U.S. War Game's Target Looks a Lot Like Iraq
Nov. 1 -- A massive war game on the USS Harry S.Truman has 15,000 members of the U.S. military flexing their muscles for a possible confrontation with Iraq.
Although it is only a war game, the fiction is strikingly real. An oil-rich country has invaded its neighbor, and is defying United Nations resolutions.
All four branches of the military are involved, along with 60 planes, and a 12-ship battle group led by the USS Harry S.Truman aircraft carrier. The Harry S. Truman and a dozen ships come to the aid of an oil-rich country called "Kartuna," which has just been invaded.
U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Len Remias, an officer on the deck of the Harry Truman, examined a battle plan.
"You have Corona, which is the aggressor country, against Kartuna," he explained, pointing out the details on a map that resembles the Persian Gulf.
An Eerily Familiar Enemy
The war games on the USS Harry S. Truman look like the real thing — and they are meant to. U.S. ships launch helicopters to search for enemy submarines, fighter jets patrol no-fly zones and bomb terrorist training camps. Although only an exercise, everyone on the aircraft carrier knew the real target.
"Iraq — that's the main country right now that we're focusing on," one war game player said. "So that's what I think about most of the time."
As war games play out, the U.S. continues to move toward a confrontation with Iraq. On Monday, the United States demanded that the United Nations disarm Iraq or watch the world's superpower do it on its own.
"The message from America is this," President Bush told Republican supporters.
"If the United Nations doesn't have the will or the courage to disarm [Iraqi leader] Saddam Hussein and Saddam Hussein will not disarm, the United States will lead a coalition and disarm Saddam Hussein," Bush said during aWestern-state political swing.
Ordered to ‘Be Ready’
Rear Admiral John Stufflebeem, commander of the Harry S.Truman carrier battle group, is a veteran fighter pilot who has been conducting the regular Pentagon briefings on the war on terrorism.
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