PhotoDude.com

Tue. Nov 05, 2002

Leaning Way Forward

Leaning Way Forward – Reuters treats this as the lead: "Three enormous U.S.-military owned cargo ships capable of carrying tanks have left U.S. shores in recent days, a U.S. navy (news – web sites) official said on Monday, amid mounting evidence Washington is building up firepower to attack Iraq." Each ship is "...capable of carrying 58 Abrams battle tanks, 48 track vehicles, such as armored vehicles, and 900 other trucks."

But here’s the real story: "Eight of their sister ships, known as the Watson-class, and similarly packed with armor and supplies for the U.S. Army, are anchored around the British base of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, within a few days sail of the Gulf."

As I’ve said before, there will be no three month buildup of forces before any attack on Iraq, and the above doesn’t even include a few brigade’s worth of prepositioned equipment in Kuwait and Qatar. The three ships departing now are merely the icing. The cake is already there.