- WASHINGTON (CNN) - Pentagon
sources confirmed Wednesday that a second U.S. aircraft carrier has arrived
in the Persian Gulf in what Navy officials describe as a routine rotation.
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- The second U.S. aircraft carrier doubles, at least briefly,
the available sea-based firepower at a time when the Pentagon is contemplating
airstrikes against Iraq's air defenses.
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- Sources told CNN the USS Enterprise arrived in the southern
Gulf on Wednesday and will soon join the USS Constellation, which is about
to end its scheduled tour of duty.
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- The rotation of the two carriers is expected to take
about a week, according to Navy officials. The USS Enterprise will be joined
by its slower escort ships within a few days, sources said.
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- Meanwhile, senior Bush administration officials met at
the White House Wednesday to discuss Iraq policy, and sources told CNN
the United State is making plans for to respond to Iraq's stepped-up campaign
to shoot down a U.S. or British plane enforcing the no-fly zones.
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- Iraq appears to be bracing for an attack. Over the past
week it dispersed some missiles, radars and aircraft into a more defensive
posture, according to Pentagon sources.
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- That includes moving some radars near Baghdad above the
33rd parallel, outside the southern no-fly zone where the U.S. bombs with
some frequency.
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- Pentagon officials would not confirm details of the planning,
including the scale or timing of an attack.
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- "We reserve the right to strike targets at a time
and a place in a manner of our choosing," Pentagon spokesman Rear
Adm. Craig Quigley said Tuesday.
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- The last time the United States attacked above the 33rd
parallel was on February 16, 2001, when more than 60 U.S. and British planes,
including two-dozen strike aircraft, attacked five targets that included
more than 20 radars.
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- Quigley said Tuesday that President Saddam Hussein "is
trying his darndest to bring down a coalition aircraft."
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- He said in the southern no-fly zone there have been 370
"provocations" by Iraqi gunners so far this year, compared to
only 211 in 2000.
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- The Pentagon defines a "provocation" as an
incident in which Iraqi air defenses fires artillery or missiles at coalition
planes, or targets them with hostile radar.
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- In the northern no-fly zone there have been 62 "provocations"
so far this year, compared to 145 in 2000.
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- There have been no U.S. bombing raids on Iraq since July
17, when U.S. planes hit an anti-aircraft site in southern Iraq.
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- President Bush was at the Pentagon for a briefing Wednesday,
but senior Pentagon officials said the topic was nuclear force levels,
not Iraq.
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- http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/08/01/us.carriers.gulf/index.html
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