The Washington Post
WASHINGTON – American warplanes began flying overseas from U.S. bases Wednesday as the Pentagon ordered dozens of fighters, bombers and other aircraft to the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean and – in an unprecedented move – the two former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Defense Department officials said.
In the military’s first concrete steps toward war, the aircraft being deployed under what the Pentagon dubbed “Operation Infinite Justice” include F-15E fighter-bombers, F-16 fighters, B-1 long-range bombers, AWACS airborne command-and-control aircraft, refuelers and other support aircraft, officials said.
Several additional waves of deployments are expected as the war buildup continues, according to Pentagon planners. “There are movements, and you will see more movements,” Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told reporters. “It’s going to be big,” added an Air Force officer. “The president has to decide how big.”
The movement of the U.S. warplanes is the first step in fleshing out the sweeping rhetoric that President Bush and his senior officials have used in recent days to describe the scope and duration of their planned counter-attack on terrorism.
Between the Air Force and the Navy, the United States already has enough airpower in the Persian Gulf region to carry out what the Pentagon calls a major theater war. The additional forces now being deployed will mean that it can attack any country in the eastern hemisphere, while still continuing its patrols of the “no-fly” zones over Iraq’s north and south imposed at the end of the Gulf War in 1991.
Pentagon planners said the aircraft will provide cover for U.S. Special Forces missions out of Pakistan against alleged terrorists and countries that support them, beginning with Osama bin Laden, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington who is believed to be living in Afghanistan. The aircraft will also be in position to conduct air strikes against the militaries and government infrastructures of countries believed to harbor or support terrorists, they said.
The deployment of U.S. warplanes to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, where Russia still has thousands of troops stationed, is unprecedented and is likely to be logistically difficult, given their remote location just to the north of Afghanistan.
Air Forces officials said operating out of Uzbekistan would have advantages, allowing the military to tighten what it calls “operational security” by flying from remote bases where the media won’t be allowed. “We can put aircraft there where CNN can’t film them taking off,” said one officer.
Meanwhile, additional U.S. forces began to move toward the Mideast Wednesday as the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt sailed from Norfolk, Va., carrying about 75 aircraft. It is expected to join the two other U.S. carriers already in the region.
In addition, about 1,500 Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit are scheduled to depart Camp Lejeune, N.C., today for a regularly scheduled mission in the Arabian Sea.
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