SUSANNE M. SCHAFER
Associated Press Military Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Air Force laid the groundwork Wednesday for dispatching dozens of warplanes to the Persian Gulf area, setting in motion the United States' promised battle against terrorism.
``The United States is repositioning some of its forces to support the president's goal,'' President Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said without elaborating.
The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt also was sent toward the Mediterranean to join two aircraft carriers already in the region near Afghanistan, where suspect No. 1, Osama bin Laden, is said to be hiding.
Combat aircraft, including F-16 Fighting Falcons and F-15 Eagles, will be preceded by Air Force airlift control teams from bases in California and New Jersey, senior defense officials said.
The airlift control teams will establish what the Air Force calls an ``air bridge,'' coordinating ground communications to match up refueling aircraft with fighters and bombers crossing the Atlantic.
It probably will take about a week to get the combat planes in position to carry out ``Operation Infinite Justice,'' one official said.
Asked whether Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had signed a deployment order, his chief deputy, Paul Wolfowitz said Wednesday, ``There are movements and we will see more movements.'' He would not elaborate.
Some officials involved in the military planning want Bush to target Iraq, but advisers close to the president say Saddam Hussein is not an initial target. He wants to strike bin Laden and his alleged terrorist network, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
However, the Bush administration has put the world on notice that any nation _ including Iraq _ harboring terrorists could be the focus of U.S. strikes down the line.
``This is not a war against just one country or just one person,'' Wolfowitz said at the Pentagon when asked if Iraq was a target and whether the country was involved in the Sept. 11 terror strikes that demolished the World Trade Center towers and one side of the Pentagon.
Earlier, Rumsfeld said bin Laden and his associates have activities in 50 or 60 countries, including the United States.
``This is not a problem of al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden. It is a problem of a number of networks of terrorists that have been active across the globe,'' Rumsfeld said.
Separate from the plane deployment order, the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the ships in its battle group left their home port at Norfolk, Va., for a scheduled six-month deployment to the Mediterranean.
Just before the carrier left Norfolk Naval Station, Navy secretary Gordon England, gave the sailors a pep talk.
``We're learning once again that freedom and liberty and the American way of life are not a birthright,'' he said. ``It is time for us to pick up the mantle to destroy terrorism and remove this cancer.''
The loudspeaker played ``New York, New York'' as the carrier pulled away from the pier.
The deployment from Norfolk includes more than 15,000 sailors and Marines, including 2,100 Marines aboard a battle-ready unit known as an Amphibious Ready Group, led by the assault ship USS Bataan.
The Theodore Roosevelt battle group includes two attack submarines, the USS Hartford and the USS Springfield, both capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The Navy already has one carrier battle group in the Gulf _ the USS Carl Vinson _ and a second, the USS Enterprise, is in the Arabian Sea to the south.
Sending land-based Air Force jet fighters to the Gulf would give the Pentagon leeway to move the Carl Vinson into the Arabian Sea, closer to Afghanistan, while maintaining enough aircraft to continue enforcing the ``no fly'' zone over southern Iraq. Airplanes aboard the Vinson have been making those patrols.
The United States is welcoming offers of military support from allies and other friendly nations. Britain already has substantial forces in the Persian Gulf area as part of a joint exercise with Oman. This includes an aircraft carrier, four frigates, two destroyers, other ships and group troops. The Defense Ministry says it is Britain's largest naval deployment since the country's 1982 war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands.
The U.S. defense officials who discussed Wednesday's aircraft deployment order said no planes had yet moved.
U.S. officials continued to seek arrangements for access to military bases near Afghanistan. According to diplomatic sources in Pakistan, the United States has already begun meeting with leaders of the factions opposing the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan.
At Kharan, a city in southwest Pakistan, a small number of U.S. military personnel have been spotted moving satellite and radar equipment at an isolated air base that has a long runway, according to a Western military official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Kharan is about 100 miles from the Afghan border.
The United States already has a big military presence in the Gulf, with combat aircraft in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and elsewhere. It appeared likely that many of the extra combat aircraft deployed in the next few days would go to Kuwait and Bahrain, one official said.
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