Ground Troops

LONDON -- Britain will become the first NATO ally to send major ground troops to the Persian Gulf when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dispatches a combat force, expected to include tanks, tomorrow.Responding to a U.S. appeal for increased allied involvement on the ground, Mrs. Thatcher has ordered her defense chiefs to draw up plans for the latest British contribution to the confrontation with Iraq.It took Britain just 24 hours to decide to act.The British already have ships and aircraft in the gulf and a small number of ground troops, basically for defense of their bases there.

On weekday mornings, I'll post the most controversial, shocking and (of course) ridiculous stories for your reading pleasure. That way, when you walk into work, you'll be the master of witty conversation. National:   • Seriously Mississippi? Nearly half of Mississippi Republicans say interracial marriage should be illegal. (Public Policy Polling)  • We couldn't see this coming: U.S. ground troops in Liby a? (CBS News)  • Why soldiers won't get paid during a government shutdown, but politicians will . (The Atlantic)

UNITED NATIONS, New York -- The Clinton administration, aroused by the prospect of a "humanitarian disaster" in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, is considering a number of reactions, including the dispatch of U.S. troops in an enlarged ground force to save the city, according to senior U.S. officials.While one senior official said the prospect of U.S. ground forces being sent was "hypothetical," the mere consideration of such an option marks a major turn in U.S. policy toward the Balkans.

A new task force led by Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank may recommend $1 trillion in defense cuts over the next decade. Is that a good idea? As in other spheres of government spending, surely there are some savings to be found in finding efficiencies and removing redundancies. But serious reductions would have to entail cuts either on the human resources side — the troops, that is — or in weaponry and equipment. Let's start with personnel. For all the talk lately about reducing the size of government, there is surprisingly little discussion about reducing staff in the Defense Department, which employs about 60 percent of federal workers, and provides their salaries, health care and even pensions that can be earned for life after just 20 years service.

WASHINGTON -- As the flood of ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo inundated neighboring countries, President Clinton faced mounting political and diplomatic pressure yesterday to consider sending ground troops to quell the slaughter in the Serbian province. White House aides insist that NATO's military objective -- to grind down Yugoslavia's war-fighting capability -- can be achieved from the air and that ground troops are not even being discussed. But a NATO diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said long-standing contingency plans are constantly being reviewed.

WASHINGTON -- It is apparently only a matter of time before NATO begins using ground troops in Kosovo.But before it happens, there are several intermediate steps President Clinton and NATO must take so that such an escalation of the war will be accepted by the people whose sons and daughters in the military will be put at risk.Mr. Clinton in particular needs a cover story because he was so firm in his original resistance to the use of ground troops. There are already signs that public support for the president's conduct of the war, although still impressive, is beginning to erode.

WASHINGTON -- Congress appears paralyzed over whether to vote on sending ground troops into Kosovo, despite bipartisan efforts to force action on the issue.Polls show that an overwhelming majority of the public believes that ground troops will be needed to achieve NATO's military objectives in Kosovo and that President Clinton should seek approval from Congress before sending troops.Yet the broadest agreement in Congress so far seems to be on the desire for Clinton to continue taking the lead in determining what course of action to pursue.

ANKARA, Turkey - The Turkish parliament voted yesterday to open the country's airspace to U.S. warplanes, setting the stage for a second front in northern Iraq, which allies hope will speed the war and save lives. The government-sponsored proposal allows U.S.-led coalition planes and missiles to fly over Turkey, but it doesn't address a U.S. request to use military bases or move ground troops across Muslim Turkey, a NATO member. No date has been set for a vote on that larger request. Yesterday's decision, which passed 332-202, gives warplanes based in Europe and the United States a path into Iraq other than over Israel and Jordan.

Standing before 4,000 future military leaders at the Naval Academy last night, Republican presidential contender Elizabeth Hanford Dole said her world travels during eight years as president of the American Red Cross gave her the sense that America's military might has not only atrophied under dwindling defense budgets, but has been misused by President Clinton. In a speech to midshipmen, Dole portrayed herself as a staunch defender of the U.S. military at a time when the nation is conflicted over how to use force in the Balkans.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has ordered 2,400 ground troops dispatched to Kuwait over the next three weeks as a show of force against Saddam Hussein, senior administration officials said last night.The Defense Department described the troop movement, the first fresh deployment of ground troops to Kuwait since the Persian Gulf war, as a training exercise.It is "intended to . . . demonstrate U.S. commitment to the security and stability of the Persian Gulf region," the Pentagon said in a statement.

WASHINGTON - With some Baghdad neighborhoods still not safe and huge throngs of Shiite Muslims calling for U.S. forces to leave, a rising chorus of critics say the Bush administration misjudged the potential for a dangerous power vacuum in Iraq. Moreover, critics say the administration failed to deploy enough troops and the right mix of forces to provide security in Iraq and restore basic services, allowing anti-democratic forces in the country to emerge and meet those critical needs. "There are not sufficient troops," said Rep. Jim Kolbe, an Arizona Republican, who was in Kuwait last week meeting with U.S. Agency for International Development officials and humanitarian groups.

ANKARA, Turkey - The Turkish parliament voted yesterday to open the country's airspace to U.S. warplanes, setting the stage for a second front in northern Iraq, which allies hope will speed the war and save lives. The government-sponsored proposal allows U.S.-led coalition planes and missiles to fly over Turkey, but it doesn't address a U.S. request to use military bases or move ground troops across Muslim Turkey, a NATO member. No date has been set for a vote on that larger request. Yesterday's decision, which passed 332-202, gives warplanes based in Europe and the United States a path into Iraq other than over Israel and Jordan.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signed a deployment order yesterday sending about 35,000 new troops, half of them Marines, to the Persian Gulf region, Pentagon and military officials said. The detailed order, described as several dozen pages long, involved the largest number of military personnel yet as the Pentagon masses troops, warships and aircraft around Iraq to pressure President Saddam Hussein to disarm - and to prepare for attack, should President Bush order the nation to war. By including about 17,500 Marines, the order sends a significant number of the military's mobile and hard-hitting ground troops - who travel with attack planes and helicopters - toward Iraq.

WASHINGTON - Hundreds of U.S. and Afghan troops, supported by American warplanes and attack helicopters, launched at dawn yesterday the largest allied ground offensive of the 5-month-old military campaign in Afghanistan, focusing on pockets of Taliban and al-Qaida fighters huddled in the rugged, snow-covered mountains outside the eastern city of Gardez. One American and three Afghan government soldiers were killed in what officials said was fierce fighting. An unspecified number of U.S. and Afghan soldiers were wounded, said Navy Cmdr.

WASHINGTON -- Even as the United States gathers evidence to justify retaliating against Osama bin Laden and his network of terrorists, a military delegation has been dispatched to Pakistan to begin planning for attacks on targets in Afghanistan, defense officials said yesterday. The team, made up of officials from the Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, plans to work this week with Pakistani military officials on such issues as transportation, intelligence and staging areas for U.S. ground forces.

WASHINGTON -- In NATO's bombing campaign in Kosovo, the lack of sophisticated technology among the U.S. allies, the failure to use ground troops and the absence of effective computer warfare prolonged the 78-day conflict and left the United States to do the bulk of the fighting.Moreover, such failings could easily be repeated in future conflicts and must be addressed, according to comments by top defense leaders and reports prepared by NATO commanders and Pentagon officials.Among the top concerns was the ability of President Slobodan Milosevic to spare the destruction of his air defense system by craftily using it for short periods or by simply turning it off. As a result, even the U.S. military's high-tech weapons could not pinpoint his radar and anti-aircraft systems, forcing allied aircraft to fly at higher altitudes to avoid those threats.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, an Eastern Shore Republican, has become the first Marylander in Congress to call on NATO to commit ground troops to Yugoslavia, arguing that the continued airstrikes alone will not roust the Serbian forces from Kosovo.Most of the state's other lawmakers are divided over the wisdom of the Clinton administration's use of airstrikes, with Republicans offering varying criticism of the president and Democrats expressing solid support.Reflecting the wariness of many lawmakers toward a deeper involvement in Kosovo, most of the Marylanders said it was premature to consider the introduction of U.S. soldiers on the ground.

WASHINGTON -- In a sharp rebuke to President Clinton, the House vented its alarm about the conflict in Yugoslavia by voting yesterday to bar the use of ground troops without congressional approval and by withholding its support for the air war already under way.Hours after Clinton pleaded with lawmakers to oppose legislation that could undercut American unity, the House voted 248-180 for a bill that would deny money for U.S. ground forces unless Congress provided...

WASHINGTON -- NATO's commander, Gen. Wesley K. Clark, told Pentagon leaders yesterday that the alliance must begin soon to assemble a force of 45,000 to 50,000 troops on Kosovo's borders, U.S. and NATO officials said. The force would be intended to increase pressure on President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia to accept NATO's terms for a settlement. It is one of three things -- including the use of Apache attack helicopters in Albania and tougher steps to cut off Yugoslavia's supply of oil -- that Clark sought to bolster the military campaign.

WASHINGTON -- A week after refusing to support NATO's air war in Yugoslavia, the House voted overwhelmingly yesterday to give President Clinton more than twice the $6 billion sum he had requested to pay for it.Though critical of Clinton's handling of the NATO campaign, Republican leaders took advantage of a chance to allocate extra money for military needs unrelated to Kosovo.All the money would come out of the Social Security trust fund and would not be subject to strict budget limits."The time is now to deter our enemies by bolstering our military," Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas, the House Republican whip, exhorted his colleagues.