U.S. begins high-seas anti-terror games with Southeast Asia
U.S. begins high-seas anti-terror games with Southeast Asia
En-Lai Yeoh
Associated Press/Singapore
As the Star Wars theme song played, the U.S. Navy launched two
weeks of anti-terrorism exercises with Singapore on Tuesday, days
before U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrives here to
discuss security with his Asia-Pacific counterparts.
Rear Adm. Kevin Quinn, U.S. Navy commander of the Logistics
Group Western Pacific, kicked off the exercise at a Singapore
naval base auditorium to the film's orchestral theme. A written
history of Singapore-U.S. naval war games rolled across a big
screen like the film's famous opening.
More than 1,500 U.S. and Singapore troops, aircraft, a
submarine and 12 ships are taking part in the two-week
Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training, or CARAT, in the South
China Sea.
Washington fears that al-Qaeda linked militants could launch a
terror strike in the nearby Malacca Strait, which borders
Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, and is plied by 50,000
commercial ships a year.
More than half the world's oil and a third of its commerce
pass through the 900-kilometer strait. A bombing could paralyze
its sea traffic for months.
Much of the CARAT exercise will involve training to prevent
maritime terror strikes -- such as the seizure of vessels and
attacks by small boats, a tactic used by al-Qaeda in the past.
In 2000, a suicide bomber in a small boat rammed the destroyer
USS Cole in Yemen, killing 17 U.S. servicemen. The Navy then set
up measures to increasing ships' security in port.
"It's an emphasis that's well deserved," said CARAT's task
group commander, Capt. Lothrop "Buzz" Little.
Crew aboard the USS Paul Hamilton guided missile destroyer are
also expected to simulate a chemical gas attack.
On Saturday, Rumsfeld is scheduled to be in Singapore to
address a meeting of defense ministers and military chiefs from
20 countries.
Singapore, a firm backer of the Iraq war, has regularly hosted
U.S. troops and warships. It has a naval facility specially built
to accommodate U.S. aircraft carriers.
From Singapore, the U.S. Navy will travel to Malaysia,
Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines to continue
separate CARAT exercises scheduled to end in August.