----- Original Message ----- From: "Gordon Fitch" <gcf at panix.com> To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 06, 2002 9:05 AM Subject: Re: war plans
> > WAR PLAN By NILES LATHEM
> >
> The reporter seems to be unfamiliar with military matters.
> A serious invasion of Iraq cannot be staged from a single
> airbase, however state-of-the-art, in Qatar. Unless the
> Pentagon has secret knowledge that a revolt is about to take
> place in Iraq, bombing and small commando raids cannot be
> expected to impress, much less displace, the present
> government there. An invasion must be staged from one or
> more of Iraq's neighbors, and the buildup for it would
> take several weeks. The airbase in Qatar is probably being
> expanded to account for the loss of facilities in Saudi
> Arabia, in which case it represents a sort of tactical
> retreat, a pulling-back of an imperial outpost to a more
> secure position.
>
> -- Gordon
=================================
"First, although we should not be seen to be withdrawing our military forces from Saudi Arabia under pressure from al Qaeda or anyone else, I believe that we should steadily take steps behind the scenes so that at a point when it is clear that we are not moving from weakness (e.g., a successful action on our part to remove the Baathist regime in Iraq would provide a good opportunity to take this action) we can transfer our remaining forces out of the Kingdom and into other facilities in the Gulf region. Not only do we not want our use of force constrained in the future by Saudi intransigence, and not only do we not want the women in our military forces subjected to restrictions and humiliation, but we have now seen the Saudis lack of cooperation on two occasions when American troops have been killed by terrorists in the Kingdom. In my view if for this reason alone, at the first appropriate opportunity we should move our forces elsewhere."
Statement of
R. James Woolsey
Partner, Shea & Gardner
Before the
House Committee on International Relations
Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia
The Future of U.S.-Saudi Relations
May 22, 2002 http://www.house.gov/international_relations/