THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 9, 1994 TAG: 9410090057
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MICHAEL R. GORDON, THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
The United States ordered 4,000 Army troops and two Patriot anti-missile batteries to Kuwait on Saturday as Iraqi forces massed near the Kuwaiti border.
The Pentagon announcement of the move came amid intelligence reports that Iraq's forces near Kuwait had grown to about 64,000 troops, some of whom have moved to within 12 miles of the border. About 700 tanks also were positioned or headed to the area.
Lt. Gen. John Sheehan, a Marine who is director of operations for the Pentagon's Joint Staff, said that Iraqi forces - including 20,000 of Iraq's best-trained Republican Guards - ``clearly present a threat to Kuwait.''
During the Pentagon briefing, officials said that Defense Secretary William J. Perry and Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would be stopping at the U.S. Central Command Headquarters in Tampa, Fla., while returning from Haiti. Officials said the two would then decide whether more ground and air units should be sent to the Persian Gulf.
For now, in addition to the 4,000-troop Army task force of the 24th Mechanized Division from Fort Stewart, Ga., several other units have been put on alert.
They include the remainder of the 24th division, a wing of Air Force combat aircraft, and a Marine expeditionary unit at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
The officials said a member of the Saudi royal family is at the headquarters in Tampa, where forces in the Middle East are directed, to help with the planning.
``We are clearly in a position now that if Saddam Hussein does something, we can punish them,'' Sheehan said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pentagon official John Sheehan: Iraq's 20,000 Republican guards
``clearly present a threat to Kuwait.''
Graphic
UPDATES
Iraq:
20,000 elite Republican Guards have moved closer to the border,
bringing to 64,000 the total number of Iraqi troops in the area.
About 700 tanks are positioned or headed there.
United States:
Sending 4,000-man Army task force of the 24th Mechanized
Division, from Fort Stewart, Ga., and two Patriot anti-missile
batteries to Kuwait
Put remainder of the 24th division on alert.
Put a wing of Air Force combat aircraft on alert.
Put a Marine expeditionary unit at Camp Pendelton, Calif., on
alert.
The Norfolk-based carrier George Washington is expected to pass
through the Suez Canal today on its way to the Red Sea.
A four-ship amphibious group with 2,000 Marines was expected off
Kuwait early today.
Kuwait:
15,000 troops, backed by tanks, have begun moving to the border.
Long lines stretch behind cash machines and gasoline stations in
Kuwait, but there are few other signs of anxiety.
United Nations:
Security Council warns Iraq that the U.N. will protect Kuwait's
borders and orders increased vigilance by U.N. observers on the
Kuwaiti frontier.
KEYWORDS: IRAQ KUWAIT by CNB