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KUWAIT, July 22: 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.
They said the facilities were not directly linked to US calls for a “regime change” in Iraq but were part of plans to improve and upgrade US installations in the oil-rich region.
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 Turkey.
Kuwait’s Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Hamad al-Sabah told Reuters on Monday that a new military camp in the south of the country is almost ready for US troop deployment.
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.
Washington has also replenished its military stocks in the region after a draw down for use in the war in Afghanistan, the sources said.
“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.
“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.”
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.
US troops use Camp Doha on the outskirts of Kuwait City as a base for soldiers and pre-positioned heavy military hardware.
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.
But Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber said Kuwait could support US action if Iraq threatened Kuwait again or if there was an “international umbrella ... We will not go against an international consensus”.
BACKLASH: Some Arab states fear a backlash in the Arab world, already angered by what they see as blind US support for Israel in its fight with the Palestinian Authority, if military action were taken to topple Saddam.
But Western sources familiar with plans to oust Saddam told Reuters that some Washington planners believe removing Saddam would rally support for the US position.
“Some high up in the (US) administration believe that getting rid of Saddam will facilitate movement on the Palestinian issue,” a well-placed source said.
“Also, if Saddam is toppled quickly, you will see some Arab (official) support gradually emerging,” the source said.
Some sources doubted there would be any US action prior to the US congressional elections in November.
“After the elections all options will be open and anything is possible,” said a US official of possible military action against Iraq and the follow-up political process.—Reuters
