The Hindu : U.S. tests mobile command hq.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 08, 2002

International

International

U.S. tests mobile command hq.

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA (BAHRAIN) Dec. 7. As Iraq handed over details of its arms programme to the United Nations today, a top ranking U.S. General arrived in Qatar to test a new mobile headquarters that could be the nerve centre for a possible war against Iraq.

General Tommy Franks, the head of the U.S. Central Command, landed at Qatar's Al- Udeid military base on Friday. Gen. Franks has arrived three days ahead of "Exercise Internal Look" that will try out a new U.S. mobile command post, which can be used for coordinating military operations, not far from the battlefield.

While the exercise is expected to last till December 17, the facility at Camp As Sayliyah, a little-publicised installation on the outskirts of Doha, in Qatar is unlikely to be dismantled in the near future. Gen. Franks' forward headquarters will be linked to all the U.S. military facilities in the Persian Gulf area as well as the Central Command's permanent headquarters in Florida. Gen. Franks at his mobile headquarters will be in touch with his naval commander in Bahrain, his Air Force commander in Saudi Arabia and his Army commander is in Kuwait. The presence of a forward headquarters under a top-ranking General can help in speeding up the pace of a military campaign as decision making can become faster and better especially on account of more frequent interaction between commanders.

Gen. Franks during the phase of the exercise is expected to hold several face-to-face meetings with his top commanders in the region.

British officers are also present at Camp As Sayliyah for the exercise, and top military commanders from other nations might also arrive as observers. Internal Look has been staged periodically for more than a decade, but this is the first time that it is being held outside the United States.

As the U.S. fine-tunes its military capabilities in the region, the war of words between Washington and Baghdad is expected it intensify in the coming days.

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