US calls in further 17,000 reservists

THE US military, getting ready for a possible war with Iraq, yesterday said it had activated nearly 17,000 more reserve troops, bringing the total number of reservists on active duty to more than 111,000.

The latest mobilisation means that nearly 10% of the total of about 1.2 million US reservists now have been summoned to active duty.

The announcement came as the US continued to assemble a large military force in the Gulf region for a possible invasion of Iraq. Many reservists are heading to the Gulf region along with more than 100,000 US regular troops, ships and warplanes.

The Defence Department said 16,979 additional reservists were called to duty in the past week, bringing the total reserve and National Guard troops on active duty to 111,603.

The announcement came a day after the military said F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighters from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico had been sent for possible use against Iraq, and the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt started sailing toward the Gulf from the waters off Puerto Rico.

The weekly Pentagon announcement on reserve and National Guard troops on duty included the following totals: Army 80,002; Marine Corps 12,283; Air Force 11,729; Navy 5,604, and Coast Guard 1,985.

The military last week called up 15,718 more reservists, with 20,012 the week before.

President Bush has said the US will lead a coalition of nations to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein by force if necessary if he fails to comply with UN resolutions requiring him to give up any weapons of mass destruction. Iraq denies possessing such arms.

The Pentagon has also brought in the Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Abraham Lincoln to join two other carriers each with 75 warplanes already in the region: the USS Constellation in the Gulf and the USS Harry S Truman in the Mediterranean.