-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! US closes net round Afghanistan By Esther Schrader in Washington The United States Army began moving troops to within striking distance of Afghanistan as a massive deployment of warplanes, ships, equipment and personnel entered its second day. Army Secretary Mr Thomas White, the US army's top civilian official, said the Army was "ready to conduct sustained land combat operations" in the Persian Gulf region. He said the deployment of special operations forces, light infantry and other troops was the first step in a broader military campaign that would unfold in coming weeks, adding that American casualties were likely. "This is not a police activity. We have treated [combating terrorism] as a police activity in the past," said Mr White, the army's top civilian official. "This is war. In the conduct of this campaign, there will most likely be casualties. That is the nature of war." He said the campaign would eventually involve other countries known to harbour or shelter terrorists. Analysts speculated these might include Iraq, Sudan and Libya. Mr White gave no details of which units might be sent from America, only that special units, which normally means the US Rangers, the Green Berets, Delta Force and US Navy SEAL units, would have a "prominent role". The Pentagon has said it has ordered more than 100 support aircraft. These include F-15E fighter bombers, F-16 fighters, B-52 bombers, B-1 long range bombers, E-3 AWACS airborne command-and-control aircraft and tanker aircraft to be positioned between the US and the Persian Gulf region to refuel the warplanes. Three aircraft carrier battle groups are now either in the region or steaming towards it. At the time of last week's terrorist attacks, the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and its battle group of ships and submarines were about to replace the carrier USS Enterprise. Both have been ordered to remain in the region. A third carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, left Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday with its own armada of about a dozen combat and support ships. Along with the air deployment, this could place up to 500 US warplanes in the Mediterranean, Gulf and Indian Ocean areas. Yesterday the US aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk steamed out of its home port near Tokyo. German media reported that a force of elite German troops was set to fly out to support a US strike in Central Asia. The Special Power Commando or KSK, which Germany considers among NATO's best troops, were due to leave their base in south-western Germany "any minute now", according to Die Welt newspaper. Russia, meanwhile, is pouring troops, tanks, and military equipment onto the border with Afghanistan. In addition to 10,000 border guards under Russian command on the ex-Soviet state of Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan, Moscow has sent tanks and several thousand crack troops to the border zone over the past week. But even as the military deployments progressed, the US was struggling to articulate this new kind of war against a shadowy, elusive enemy. "What we're engaged in is something that is very, very different from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Kosovo, Bosnia, the kinds of things that people think of when they use the word 'war' or 'campaign' or 'conflict'," Defence Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon. 'We really, almost, are going to have to fashion a new vocabulary and different constructs for thinking about what it is we're doing." While acknowledging that "we surely will not" eliminate terrorism completely, Mr Rumsfeld said the US would be victorious if it can "go after this worldwide problem in a way that we can continue our way of life. ... This is not a quick matter that's going to be over in a month or a year or even five years. It's a marathon, it's not a sprint." The US Air Force, Army and Navy deployments add to an already robust American military presence in the region. The US Central Command, the military headquarters that oversees a region from the Horn of Africa to Pakistan, has maintained a force of about 20,000 troops, about 175 aircraft and 14 ships, anchored by an aircraft carrier. Mr Rumsfeld also said that 5,131 Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard troops had been ordered to active duty as part of a "homeland defence" mobilisation ordered by President Bush. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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