(USA Today) John Diamond - Israel is secretly playing a key role in U.S. preparations for possible war with Iraq, helping to train soldiers and Marines for urban warfare, conducting clandestine surveillance missions in the western Iraqi desert, and allowing the United States to place combat supplies in Israel, according to U.S. defense and intelligence officials. Israeli commandos, using their own satellite intelligence and imagery provided by U.S. intelligence services, have conducted clandestine surveillance missions of Scud missile sites in western Iraq, mapping concrete launch pads and conducting reconnaissance that could help U.S. commandos attack the sites. Israeli infantry units with experience in urban warfare during the Palestinian uprising helped train U.S. Army and Marine counterparts this summer and fall for possible urban battles in Iraq, a foreign defense official says. The Pentagon has beefed up stocks of ammunition, fuel, and other basic military staples at six storage depots in Israel over the past year, for possible use by U.S. forces in combat contingencies.
2002-11-04 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive