- KUWAIT (Reuters) - The United
States is completing work on new military facilities in the Gulf region
as the Bush administration pursues its plans to oust Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein, officials in the area said.
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- They said the facilities were not directly linked to
U.S. calls for a "regime change" in Iraq but were part of plans
to improve and upgrade U.S. installations in the oil-rich region.
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- These include installations in Qatar and Kuwait. The
United States already has a military presence in the Gulf waterway and
in all six Gulf Arab states in addition to non-Arab Turkey -- Iraq's northern
neighbor.
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- Kuwaiti Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Hamad al-Sabah
told Reuters Monday that a new military camp in the south of the country
is almost ready for U.S. troop deployment.
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- Western military sources said the camp would be ready
within weeks while some four tent cities had been erected in the north,
close to the Iraqi border.
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- Washington has also replenished its military stocks in
the region after a draw down for use in the war in Afghanistan, the sources
said.
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- "The Americans are now using Camp Doha which is
rented out from Public Warehousing . The new camp belongs to the Kuwait
military and will be used for the American troops," Sheikh Jaber said.
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- "It was built as a military camp for military use
not storage for companies," he added. "It is ready now and I
think power connections are still pending."
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- The United States has maintained warplanes and ground
troops in Kuwait to serve as a deterrent for Iraq since Washington led
the 1991 Gulf War, which ended Iraq's seven-month occupation of Kuwait.
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- U.S. troops use Camp Doha on the outskirts of Kuwait
City as a base for soldiers and pre-positioned heavy military hardware.
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- While the United States builds up its military facilities
in the region, Kuwait has added its voice to a collective Arab stand which
opposes a military campaign to topple Saddam.
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- But Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber said Kuwait could support
U.S. action if Iraq threatened Kuwait again or if there was an "international
umbrella ... We will not go against an international consensus."
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- BACKLASH?
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- Some Arab states fear a backlash in the Arab world, already
angered by what they see as blind U.S. support for Israel in its fight
with the Palestinian Authority, if military action were taken to topple
Saddam.
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- But Western sources familiar with plans to oust Saddam
told Reuters that some Washington planners believe removing Saddam would
rally support for the U.S. position.
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- "Some high up in the (U.S.) administration believe
that getting rid of Saddam will facilitate movement on the Palestinian
issue," a well-placed source said.
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- "Also, if Saddam is toppled quickly, you will see
some Arab (official) support gradually emerging," the source said.
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- Some sources doubted there would be any U.S. action prior
to the U.S. congressional elections in November.
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- "After the elections all options will be open and
anything is possible," said a U.S. official of possible military action
against Iraq and the follow-up political process.
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