U.S. Troops in Kuwait Say They're Ready

ByABC News via logo
February 6, 2003, 3:37 PM

C A M P  N E W  Y O R K, Kuwait, Feb. 7 -- In the desert kingdom of Kuwait, a country that is smaller than New Jersey, there are already more than 50,000 U.S. troops nearly at the ready, with thousands more pouring in daily.

Every couple of hours, hundreds of new soldiers arrive in military camps where the heartbeat of a giant force with no time to waste before war seems to pound out loud. Situated on Iraq's southeast border, Kuwait would be the main launching pad for a U.S.-led invasion, though for now, it serves as a rehearsal stage.

"Large parts of western Kuwait can be used to do things like fire practice, test our artillery, conduct small maneuvers," ABCNEWS military analyst Anthony Cordesman told Good Morning America. "We can't do that in places like Turkey or in most other places in the Middle East."

The U.S. military is maintaining 10 bases around the tiny emirate, including a command headquarters, a logistics center and two Air Force bases. More than a quarter of Kuwait has been cordoned off to make room for American exercises and troop movements.

Kuwait, the target of an Iraqi invasion in 1991, has not mended fences with its neighbor. By the end of February, 80,000 troops are expected to be in place there.

Training for Urban Warfare

American soldiers in Kuwait will have more training than soldiers in any other war in history. They have to figure out how to build and protect a 450-mile supply line through the desert, and they must train for the dreaded and deadly art of house-to-house combat.

In 1991, when the United States fought Iraq in Desert Storm, a total of 148 American troops died in combat, but 24 percent of the fatalities were the result of friendly fire.

This time around, the number of American casualties could be greater, particularly if Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and his best forces, the Republican Guard, retreat into the cities, drawing U.S. forces into deadly house-to-house fighting, a type of warfare unknown to this generation of young soldiers. Saddam has said he will arm all civilians, meaning that urban fighting is more than just a dangerous possibility.