America's most senior officer said Wednesday the US military forces massed in the Gulf are now ready to wage war against Iraq.
General Richard Myers, chairman of the joints chiefs of staff, said his troops could also wait for months in a high state of readiness, if that was what was needed.
"We are ready now. The Iraqi regime should have no doubt," Gen. Myers said.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, revealed more than 20,000 additional members of the National Guard and Reserve have been called to active duty over the past week, pushing the total number mobilized to 78,906. Myers stated he was happy with the pace of the US troop build-up.
Meanwhile, General Tommy Franks, the Central Command chief who would run a war against Iraq, has left his Florida headquarters for a week-long tour of the Gulf.
Also on Wednesday, Iraq claimed to have shot down an unmanned U.S. aircraft that entered its airspace from Kuwait. The U.S. military disputed the report, saying it appeared to be untrue. If the report were confirmed, it would be the second time in a month that Iraqi defenses had brought down one of the American reconnaissance drones.
An unnamed spokesman for Iraq's air defense command, quoted by the official Iraqi News Agency (INA), said Wednesday that the downed aircraft was a Predator.
"The spy plane that breached the sanctity of Iraq's international airspace is used by the American enemy to spy on our civilian and military installations," the spokesman said.
"With a resolve that never fails and with hearts filled with faith in God, country and leader, our brave men in the air defense forces were able to shoot down an American reconnaissance plane from the Predator type that came from Kuwait," INA reported. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
