Iraqi rebels join US invasion forces

REBEL Iraqi troops will join the US invasion force in any bid to free their nation from Saddam Hussein. Some 3,000 have been trained by the US army’s European Command in Hungary to work with American troops.

In spite of press speculation in Washington that troops will soon stage lightning strikes into Iraq, it looks more likely that the experience of the US’s top Middle East commander, General Tommy Franks, in Afghanistan will lead him to use psychological warfare and special forces first to try to pry the Iraqi army away from the Saddam loyalists in the Republican Guard.

A radio station is now calling on Iraqi troops to disobey Saddam’s orders and for the Baghdad regime to be overthrown. Millions of leaflets are being dropped over southern Iraq to reinforce this message.

In the wake of this propaganda effort, US special forces and British Special Air Service teams are reported to be operating along the fringes of Iraq’s borders. The main focus of this effort is in the Kurdish safe haven in northern Iraq where special forces liaison teams are now working with rebel groups and tribal chiefs.

The Kurdish KDP and PUK are the main points of contact for the western forces, although rebel Iraqi officers are also receiving help to set up bases in the liberated zones.

By the end of the month General Franks is expected to be installed in his forward command post in Qatar.

He will arrive to find a military force ready for invasion. The bulk of the 70,000 ground troops ordered to the Middle East just after Christmas are already in place in Kuwait or on ships in the Gulf. A second army of more than 80,000 US and British combat troops will be in place by early March.

Hundreds of extra fighter jets, attack helicopters and scores of warships, manned by 80,000 sailors and airmen, have also arrived in the past three weeks, enabling Franks to begin an offensive by the end of the month.

For US commanders the most dangerous phase has already passed. The nightmare scenario for battle planners was a surprise Iraqi attack. Apart from a half-hearted attempt to move an Ababil-100 missile battery near to Kuwait earlier this week, the Iraqis have so far not tried to pre-empt the US deployment.

Genral Franks can now count on a full army division of 20,000 men in Kuwait, backed up by the 30,000 strong 1st Marine Division. They muster nearly 400 M1A1 Abrams tanks and thousands of other armoured vehicles.

He also has an attack helicopter brigade with some 60 AH-64 Apache gunships armed with Hellfire missiles and a transport helicopter brigade with giant Chinooks. The Marines also have almost 100 attack helicopters, backed by Harrier jump jets and F/A-18 Hornet strike jets.

Britain’s carrier HMS Ark Royal and the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean are now in the Gulf, poised to land the 4,000 Royal Marines of 3 Commando Brigade in Kuwait or southern Iraq by helicopter.

Air power in the region has been boosted to almost 500 combat and 150 support aircraft and by the arrival of USAF F-117 stealth bombers and two additional US Navy aircraft carriers.

The first of the RAF’s additional Tornado GR4 bombers left their bases in Britain earlier this week, and by the time the USAF and RAF build-up is complete in the next week, some 700 US and British strike aircraft will be in place.

The final pieces in the commanders’ jigsaw will fall into place over the next two to three weeks when the 120 Challenger 2 tanks of Britain’s 7th Armoured Brigade begin to arrive in Kuwait. Turkey looks set to allow 37,000 soldiers of the US 4th Infantry Division to start moving to northern Iraq and the first airborne forces will be positioned within striking range of Baghdad.

A brigade of paratroopers the US 82nd Airborne Division is in the process of setting up a base at a "secret" location in the Middle East and Britain’s 16th Air Assault Brigade has also started to move to the region.

The location of these two units’ bases is being kept a closely guarded secret to ensure they have the element of surprise when they are launched into action.

Some 270 helicopters of the US’s elite 101st Airborne Division are being shipped this weekend and will not be ready for action in the Middle East for at least three weeks. General Franks might want to wait until it is ready to strike, but he could be planning to feed it in to replace tired front-line units as the battle unfolds.

The first and crucial phase of Franks’ battle plan is already unfolding. This is the neutralisation of key Iraqi air defence sites to ensure the USAF has air supremacy. Almost daily air strikes under the guise of enforcing the no-fly zones are hitting Iraq’s air defence command hard.

Almost daily air strikes under the guise of enforcing the no-fly zones are hitting Iraq’s air defence command hard.

Time for paybacks ...

"Some 3,000 have been trained by the US army’s European Command in Hungary to work with American troops."

Rumsfeld knew, he just knew there was a possibility that France might play the Judas. The campaign on Iraq has been gamed on the assumption of Gallic treachery.

Jacques to Saddam: "they knew we were coming, boss."

"Nah," Jacques, "you surprised them. See, everything's quiet."

"Yeah, too quiet."

Yee Hiii!!! Payback Indeed!! My old 82d Abn Div and the 1st Marine Division! Let's put Sean Penn, Jane Fonda, Madonna, and the rest of the "Hollywood Rifles" right between the Iragis and the first shock troops in!

Amazing. Watching "Patriot". One of the militiamen just said, "to hell with the French Army".

I just rented that DVD for the snow storm this weekend - I'll be lookin for that part !

Have you seen the assorted stories lately about uprooting our WWI and WWII military from French gravesites and moving them to America ...?? Interesting! I think France has biten off more than they can chew.

Hope they don't make tooooo many plans for all that money from the oil deal they have made with Sadaam ... quite frankly, I hope they never see a cent of it (the money that is).

I'm betting dollars to donuts that the Bush Administration has made a deal with the rebels that allows for Iraqi repayment of the costs of this war.

The French will see none of this oil money. Period. Paybacks being what they are, don't you know.

The article didn't mention this, but I recall hearing that the US wants to have five carrier groups in the region. The "Status of the Navy" webpage as updated through Feb 11 shows the following:

Carriers:
USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) - Pacific Ocean
USS Constellation (CV 64) - Arabian Gulf
USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) - Pacific Ocean
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) - Atlantic Ocean
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) - Arabian Gulf
USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) - Pacific Ocean
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) - Adriatic Sea

I'm guessing the Constellation, Truman, and Lincoln are in range. Does anyone have any idea if any of the others are en route? Or would the Navy keep this info under wraps? I'm guessing since the above webpage is pretty detailed, they're not to worried about disclosing general locations. Thanks in advance.

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