----- Original Message ----- From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, April 01, 2000 3:24 PM Subject: [STOPNATO] U.S. Marines Stage Live-Fire 'War Games' On Iraqi Border STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG Published on Saturday, April 1, 2000 by Agence-France Presse 'Eager Mace 2000': US Marines Stage Live-Fire 'War Games' On Iraqi Border SUBIYA, Kuwait - US marines began unloading hundreds of troops and equipment on Kuwait's northern shores on Saturday for the start of joint live-fire exercises near the Iraqi border Air-cushioned landing craft (LCAC) carried light armored vehicles, amphibious assault vehicles and other equipment from three US ships in Kuwaiti territorial waters to the mainland as gunships and Cobra attack helicopters flew overhead. "It's part of our most important bilateral exercises. We have spent nearly a year in preparation for this exercise," Colonel Richard Zimler, commander of the 15th Marine Expenditionary Unit (MEU), told reporters. "We are here to demonstrate our commitment to regional security and to develop our inter-operability skills with the Kuwaiti armed forces," Zimler said. Some 1,400 sailors and marines of the US Fifth Fleet will conduct "a joint, combined amphibious, ground, air, and naval training exercise," codenamed "Eager Mace 2000", with the Kuwaiti armed forces. The April 1-25 exercise kicks off one week ahead of a planned visit by US Defense Secretary William Cohen to the region. But US officials in Kuwait denied any link. "It's not connected to Cohen's visit to Kuwait. This is something of a regular, periodical training," US charge d'affaires William Monroe said. "This is a demonstration of our commitment to Kuwait and the Gulf region. It's a great reflection of the good, strong relationship between Kuwait and the US," said Monroe, who watched the landing. The amphibious landing will continue on Sunday with the five LCACs expected to make between 35 to 40 trips to the Subiya shore, around 80 kilometresmiles) north of Kuwait City. After offloading, the troops and equipment will move to the Udairi desert range, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Iraqi border, for more than three weeks of live-fire exercises. "We'll be doing a lot of live-firing exercises, which include firing with tanks, artillery, Cobra gunships, Stinger rockets, and a host of other live-firing assets that we have got out here," said Lieutenant David Romley, spokesman for the MEU. "We have about 2,100 marines aboard three ships and some 1,400 of them are coming ashore," he said. Romley said the marines would be training on chemical warfare. "We will not over-emphasise chemical training, but we will be greatly focused on it," he said. Some 4,000 US military personnel are stationed at a base west of Kuwait City, Camp Doha, where the US military stockpiles prepositioned equipment. An undisclosed number of US aircraft and 400 aircrew are also deployed at Ahmad al-Jaber air base, 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Kuwait City, from where they patrol a "no-fly" zone over southern Iraq. Kuwait has defence pacts with Washington, London and Paris, signed after the 1991 Gulf War which evicted Iraqi occupation forces, and the Kuwaiti military regularly holds exercises with forces from the three Western states. Copyright � 2000 AFP Common Dreams. www.commondreams.org ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ______________________________________________________________________ Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com
