling Saddam.

This week, the Kuwait government said that it would allow the US and UK to attack Iraq from its bases - in sharp contrast to a sensitive Saudi Arabia, which has ruled out use of bases on its soil, Kuwait public opinion seems strongly in favour of a US attack.

Unlike in previous Iraqi crises over the past decade, Kuwait has so far remained very calm. There have been no mad rushes to the airport or panic buying of war supplies. Even sales of gas masks have barely picked up.

Yacoub Al-Saleh, executive manager of Kuwait’s largest military supply store, told The Scotsman: "The people’s fear is still at a minimum level. Mainly educated people are buying - those who have some awareness of the situation. That is a sign of the temperature. I feel it is low at the moment."

Kuwait City remains a bustling metropolis, hardly feeling like a city 50 miles from a potential war zone. There are early morning traffic jams and business is brisk, from the traditional souks to western-style shopping malls.

The decision to close down the Kuwait city bureau of the Arabic al-Jazeera satellite television station highlighted government nervousness over Islamist groups.

For the record, the US Army is saying almost nothing about its preparations for war, beyond parroting comments from President Bush that "no decisions" have been made.

Inside the sprawling Camp Doha, the US Third Army’s spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Thomas, was unable to provide details of 10,000 strong US forces in Kuwait or the continuing troop build up.

His only comment was that, "US Central Command is re-positioning forces in the region to support the President’s global war on terrorism."

In private US Army officers display no doubts that there is only one outcome to the crisis - war. Their contingency invasion plans are ready and they are just waiting for the "execute" order.

Two scenarios seem ready, a surprise assault that could be launched within days, or a more deliberate campaign with a start date in late January or early February. The latter seems to be their preference, with a major build up of supplies and equipment building up to a peak in December.

Last week a brigade combat team of the 3rd Infantry Division moved out of Camp Doha into the desert for a extensive series of exercises that will culminate in live firing by Abrams tanks later in the month. All of the north west of the Emirate, a quarter of Kuwait’s land mass, has been declared a military zone and sealed off to allow the exercises to take place.

Currently two armoured brigades are known to be in the Emirate, and Kuwaiti military sources say that since June the tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery and other heavy equipment for one to two more armoured brigades has arrived. This would allow a further 10,000 GIs to fly in, link up with the heavy equipment and be ready for combat in 72 hours. Plans are underway to move the heavy equipment for another US division, to equip in excess of 18,000 troops, into Kuwait by December.

Three US Military Sealift Command ships have been dispatched to the Gulf carrying armoured vehicles and helicopters. The Pentagon is contracting for commercial vessels to carry 300 containers of ammunition to the Middle East by the middle of December. Apache attack helicopters are already flying patrols over the desert in the west of the Emirate.

In a further sign of the relentless American build-up, the US Army has begun contracting local construction firms to begin building at least one huge tent city out in the western desert - to accommodate a further 3,000-5,000 troops. All the facilities are to be up and running by the end of December.

From the Kuwaiti desert, it appears the countdown to war has already begun.