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CNN Live At Daybreak

Britain Off to War?

Aired December 18, 2002 - 06:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. ally, Britain, is gearing up for a possible war with Iraq. The British government is contacting reservists and readying the movement of ships and other war equipment. Still, officials stress, a conflict is not imminent.
CNN's Robin Oakley joins us live from London with more -- Robin.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, the pace is certainly quickening towards a possible conflict in Iraq, and we're starting to get more details of a British contribution that could involve up to 20,000 troops.

As you say, reservists are now being put on shorter call-up notice. There's no formal call-up yet of forces or of reservists, but reservists and their employers are being notified, so that they are ready to move quickly should the need arise. They're cutting down the reaction time.

Also, the British government has revealed that it's chartering ships, which would transport heavy armor like tanks to Kuwait. And that's a process that would, of course, take a matter of three or four weeks, and the movements are not going to start until early in the New Year. After that, when troops get to areas like Kuwait, they would still have to go in for desert (ph) certification training and for adaptation of a certain amount of their equipment.

And ministry of defense officials are insisting that these movements, these planned deployments, don't mean that war is inevitable or that it is imminent, simply that the preparations are being made, and certainly there's every sign that the tempo is stepping up and British MPs are now expecting there will be this contingent of around 20,000 British troops, including some 10,000 reservists, particularly in the medical field -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Robin, thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired December 18, 2002 - 06:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. ally, Britain, is gearing up for a possible war with Iraq. The British government is contacting reservists and readying the movement of ships and other war equipment. Still, officials stress, a conflict is not imminent.
CNN's Robin Oakley joins us live from London with more -- Robin.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, the pace is certainly quickening towards a possible conflict in Iraq, and we're starting to get more details of a British contribution that could involve up to 20,000 troops.

As you say, reservists are now being put on shorter call-up notice. There's no formal call-up yet of forces or of reservists, but reservists and their employers are being notified, so that they are ready to move quickly should the need arise. They're cutting down the reaction time.

Also, the British government has revealed that it's chartering ships, which would transport heavy armor like tanks to Kuwait. And that's a process that would, of course, take a matter of three or four weeks, and the movements are not going to start until early in the New Year. After that, when troops get to areas like Kuwait, they would still have to go in for desert (ph) certification training and for adaptation of a certain amount of their equipment.

And ministry of defense officials are insisting that these movements, these planned deployments, don't mean that war is inevitable or that it is imminent, simply that the preparations are being made, and certainly there's every sign that the tempo is stepping up and British MPs are now expecting there will be this contingent of around 20,000 British troops, including some 10,000 reservists, particularly in the medical field -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Robin, thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.