IP: World's biggest war games still on schedule despite attacks in US

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: "Fred Bothwell" <fredboth () texas net>
> To: <farber () cis upenn edu>
> Subject: World's biggest war games still on schedule despite attacks in US
> Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 11:31:03 -0500
>
>
> Is this getting any coverage in the US press?
> (From Yahoo News - Hong Kong)
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Monday, September 17 11:49 PM SGT
>
> World's biggest war games still on schedule despite attacks in US
> CAIRO, Sept 17 (AFP) -
> The United States, France and other countries are moving ahead with
> preparations for the world's biggest war games with some 70,000 troops in
> Egypt in October, Western diplomats said here Monday.
>
> The diplomats said they were virtually certain the war games, dubbed
> Operation Bright Star, would go head despite the wave of terror attacks in
> the United States and a much anticipated US military response.
>
> Some 1,000 US troops have arrived this month in northern Egypt to take part
> in the military exercises, which have been staged every two years since the
> 1980s, and France is also moving ahead with its plans, they added.
>
> Around 40,000 Egyptian and 20,000 US troops will make up the bulk of the
> force from 12 countries this year, they said.
>
> The three-phase exercises will last from October 8 to November 1 and will
> include training, tactical operations simulating confontrations with enemy
> forces, and a final phase to test command readiness.
>
> Maneuvers will take place in the area of El Alamein, where British and
> allied forces won a pivotal battle against Axis forces in World War II.
>
> Most of the exercises will be on land, some of them involving airborne
> troops.
>
> France, the second largest foreign contributor with 1,500 troops, will take
> part with Germany, Britain, Spain and Greece as well as four Arab countries:
> Kuwait, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
>
> The participation of 1,000 Italian troops has yet to be confirmed.
>
> A spokesman for the US embassy in Cairo said Monday that the US
> participation was still going ahead in the absence of any announcement to
> the contrary.
>
> The US forces, including US special forces and mechanized troops, are under
> orders from General Tommy Franks, who heads the Central Command zone.
>
> The zone covers the Horn of Africa, Egypt, the countries of the Arabian
> peninsula, Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as the neighboring countries of
> the former Soviet Union, but excludes Israel, Lebanon and Syria.
>
> The United States has named Saudi-born multi-millionaire Osama bin Laden,
> whose bases are in Afghanistan, as the key suspect in the suicide airline
> hijackings that claimed thousands of lives in New York, Washington and
> Pennsylvania.
>
> Washington has enlisted Pakistan's support in the war against terrorism.
>
> With its contingent of 40,000 men, Egypt is sending around one tenth of its
> military capability to the exercises, which aim to show the participants'
> commitment to the stability of the volatile region.
>
> Egypt is one of the main allies of the United States, receiving 1.3 billion
> dollars in US military aid every year, making it the second largest
> recipient after Israel.



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