| Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) |
From: "kev hall" <jesuscomesquickly_-at-_hotmail.com>
To: Globenet_-at-_egroups.com, Abolition-Caucus_-at-_egroups.com, NucNews_-at-_egroups.com, AntiNATO_-at-_topica.com, no_to_nato_-at-_flora.org, haltWAR_-at-_egroups.com, PeaceNoWar_-at-_lists.riseup.net
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2001 23:27:41 -0500
Coalition Coordination Center - MORE Follow-up St. Petersburg (Florida) Times Report: http://www.sptimes.com/News/103001/Worldandnation/MacDill_s_coalition_v.shtml ================= + ===================== MacDill Air Force Base's coalition village detailed by Paul de la Garza © St. Petersburg Times, published October 30, 2001 WASHINGTON -- Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed the existence Monday of a "coalition village" at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa designed to help U.S. military strategists fight the war on terrorism. Known officially as the Coalition Coordination Center, the facility is operated by the U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, which is directing the war in Afghanistan. CENTCOM created the center, a conglomeration of foreign military personnel, in response to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, according to Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Largo, who is familiar with the operation. A cluster of 50 to 100 trailers on a CENTCOM parking lot, the center includes military officers from the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Jordan, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Qatar, Turkey, Belgium and Canada. CENTCOM declined to talk about the operation for a story published Saturday in the St. Petersburg Times. Fearing a political backlash, the majority of participants did not want to be identified. On Saturday, however, witnesses say the various countries began flying their flags at the coalition village, as the Coalition Coordination Center is known informally on base. At a Pentagon news conference Monday, Myers was asked about the center and the contribution to the war effort by the coalition partners. He answered immediately. "What they're doing down there is coordinating those other countries that have volunteered support, and those aren't the only countries, by the way, but they're the ones that apply primarily to the Central Command area of responsibility," Myers said. "And what they're doing down there is coordinating their contributions, and it can range all the way from a war-fighting contribution to some sort of support contribution in terms of logistics, to chemical and biological units that could go forward and help protect other forces that are forward-deployed in the Gulf. It's the entire gamut. "To do that," Myers said, "I might add that if you've seen the list, that we have several Muslim countries, as well as some other allies in the region and outside the region." CENTCOM's area of responsibility covers Egypt to Turkmenistan. Though it handles the Middle East, CENTCOM is based in Tampa because the United States has never found a politically acceptable headquarters in the region. © Copyright 2001 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved. ==================== + =================== Previous St. Petersburg Times Report: Is this THE new 'Global Command Center' we've been hearing about? Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2001 21:43:02 -0400 > Subject: The new 'Coalition Coordination Center' at U.S. Central Command at MacDill AFB in Tampa, Florida. > Is this THE new Global Command Center? > "A POLITICALLY SENSITIVE ENTERPRISE." > IT'S "NOT CLASSIFIED," BUT THEY WON'T TALK ABOUT IT. > >NOTE: The article below appears to verify this week's Washington Times and >Hindustan Times reports on a new, so-called "GLOBAL COMMAND CENTER." > In peace, > >+ Kev + ================== + ==================== >http://www.sptimes.com/News/102701/Worldandnation/MacDill_s_new__villag.shtml ================== + ==================== MacDill's new 'village' helps coordinate globe > >A facility on the base draws representatives of 12 coalition nations to aid >Central Command with the war in Afghanistan. > >By PAUL de la GARZA and DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN >© St. Petersburg Times, >published October 27, 2001 > >WASHINGTON -- To help coordinate the international war on terrorism, the >U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa has recently >established the Coalition Coordination Center, a politically sensitive >enterprise that includes military personnel from around the world. Known >informally as "the coalition village," the weeks-old center reflects the >White House mantra that the war on terrorism enjoys broad international >support. > >The 12 countries represented at Central Command, which is directing the war >in Afghanistan, are the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, >Jordan, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Qatar, Turkey, Belgium and Canada. >As the war strategy changes, the makeup of the coalition may change as >well. > >Fearing a political backlash, the majority of coalition partners have >balked at promoting their role in the war against the Taliban and Osama bin >Laden, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center >and the Pentagon. > >Bush administration officials repeatedly have said that the war on >terrorism will not end with Afghanistan. As a result, the Coalition >Coordination Center apparently will be in operation indefinitely. "I expect >they will be there for as long as there is a military operation under way >in that region," said Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Largo, one of the few people >who have been briefed on the workings of the center. > >The coalition village, a cluster of 50 to 100 trailers described by >eyewitnesses as a whole city, is going up on a parking lot on the south >side of the headquarters of the Central Command, or CENTCOM. To accommodate >the facility, CENTCOM personnel have been parking across the street from >headquarters, along the airfield's flight line. As they await completion of >the center, which is to serve as their working quarters, the foreign >visitors have been working in the offices of the Central Command. > >CENTCOM, whose area of responsibility stretches from Egypt to Turkmenistan, >routinely hosts foreign military visitors. >The center, however, was created specifically for the war on terrorism in >the weeks after the attacks in New York and Washington, Young said. While >the project is not classified, Central Command will not talk about it. > >Access to the base is restricted and reporters are not allowed to visit the >facility, which is fenced in. Regular base personnel are not allowed >contact with the foreign guests. Young was briefed Thursday and stressed >that center personnel do not run the war but help coordinate it. "It's not >an operational facility driving military operations," Young said. > >Basically, the congressman said, the various representatives share >intelligence with each other and make sure that everyone is on the same >page. > >For specific military operations, for example, "They determine what the >ratio of troops would be from each respective coalition partner, what types >of troops would be sent," Young said. Col. Brian P. Hoey, Central Command >spokesman, declined to discuss details about the Coalition Coordination >Center. His only comment was this: "International visitors are not unknown >to Central Command." > >Indeed, before Sept. 11, military representatives from other countries came >and went. Since the attacks on the United States, their numbers have >swelled. Last week, according to the New York Times, Adm. Sir Michael >Boyce, Britain's top military officer, made an unpublicized visit to >MacDill to meet Gen. Tommy R. Franks, the commander-in-chief of Central >Command. > >Even though it handles the Middle East, CENTCOM is based in Tampa because >the United States has never found a politically acceptable way of basing >its headquarters somewhere in the region. Base personnel, meanwhile, say >listening to the various languages the visitors speak is unusual. > >An official figure of the number of foreign visitors was unavailable. But >they have been noticeable on base: at the commissary, for example, and off >base, at restaurants up the street. In fact, Monday evening, two military >officers walked into the Thailand Restaurant, about a mile north of the >MacDill entrance gates. > >Pichit Trirat, who has waited tables at the restaurant six days a week for >10 years, knows almost everyone who comes in. Most are civilian and >military personnel from MacDill. > >But Trirat said the two men were dressed differently, in light green and >brown fatigues. > >He did not recognize the uniforms. > >In talking with the men, Trirat discovered that they were Australian, based >at MacDill, and in town for a couple of weeks. They ordered carryout: curry >chicken, a combination vegetable platter and coconut soup. "They didn't say >very much," said owner Amnuay Thambundit. "They talked only when we asked." >The next day, three different men walked in, all wearing uniforms similar >to those on the soldiers from the Australian military. > >This time, Trirat did not ask any questions. He recognized the fatigues. >While the visitors work at MacDill day and night, they stay in area hotels. >A spot check of hotels and suites found that they have been in Tampa for a >while. > >The wait staff at one hotel said six of the officers had the breakfast >buffet at the hotel restaurant Thursday morning. >Management, however, told hotel staff not to ask the guests questions. The >officers, some in military uniforms, others in plain clothes, are friendly, >said the waiters, who almost spoke in whispers. Twice this week cabdriver >Jesse Mogedcheru drove officers from their hotel to MacDill. He tried not >to be nosy. > >"I do not ask where they are from," Mogedcheru said. "It's kind of hard to >ask, you know. They are doing their jobs. It's probably secret." > ©Copyright 2001 St. Petersburg Times. 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