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CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK

U.S. Military Shipping Thousands of Pounds of Equipment to Persian Gulf

Aired September 19, 2002 - 05:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. military is shipping thousands of pounds of equipment to the Persian Gulf. Right now, members of the Army's Third Infantry Division are in Kuwait for ongoing military exercises.
Our Martin Savidge is in Kuwait City, where General Tommy Franks of the Army's Central Command is to meet with commanders in the region -- Martin, what can you tell us?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, Carol.

There seems to be a lot going on here in Kuwait. It's very centrally located for the activity, anything dealing with Iraq. General Tommy Franks, who, as you mentioned, arrived about two hours ago, we are told, because the media was not allowed to show or be there for his arrivals, Kuwaitis keeping a very low profile on this, as is the U.S. military. We understand that General Franks immediately left the airport to officially parts unknown.

We believe actually he's gone off to Camp Doha. That's a large U.S. military facility located to the north of Kuwait City. And there he's sitting down with the CENTCOM commanders.

Everybody here, especially from the U.S. side, is downplaying this as any sort of war strategizing for Iraq. They say it is not that. This was a previously planned meeting. It's an annual meeting. He sits down once a year with his commanders out here and that's what this is all about.

But no doubt Iraq is going to be on the agenda. He is departing out of here Saturday. It's believed he'll have a courtesy visit with Kuwait's defense minister and a statement to the press before he leaves.

Now, as he is here, you talked about those military training exercises under way. The Army's got one. That is known as Operation Desert Spring. It involves about 2,000 U.S. troops in conjunction with Kuwaiti forces taking place near, but not on, the Iraqi border. It goes on for months at a time. It's actually an annual exercise. Again, the military says nothing unusual about that.

Then, right on the heels is supposed to be a Marine training exercise. That is known as Operation Eager Mace. It involves about 2,000 U.S. Marines training with Kuwaitis, amphibious assault craft, aircraft involved and also land forces, as well. Again, they say, hey, this is just a standard, preplanned training mission. But, of course, with everything going on dealing with Iraq, it does raise some eyebrows.

And one other point. A ship that's supposed to be involved in that marine exercise, the Bella Wood. It is not here. It is located off the small African nation of Djibouti and down there are reportedly about 800 U.S. special forces and CIA paramilitary groups. And it is believed that they are poised for possible military intervention into either Somalia or into Yemen. Two of those are both said to be popular hideouts for al Qaeda forces. Officially the U.S. says nothing is imminent. But, of course, when you're dealing with special forces, what else would you expect them to say?

It remains to be seen if the Bella Wood comes up here for that training exercise.

In a nutshell, there it is, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Martin Savidge reporting live from Kuwait City this morning.

Thank you very much.

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