British forces flex military muscle for £93m 'desert war' Biggest exercise since the cold war as quarter of army sets off to fight fictitious battle in Oman Jamie Wilson and Richard Norton-Taylor Monday September 3, 2001 The Guardian The biggest naval task force since the Falklands war will sail from Portsmouth today, heading for a simmering conflict in the Middle East that threatens to destabilise the whole region. As well as 24 surface ships and two nuclear-powered submarines, more than 2,000 British troops have already been deployed in Oman, a figure that will rise to 24,000 - nearly a quarter of the British army - by the end of the month. They will be supported by 400 armoured vehicles, squadrons of fighter-bombers, and a Commando brigade. Their role will be to intervene in a war that began in the early hours of July 9 when the first hostile tanks crossed the border, their tracks thundering across the sweltering desert plains of northern Oman. Despite the simmering tension that had been festering in the region for years and the collapse of peace talks, the Omani military was taken by surprise when the combined forces of Alawham, a small coastal state on the Indian Ocean, launched a pre-emptive strike on its bigger and richer neighbour. Within days the aggressor forces were approaching their strategic goal: the Omani oil fields, over which the Alawham government, desperate to shore up its failing economy, has maintained an historic claim. But the Omani military regrouped, and after fierce fighting stopped the Alawham forces in their tracks, pushing them into a pocket of occupied territory west of the coastal city of Khaluf. An uneasy ceasefire was brokered by the UN, which called for military assistance to help Oman reclaim its land. With US forces tied up in operations around the Pacific rim and several European countries preoccupied elsewhere, it has been left to Britain to step in. Why has this nasty war not appeared on the front pages of the newspapers or been reported on television? The reason is that while the troop and ship deployments are real, the rest of the story is a work of fiction, made up by a small team of planners from a bunker at the permanent joint headquarters (PJHQ) in Northwood, Middlesex, from where every major British deployment of the last 30 years - from the Falklands to the Gulf war - has been master-minded. Operation Saif Sareefa (Swift Sword) 2, will be Britain's biggest exercise since the tanks rumbled across the German plains when the cold war was in full flow during the mid 1980s. At a cost of £93m, its aim is to ensure that Britain has the rapid reaction capabilities set out in the 1998 strategic defence review that was designed to make the armed forces more deployable and flexible in an expeditionary role. With other troops deployed in Macedonia and elsewhere, by October about three-quarters of the entire British army will be engaged in operations overseas. However, the MoD denies that, should the situation in Macedonia worsen or serious conflict arise elsewhere, its forces would be overstretched. "As they will all be booted and spurred, they will be better prepared than ever," said Wing Commander Dick Forsyth, the man in charge of setting up the mega war game, who was last week putting the finishing touches to the exercise from Northwood. "It is also important for our internal self-confidence and self-esteem," said Rear Admiral James Burnell-Nugent, commander of the naval taskforce. On or around October 15 the ceasefire will be broken, probably by an armoured incursion across the ceasefire line. As the forces clash in the desert, the island state of Alkhayl, located 800 nautical miles off the coast, will step in to support its beleaguered ally Alawham, with which it has a defence treaty. Amphibious assault craft will mount a landing on the beaches just north of the city of Duqm. What had been a small localised war will suddenly turn into a conflict that threatens the security of the whole region. Over the following two weeks tanks will race around the desert, ships and submarines will engage in hostile manouvres, and the airforce will fly numerous bombing runs on strategic targets. Planning the exercise might seem straightforward: drop 36,000 troops (including 12,000 Omanis) in the desert, give each side a commander, and let them fight it out. It will be more complicated. "It will be a command post exercise: a simulated exercise and a live exercise at the same time," Wing Cdr Forsyth said. Troops fighting for both sides, including Alawham (Arabic for fantasy land) Alkhably (dreamworld), will be commanded by senior officers of the Oman and British armed forces. The exercise control centre, based at a gym in the northern city of Shaafa, will feed the commanders a series of "ground truths" - to create a "future history". These will lay down defined rules of engagement, determine political interplay - with ministers getting jittery about "mission creep", and control the overall parameters of the war game. There will be a simulated press corps, who will dictate which side is winning the propaganda war. Cyber-units will appear to be deployed on the battlefield. The commanders will not know whether they are real or imaginary units. The planners have had to take into account how the operation will be perceived by the outside world. Even the wording of the "road to war" scenario has been carefully written so as not to offend any of Britain's allies. God forbid the French or the Americans take umbrage at the suggestion they refused to get involved. While the area of Oman chosen for the exercise is enormous, the "ground truths" are designed to prevent any of the commanders ordering forces into areas where they may provoke an embarrassing incident. Of particular concern is the sultan's oryx park, where the national animal of Oman is reproducing after having being virtually eradicated. The British troops will be home in time for Christmas. With Oman's national day falling on November 18, the possibility of "mission creep" has been eliminated. All forces will vacate the area before then, ensuring that nobody wins. Full article at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,545803,00.html Michael Keaney Mercuria Business School Martinlaaksontie 36 01620 Vantaa Finland [EMAIL PROTECTED]
