February 27, 2003	Thursday	Zul Hijjah 25, 1423

WASHINGTON: Army Chief of Staff Gen. Erik Shinseki told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that “several hundred thousand soldiers” will be needed both to win a war with Iraq and then maintain control over the country.

“Something on the order of several hundred thousand soldiers are probably, you know, a figure that would be required. We’re talking about post-hostilities control over a piece of geography that’s fairly significant, with the kinds of ethnic tensions that could lead to other problems,” Gen. Shinseki said during testimony to the committee.

The military expects to have roughly 250,000 military personnel available to fight in Iraq, but more will be needed for peacekeeping operations that could last for two years or longer.

All four military chiefs of staff testified to the committee and warned that elements of their services — particularly the Special Forces — are under a great deal of strain from their high tempo of operations. “There is stress today,” Shinseki said.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Jumper said he needed more people for critical missions like combat search and rescue and Special Forces but so far was trying to find them from within the service.

Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Vern Clark said more than half of the Navy is deployed.

Reports in the US media say that Iraq will be hit in massive strikes from at least seven American bases in the region.

In July 2002, the US Central Command also moved laser guided bombs, joint direct attack munitions (JDAMs) and Tomahawk missiles to the region, primarily in a build-up of supplies for the coming war in Iraq.

Lt Gen David D. McKiernan, who commands US and British land forces in Kuwait, told CNN on Tuesday that 100,000 US troops had landed in Kuwait and were ready to launch the attack whenever ordered.

Offshore, three aircraft carriers bristling with missiles and jets are now within range of Iraq — the USS Harry S. Truman in the Mediterranean Sea and the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Constellation in the Persian Gulf or Arabian Sea.

A fourth, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, will soon arrive and the Pentagon has dispatched the USS Kitty Hawk from its station in Japan and the USS Nimitz from San Diego. A seventh carrier, the USS George Washington, is likely to sail from Norfolk, Virginia.

Overhead, a network of spy satellites has been assembled 400 miles in space, to back up Global Hawk reconnaissance drones that will loiter at 65,000 feet, manned JSTARS aircraft with moving-target radar at 40,000 feet and Predator drones with video, infrared and radar sensors at 20,000 feet.