US orders troops to Gulf

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has put thousands of troops on notice and could soon double the nearly 60,000 US personnel — including Navy and Air Force troops — in the Gulf region.

But the forces ordered to deploy so far are far short of the more than 2,50,000 US troops sent for the Gulf War. US officials are estimating a possible military campaign in Iraq could cost at least the $61 billion expended on the 1991 effort that forced Saddam Hussein’s troops from neighbouring Kuwait.

The US Central Command in Florida, meanwhile, said aircraft taking part in US-British patrols hit the military defense radar after it was moved into a ‘‘no-fly’’ zone in southern Iraq. Iraq said the planes struck civilian targets, killing one.

The aircraft used precision-guided weapons on the radar, near al Qurnah a command spokesman said.

An Iraqi military spokesman said Iraqi anti-aircraft and missile batteries fired back. ‘‘The US administration and its servant Britain added a new crime to their black record … when their hostile planes attacked today civilian and service installations killing one citizen and wounding two,’’ the Iraqi spokesman said.

A recent escalation in the number of such incidents has coincided with the US military build-up.

While US President George Bush has made no decision to invade Iraq over Washington’s accusations that Baghdad is developing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, he has warned that war may become necessary.

On Tuesday he reminded the Iraqi President that the growing US military presence in the Gulf was designed to make sure he ‘‘heard the message’’. The deployment of a full division, which includes foot soldiers, armour, aviation and artillery, was the latest visible signal the Bush administration was moving toward military action to force Iraq to disarm.

UN weapons inspectors are to report back to the Security Council on January 27 on whether they have found any signs of weapons of mass destruction.

Iraq says it has no banned weapons and has invited chief arms inspector Hans Blix to Baghdad before the report is made. UN officials said on Wednesday Blix likely would travel there between January 18 and 20.

While Blix’s report will not be an automatic trigger for war, most UN diplomats believe it could lead to one in record time. Not coincidentally, the date is about when the US military would be ready to attack.

US army officials said the 1st and 3rd brigades of the 3rd Infantry Division would soon begin moving to join the 2rd brigade of more than 4,000 troops, now training in Kuwait.

The division specialises in desert warfare, and its brigades have been rotating through desert-training exercises in Kuwait and Southern California for months. (Reuters)