The U.S. military ordered more than 11,000 desert-trained Army troops from the 3rd Infantry Division to start moving to the Gulf in coming days in the kickoff of a major build-up of ground forces for a possible war with Iraq, defense officials said on Wednesday.
According to Reuters, army officials in Washington and at division headquarters in Fort Stewart and Fort Benning, Georgia, said the 1st and 3rd Brigades of the division would soon start moving to join the 3rd brigade of more than 4,000 troops, who are now training in Kuwait.
The movement, including tanks and attack helicopters, will be the first deployment of a full combat division of U.S. forces to the area since the 1991 Gulf War. Much of the division's equipment is already waiting in the region.
Meanwhile, Iraq urged Arab nations to take inspiration from North Korea's response to US threats.
"We Arabs need to revise our behaviour towards the United States, as North Korea has done, to be respected," said Ath-Thawra newspaper on Wednesday.
"Arabs need to learn the lesson from the Korean example to mobilize in order to stop an attack on Iraq and prevent a US-Zionist crusade in the Arab world," Ath-Thawra added.
"Korea insists on its right to possess a technology used by the United States to raze Japanese cities (during World War II) and which it still uses to blackmail the world and force it to obey its orders. "Through its courageous stance, North Korea demands that international law be applied to all in the same manner," the daily said.
In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Britain is going to face "difficult and dangerous" problems in 2003, including a US-led war on Iraq and possible terror attacks at home. Blair said it might become necessary to disarm Saddam Hussein "by force". (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
