"Secret" Air Base for Iraq War started prior 9-11

"Secret" Air Base for Iraq War started prior 9-11
Duke 1676, MyDD
June 21, 2005
http://duke1676.mydd.com/story/2005/6/21/11741/6199#readmore

This is great investigative work, and further evidence that Bush and the
neocons were planning pre-emptive military action long before September
11th, and no matter what WMD intelligence revealed--Chris
With a small ceremony on April 26, 2003, control of Prince Sultan Air Base
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/prince-sultan.htm
was handed back to the government of Saudi Arabia. Since the mid-nineties it
had been the premier US air base in the region and the nerve center for all
air force operations in the Gulf. As the home of the Combined Air Operations
Center (CAOC), the base was the primary command and control facility
responsible for orchestrating the air campaigns for both Operation Southern
Watch in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

The timing of the closing of PSAB seemed odd, coming just weeks after the
official start of military actions in Iraq. It should have, at the very
least, caused unwanted logistical problems for the Pentagon and regional
commanders, but it didn't. A contingency plan had long been in the works,
not only for Prince Sultan Air Base, but also for the entire map of the
Middle East, including Iraq.

Long before the US pullout, a new home for the operations had secretly been
built in the deserts of Qatar. What had been in October 2001 "nothing more
than a runway and a field of sand covered by two-dozen tents and a few
warehouses", the Al Udeid Air Base (
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/udeid.htm ) was transformed
in a few short months into one of the largest air bases in the world.
Published reports and official DOD statements claimed that the amazing
transformation was the result of the heroic response of US servicemen to the
tragedy of 9-11. A determined military had beaten indeterminate odds to
transform a barren wasteland into a state of the art military base in order
to "take the war to the terrorists".

The true story of the building of Al-Udeid is actually quite different. The
planning for the mammoth base had in fact taken place long before Sept. 11,
and actual work on the base began as early as the spring of 2001. The
building of Al Udeid turns out not to be a "miracle in the desert" in
response to a heinous attack, as touted by the military, but rather a
required step on the path to regime change in Iraq.

It has long been accepted knowledge that the Bush Administration was working
feverishly towards regime change in Iraq during the 18-month period between
9-11 and the official start of the war in March of 2003. The Downing St
Minutes ( http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1593607,00.html
) confirmed that the Administration was set on a path to war at least as
early as mid-summer of 2002. The accounts of Paul O'Neil and Richard Clarke
verified that Iraq was a front burner issue for the Administration from the
very first day, and only intensified after the attacks. Yet finding hard
evidence to prove that planning for the war in Iraq was taking place prior
to 9-11 has been hard to find. A look at the building of Al Udied can
provide that evidence.

THE BUILDING OF AL-UDEID (THE OFFICIAL STORY)

According to published reports
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/rad-green/2002-December/005488.html
, the groundwork for what would become Al-Udeid Air Base was first laid at
a cost of over one billion dollars in 1996 in an attempt by the Qatari
government to lure the American military to set up shop in the small Gulf
nation. At the time it was built, Qatar had not yet acquired as much as a
single airplane to call the base home. Although they would later purchase an
air force comprised of 12 French Mirage fighter jets, they would never
actually station them at Al-Udeid. They were simply playing a waiting game,
hoping that eventually the volatile nature of the region would bring the
Americans knocking at their door. The Qatari's gamble paid off with the
events of Sept. 11. In response to the attacks, the US presence in the
region needed to increase exponentially. By Sept. 29, 2001, according to the
official records, the first military teams arrived to begin looking the base
over in preparation for Operation Enduring Freedom.

On October 2, 2001 a rapid-response team of civil engineers, the 823rd RED
HORSE Squadron whose specialty is to repair and build structures such as
runways and roads in remote areas, arrived. According to the accounts of the
823rd 8 http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/udeid.htm
the Qatar base "was nothing more than a runway and a field of sand covered
by two-dozen tents and a few warehouses". Since there was no room in the
warehouses for the RED HORSE airmen to sleep, they moved into an expandable
shelter on the flightline and lived and worked out of there

They had come to begin the largest construction project ever undertaken by a
RED HORSE team; a $9.1 million military construction project that consisted
of building a 1,240- foot by 630-foot concrete ramp with taxiways, shoulders
and lighting. While waiting for funding and approval for the ramp project,
the RED HORSE troops spent two months doing other base projects, like
building the operations center and helping set up the tent city. Finally in
January 2002 ramp construction began. The completed ramp, as big as 8
football fields, was finished in late March.

As March 2002 began, the airfield was still classified as "Secret".

Only a handwritten "Army Camp" sign marked its entrance. By the middle of
the month, several thousand new American troops were now stationed at the
base. Many of these troops were supporting the large complement of US
aircraft, which included F-16 fighters, JSTARS reconnaissance aircraft, and
KC-10, KC-130 and KC-135 aerial tankers. The rapid growth of the base made
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani decide he had to let his
people know about extent of the American presence in their country. It was
agreed that the best way to announce the presence of the base was to have
Vice President Cheney visit
http://www.whitehouse.gov/vicepresident/vpphotoessay/troops/02.html
on March 17, 2002.

Within ten days of Cheney's visit, reports
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0327-02.htm
were coming out of Saudi Arabia that the US was moving communications and
computer equipment from Prince Sultan Air Base to Al-Udeid in anticipation
of a base closing. US military trucks had been seen leaving the base 50
miles south of Riyadh, and arriving at the border with Qatar in the second
week of March. It was speculated that a move was being made in response to
the Saudi government's refusal to allow air raids on Afghanistan to be
launched from its soil. Additionally, in the event of a Saudi refusal to
collaborate in a second phase of the US "war on terror" against Iraq, the
move would be needed to allow the US to effectively conduct an air campaign.

At the time US central command spokesman, Major Ralph Mills confirmed
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0327-02.htm
the equipment movements but insisted they represented business as usual.
Mills told reporters, "This is not uncommon. This is status quo. We are
moving stuff from point A to point B, this is an ongoing process." Dick
Cheney also denied there were any plans to close Prince Sultan AB, claiming
no decision had made to change military positions with respect to Saudi
Arabia.

By June of 2002 the work on the first phase Al Udeid was nearing completion.

The US military had quietly moved munitions, equipment and communications
gear to the base from Saudi Arabia. The base was now home to 3,000 troops. A
huge tent city had been erected with warehouses and miles of security
barriers. Miles of freshly paved runways and acres of new aircraft parking
ramps showed up on satellite imagery
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/al-udeid-imagery2.htm
from the period. Newly built hangers, munitions supply areas and control
facilities had been hardened with concrete to withstand aerial attack, and
the base now boasted the longest runway in the region at over 15,000 feet.
It had become as one military analyst said; "The most capable base in the
Gulf region."

On August 7, 2002

the Saudis announced that the US would no longer be allowed to fly combat
missions in Iraq out of Prince Sultan Air Base in support of Operation
Southern Watch. The Saudi decision had no effect on US war plans by that
time, as Al Udeid was more than prepared to pick up where the Saudis had
left off. A year later, Prince Sultan was closed after all Command and
Control was moved to Al Udeid.

A HIDDEN HISTORY OF AL-UDEID (PAVING THE ROAD TO WAR IN IRAQ)

As the Bush Administration came to power in January 2001, the sound of war
drums began beating along the Potomac. Numerous accounts
http://www.rawstory.com/exclusives/muriel/path_of_war_timeline_613.htm
from the period tell of an increased emphasis on the need for regime change
in Iraq. As the political wing of the administration worked on setting the
stage for policy change, the military began to deal with the practicalities
of waging war. With the deteriorating situation in Saudi Arabia in general,
and the possible need replace Prince Sultan AB in particular; the DOD began
to make moves to find a replacement.

Since the first Gulf War, the US had had limited military agreements with
Qatar. In 1992, a Defense Cooperation Agreement was signed that permitted
"access and prepositioning" of US assets in the country. In November, 1995
another agreement to host "several Air Expeditionary Force deployments" was
reached. Yet as of 2000, Al Udeid had been mostly ignored, but that was
about to change.

In 2000 the US planned to to use Al-Udeid as a munitions storage facility
according to The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) 2000 report
http://www.icbl.org/lm/2000/qatar/
released in the fall of that year.

ICBL Report 2000: Qatar

Additionally, based on U.S. Air Force plans for its war reserve ammunition
stockpiles in the Persian Gulf region, U.S. Gator antipersonnel mines, as
well as Claymore mines, may be introduced and stockpiled at the Al Udeid
area in Qatar in the near future. U.S. Air Force documents indicate that the
Al Udeid storage facility will eventually contain 142 CBU-89 Gator mine
systems, each with twenty-two antipersonnel mines, and 141 M18/M18A1
Claymore mines

The ICBL 2001 report
http://www.icbl.org/lm/2001/qatar/
which was completed just prior to 9-11 confirmed that the munitions storage
plan had in fact gone into effect. Located in the remote desert region of
Qatar, Al-Udeid was a perfect candidate for this kind of usage. But
munitions storage facility would not last long. As the Bush administration
came to power they had new plans for the air base, plans that would clear
the path to war with Iraq.

By March 2001 the Air Force began investigating moving operations to the
Al-Udeid.

According to a Congressional report given by Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld, the airfield was now being looked at as potential US base. In his
annual Allied Contributions to the Common Defense Report
http://www.dod.gov/pubs/allied_contrib2001/index.htm
Rumsfeld stated:

"Since November 1995, Bahrain and Qatar have both hosted several Air
Expeditionary Force deployments in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH, and
the United States Air Force recently established a limited prepositioning
facility at Qatar's Al-Udeid Airbase and is investigating moving to the
airfield. Qatar also hosts prepositioned U.S. Army assets at As-Saliyah."

This was the first time the use of Al-Udied as a potential base for US air
operations was officially acknowledged. Back in April 2000, then Defense
Secretary William Cohen had been asked about the use of Al-Udeid at a press
conference in Kuwait
http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/2000/t04102000_t408kuwa.html
He acknowledge that he had "discussed ways in which Al-Udeid may be used in
the future, in a crisis situation" with the Qataris, but no agreement could
be reached. Obviously the new administration had more luck with the Qatari
negotiations then its predecessors.

In June 2001 communications capabilities were completed at Al Udeid

According to his online biography archived at a website for those who had
served at Prum Air Station ( http://www.prumairs.org/ ) in Germany, Bill
Goodman (USAF Ret) states (
http://www.prumairs.org/Bios/Bgoodman.htm ) that communications work began
at Al Udeid sometime before June 2001. Towards the end of his long and
distinguished military career, Goodman says that while working for Air Force
Central Command, he oversaw the installation of "communications capability"
at Al Udeid in the spring.

"In June of 1996 ...I accepted a position on the United States Central
Command Air Forces Staff. I was a Project Manager and Communications Systems
Manager for Southwest Asia. I got to spend much time traveling throughout
the Middle East. Most significant, and my last official duty in the Air
Force was that I was project manager for an initial communications
capability at Al Udeid Air Base in QATAR. I completed everything in June of
2001 and am pretty proud of what I helped accomplish there and feel like I
made a difference."

Around the same period, Alaswar Technology (
http://www.alaswar.net/TowerProjects2.htm )Group Co (aka.Al-Aswar
Electronic) of Hawally Kuwait supplied and installed two "60 foot guy masts,
microwave dishes and allied works" in Qatar; one at the Saliyah Army Base,
the other at Al-Udeid. Whether these communication dishes were part of the
work Bill Goodman was doing cannot be known. What is known is that the US
military had personnel working at Al-Udied long before the Sept 29, 2001
date always claimed to be the first time US servicemen set foot at the base.

In the Summer of 2001 construction contracts for the airbase began to go out
for bids.

By the summer of 2001 plans to expand Al Udeid into a large-scale
installation were well under way. The bidding process for contracts to do
the work had all ready begun.

On August 9, 2001 bids went out
http://www.fbodaily.com/cbd/archive/2001/08(August)/13-Aug-2001/xsol001.htm
for a "contractor owned-contractor operated" fueling station for both
fighter and cargo planes as well as a diesel and automotive gasoline
facility for ground vehicles. Also in the bid was a fueling station for
mobile aircraft refueling vehicles and a commercial tank truck receiving
facility.

COMMERCE BUSINESS DAILY ISSUE OF AUGUST 13, 2001 PSA #2913

SOLICITATIONS
X -- COCO SITE AT AL UDEID

Notice Date

August 9, 2001

Contracting Office

Defense Logistics Agency,
Logistics Operations,
Defense Energy Support Center,
8725 John J. Kingman Road,
Fort Belvoir, VA, 22060-6222

Solicitation Number

SP0600-01-R-0117

Response Due

October 5, 2001

Description

COCO Site at AL Udeid, Qatar 1. An aircraft hydrant fuel system capable of
servicing both fighter and cargo aircrafts. 2. Approximately 72,000 barrels
of JP8 storage capacity. 3. A ground products dispensing facility for Diesel
Fuel and Automotive Gasoline. 4. A truck fill stand capable for mobile
aircraft refueling vehicles. 5. A commercial tank truck receiving facility
(i.e. tank truck off loading heads).

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010813/XSOL001.HTM (D-221 SN50U5O6)

(Contact info edited)

On Sept 7, 2001, according to company news releases, a contract was awarded
GSCSGulf
( http://www.gscsgulf.com/news.html ) to build "administration facilities, a
worker break room, ablution facilities, an outside storage area, a loading
dock, FMSE facility, and a generator run up." Later in the month GSCSGulf
was awarded two contracts farmed out from DynCorp. One was for a Fuel
Receiving Point, the other for a Bulk Fuel Storage facility. "The projects
(were) to be built under expedited construction schedules in order to ensure
fuel systems (we