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No!!! Financial Times below. Hard to believe they failed to note the way the
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UK army to command US troops in case of war By Mark Odell in London As the military pressure on Baghdad intensified on Monday, Geoff Hoon, the British defence secretary, also confirmed that permission had been granted for the deployment of 14 US Air Force B-52 bombers at Fairford air base in Gloucestershire, western England. Mr Hoon denied that there had been any "substantial" change to military operations in the US- and British-patrolled no-fly zones over Iraq. Under questioning in the House of Commons, he acknowledged that there was "no doubt that our forces have been undertaking more frequent patrols involving a broader range of aircraft in the no-fly zones". But he insisted that no decision on military action had been made and denied that there had been any change to the rules of engagement for the US and UK warplanes patrolling the no-fly zones. "Those forces have always been entitled to deal with threats that might arise, whether they are direct threats to aircraft flying above the northern and southern no-fly zones or whether they are threats to the forces themselves on the ground in bases like Kuwait," Mr Hoon said. His denial was made despite repeated statements from the Pentagon, dating back to late last year, that allied aircraft had expanded their range of objectives beyond the previous concentration on air defence facilities targeting their patrols. Iraq said on Monday that six civilians had been killed and 15 wounded in an overnight raid by allied aircraft on the southern port city of Basra. The unusual arrangement by which the Pentagon will hand over control of some of its forces to a British field commander will deliver a welcome boost to Tony Blair, the embattled prime minister, who is under intense pressure for his support of military action in the Gulf. "This is a surprise departure from usual US policy. There must have been quite a lot of political manoeuvring in the background to achieve this," said Charles Heyman, the editor of Jane's World Armies. Mr Blair, who is often accused of being the "poodle" of President George W. Bush, has had to face down fierce criticism from inside and outside his party for his pro-war stance. Political opponents have also attacked him for refusing to clarify how much control he would retain over British troops in the event of a war. British forces will fall under the overall command of General Tommy Franks, the head of US central command, which is responsible for the Gulf region. This hierarchy had been expected to extend down to commanders in the field in the event of any joint deployments. But the latest development is thought to be unprecedented since combined allied operations during the second world war. The troops from the 15th US Marine Expeditionary Force are expected to be put under the command of Brigadier Jim Dutton, the commander of Britain's 3 Commando Brigade. They would most likely be deployed alongside a force of about 4,000 Royal Marines in an amphibious assault on Basra, Iraq's only port. But Mr Heyman, a former British army officer, expressed concern about how the line of command would work in practice after defence officials confirmed that any of the US Marine commanders would be able to question an order from a senior British officer by going over his head to US central command, based in Qatar, the Gulf emirate. "It is not an ideal situation. In the heat of battle this could cause some quite serious problems. I suspect Jim Dutton is trying to figure out at the moment exactly what this means," he said. Mr Hoon also said Britain had now committed 45,000 troops to a possible war, of whom 30,000 had already been deployed to the Gulf region. Additional reporting by James Blitz |
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NATO | Wars | 3/3/02 'News' |