[NYTr] US trains Gulf air forces for war with Iran

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

The Telegraph - Oct 1, 2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/30/wiran130.xml

US trains Gulf air forces for war with Iran

By Tim Shipman in Washington

The American air force is working with military leaders from the Gulf
to train and prepare Arab air forces for a possible war with Iran, The
Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

An air warfare conference in Washington last week was told how American
air chiefs have helped to co-ordinate intelligence-sharing with Gulf
Arab nations and organise combined exercises designed to make it easier
to fight together.

Gen Michael Mosley, the US Air Force chief of staff, used the
conference to seek closer links with allies whose support America might
need if President George W Bush chooses to bomb Iran.

Pentagon air chiefs have helped set up an air warfare centre in the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) where Gulf nations are training their
fighter pilots and America has big bases. It is modelled on the US Air
Force warfare centre at Nellis air force base in Nevada.

Jordan and the UAE have both taken part in combined exercises designed
to make sure their air forces can fly, and fight, together and with
American jets.

The conference was long-planned to discuss developments in air warfare
technology, but the question of possible hostilities involving Iran was
discussed.

Bruce Lemkin, the American air force deputy under-secretary for
international affairs, said: "We need friends and partners with the
capabilities to take care of their own security and stability in their
regions and, through the relationship, the inter-operability and the
will to join us in coalitions when appropriate…

"On its most basic level, it's about flying together, operating
together and training together so, if we have to, we can fight
together."

While it is unlikely that America's Gulf allies would join any US air
strike against suspected nuclear targets in Iran, their co-operation
might be required to allow passage of warplanes though their airspace.
American defence officials are also keen that Iran's Arab neighbours
prepare to deal with any Iranian attempt to target them in return.

Lt Gen Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein, who is special assistant to the
chief of staff of the Jordanian armed forces, said "concern at Iran's
attempt to establish itself as a regional superpower" had led to
greater co-operation, "not just at the inter-service level but also at
the political level".

He said the new air warfare centre had allowed them to "exchange
information and exercise together".

But Air Chief Marshal Sir Glen Torpy, the head of the RAF, voiced the
fear of many British officials that America is too devoted to military
solutions. He said: "In an environment like this, we always focus on
the part that the military can play in solving security and foreign
policy problems, but the military will rarely, if ever, be the
solution."