WASHINGTON March 31 —
Fresh U.S. forces are flowing to the Persian Gulf, including 500
members of an Army cavalry regiment being sent ahead of schedule to
help protect U.S. supply lines from Iraqi attack.
The buildup comes amid upbeat Pentagon assessments of progress
against Iraq's strongest army force, the Republican Guard, which one
U.S. general said Monday had suffered a "very significant weakening"
from intensified American and British aerial bombardment.
"We know how it will end: The Iraqi regime will end," said
Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke. "But we know that there could
be some tough fighting ahead."
Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, vice director of operations on the
Pentagon's Joint Staff, told a news conference that more than
300,000 allied forces are now in the Gulf region, about 250,000 of
them American. Last Friday his boss, Gen. Richard Myers, had put the
allied total at 270,000.
McChrystal would not discuss specific missions of the additional
forces that are en route to the Gulf or getting ready to go. They
include 500 members of the Army's 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment who
left their Fort Polk, La., base on Sunday. They and their Humvee
scout vehicles, Kiowa reconnaissance helicopters and other equipment
were sent by air, enabling them to get to Iraq quicker than if the
equipment had been sent by sea as originally planned.
Other members of the 2nd Armored Cavalry are to go by sea.
Iraqi paramilitary forces have launched hit-and-run attacks on
supply lines between Kuwait and central Iraq, forcing U.S.
commanders to devote more combat resources to protecting those
lines.
The Army also is sending the 4th Infantry Division, its showpiece
armored force, to Iraq. Members of the Fort Hood, Texas-based
division began flying to Kuwait late last week. They originally were
to deploy to Turkey to open a northern front against Baghdad, but
Turkey refused access.
The first of about three dozen ships carrying the 4th Infantry's
equipment arrived in Kuwait on Sunday, and the rest are expected to
get there by mid-April. That would appear to make it unlikely the
division will be ready in time to participate in a looming battle
for Baghdad.
The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, based at Fort Carson, Colo.,
also is going. Five ships carrying its equipment from ports in Texas
are now on their way to the Gulf, and two more are loading.
Also scheduled to deploy, but not yet moving, is the 1st Cavalry
Division from Fort Hood.
The Navy also is making adjustments. It announced Monday that
four F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft from the carrier USS Nimitz in the
Indian Ocean have been temporarily reassigned to the USS Abraham
Lincoln carrier battle group in the Persian Gulf.
The Super Hornets, which normally are used in a fighter role,
will fly refueling missions, making up for what the Navy called a
shortage of fuel for strike planes searching for targets over
Iraq.
"There was significant evidence that the coalition's ability to
support troops on the ground was being hampered due to a lack of
airborne fuel which allows armed strike aircraft to loiter in the
vicinity of enemy forces and attack them when called upon," said
Capt. Jim Greene, deputy commander of Carrier Air Wing 11 aboard the
Nimitz.
Once the Nimitz gets into the Gulf, it is expected to relieve the
Lincoln, which is overdue to return to its home station at Everett,
Wash.
The Navy has a total of three carriers in the Gulf and two in the
eastern Mediterranean.
McChrystal gave an upbeat assessment of allied forces' progress
on the ground in Iraq, particularly against the Republican Guard
divisions protecting the approaches to Baghdad. He said intensified
airstrikes over the weekend had taken much of the fight out of
them.
"We see some very significant weakening and it will hit a tipping
point in some of their formations," he said.
He said some elements of other Republican Guard units have moved
to shore up the Medina Division that has been the main target of
U.S. bombing.
McChrystal said about 3,000 precision-guided munitions bombs
guided by satellite signals or laser designators were fired over the
weekend, bringing the total since the war began March 20 to
8,000.
photo credit
and caption:
A U.S. Army sniper takes aim on
targets in a residential area near the Euphrates River in Al
Hindiyah Monday, March 31, 2003. The army's Task Force 4-64,
part of the 3rd Infantry Division, seized the road leading
over the river as part of its campaign to move north towards
Baghdad. (AP Photo/John
Moore)
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