Sources say U.S. shipping tanks to Gulf

Reuters (London) ^ | 9-4-02

[Oldeconomybuyer]

LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy has booked a large ship to carry tanks and heavy armour to the Middle East Gulf this month as the Pentagon presses home a case for ousting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, shipping sources have said.

The U.S. Military Sealift Command chartered a U.S. flagged general cargo ship to sail from the southeast U.S. coast to an unspecified port in the Middle East Gulf for discharge in late September, they said.

This is the third shipment of arms and military hardware in a month using commercial shipping, which military analysts say shows the U.S. Navy has probably exhausted the capacity of its own fleet and resorted to the open market.

The formal tender document, seen by Reuters, shows the ship will carry 67 seperate pieces of "track general cargo, containerised cargo and rolling stock" measuring 56,000 square feet (5,202 sq metres), slightly larger than a soccer pitch.

Military experts say the dimensions and weight of the pieces specified in the document almost exactly match those of the standard U.S. Abrams battle tank.

"This ship can easily carry tanks," a shipping industry source familiar with the U.S. military tendering process.

Military analysts say that the movement of heavy armour from the U.S. southeast coast to the Gulf mirrors similar movements ahead of the 1991 Gulf War and is key signal that the superpower is building up fire power in the region ahead of a military strike.

[dfwgator]

Gee why don't they just give the hour of the invasion while they're at it.

[G.Mason]

Not to worry.

We and the unwitting press have Iraq on a emotional rollercoaster ride.

By the time we attack they will be so nervous and jerky they won't know which end of the gun the bullet comes out of.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

[T]hey won't know which end of the gun the bullet comes out of.

Or which end to drop first. Seen on ebay: For sale Iraqi (French) Army rifle. Never fired, dropped once.

[Pistolshot]

BOHICA!!!!!!

[CELTICGAEL (Celt)]

Ditto that!

[Oldeconomybuyer]

BOHICA!!!!!!

???

[CELTICGAEL (Celt)]

Bend Over Here It Comes Again!

[Jonah Hex]

" Bend Over, Here It Comes Again"

[Chad Fairbanks]

WETSU!

heh heh heh

[Oldeconomybuyer]

LOL!

Thanks fer 'splainin' it to me.

[bandleader]

Was it ALGORE(who dropped it)while demonstrating firearms safety?

[Cloud William]

This is the third shipment of arms and military hardware in a month using commercial shipping, which military analysts say shows the U.S. Navy has probably exhausted the capacity of its own fleet and resorted to the open market.

If Reuters had done fifteen minutes worth of online research into how the U.S. Military Sealift Command is structured, they would never have written the absurd statement above. The Navy is not "resorting to the open market", it is simply bringing sealift ships up to full readiness as needed.

The following is a picture of one of our Fast Sealift ships, which are usually maintained in a reduced-duty status by a company that the Navy contracts with for that work.

These ships are almost as long as an aircraft carrier and can make more than 30 knots. I chose this picture because of the "old" Manhattan skyline in the background.