| Author | Message | | Guest | | Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2002 5:53 am Post subject: Israeli and US Forces Schedule Joint Exercises for Iraq |
| Israel Steps Up Preparations for Gulf War
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20021222/ts_nm/iraq_israel_dc
Top Stories - Reuters
Israel Steps Up Preparations for Gulf War
Sun Dec 22, 8:16 AM ET
By Gwen Ackerman
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has stepped up
preparations for a possible U.S. war against Iraq,
scheduling joint exercises with U.S. forces and gas
mask lessons for schoolchildren, Israeli officials
said on Sunday.
Israeli media reported Israel would go on high alert
from January 15 in anticipation that hostilities would
erupt in the Gulf some time between January 27 and
February 26.
The Defense Ministry would not confirm the date, but
said Israeli security forces have been preparing for a
possible Iraqi attack.
Israel is concerned that Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein will respond to any U.S. strike by launching
missiles armed with chemical or biological warheads
against the Jewish state which has been fighting a
Palestinian uprising since September 2000.
Some 1,000 U.S. troops are expected in Israel this
week for an exercise involving U.S.-made Patriot
missiles, which were largely ineffective in
intercepting the 39 Scud missiles that Iraq fired at
the Jewish state in the 1991 Gulf War.
The Patriot has since been upgraded and Israel has
developed and deployed the Arrow anti-missile system,
designed to intercept Scuds at a higher altitude.
Asked about the U.S.-Israeli military exercise, Raanan
Gissin, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon, said it was being held "in preparation of any
possibility of war."
Ronit Tirosh, director general of the Education
Ministry, told Israel Radio that teachers had been
instructed by soldiers on how to handle a possible
missile attack during school hours and undergone
training to help anxious children.
"The next stage, which will start in about a week,
will be to train the youth and children on how to use
gas masks and to instruct them what should be done at
each stage," she said.
NETANYAHU SAYS ISRAEL "SADDAM'S TARGET OF CHOICE"
Washington indicated on Saturday that a ground and air
war to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was
possible in early 2003 and the U.S. military forged
ahead with a buildup that could have more than 100,000
troops in the Gulf in weeks.
"It looks like the probability is getting more certain
with each passing day," Israeli Foreign Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu told Britain's Sky Television,
adding that Israel was "most likely to be Saddam's
preferred target of choice."
Israel is scheduled to hold a general election on
January 28, but Gissin said it would take "extreme
circumstances" for the vote to be postponed.
The Scud missile attacks in 1991 caused one Israeli
death and damage in residential areas. Israel did not
retaliate for those attacks, citing pressure from
Washington to avoid action that could shake a U.S.-led
coalition against Iraq.
Israeli leaders have said Israel intended to stay out
of any hostilities in the current Gulf crisis but
would feel free to retaliate if Iraq used
non-conventional weapons against the Jewish state and
caused casualties.
The mass circulation daily Yedioth Ahronot published
two pages on Sunday explaining how to put on and use
gas mask kits and when to use a syringe with an
anti-nerve gas antibody.
The kits do not contain a smallpox vaccine, although
Israel and the United States fear Baghdad has
developed the disease as a weapon.
Israel has already inoculated 15,000 emergency workers
with the smallpox vaccine and former military medical
chief Arieh Eldad said on Sunday it should immediately
start vaccinating the general population.
---------------------
(Reporting by Gwen Ackerman,
gwen.ackerman.reuters.com@reuter.net, +972-2-5370502)
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