300 Pendleton Troops Headed for Persian Gulf

CAMP PENDLETON —  About 300 Marines from Camp Pendleton were scheduled to leave for the Persian Gulf this morning to join U. S. troops trying to ward off perceived Iraqi military threats to Jordan and Kuwait, officials said.

After exchanging hugs, handshakes and some tears with family members, the Marines boarded buses that took them to March Air Force base in Riverside County for the flight to the Persian Gulf region.

The Marines were expected to depart from the base at 1 a.m. today, according to Lt. Dave Griesmer, a Marine spokesman.

“They were very anxious to go,” Griesmer said. “This is what they train for. They want to do their job. They know that when they come to work they may go home, or they may go to the Persian Gulf later in the day.”

The departure of the Camp Pendleton Marines followed a Pentagon announcement last Friday that the United States was rushing a brigade of 1,400 troops to Kuwait for military exercises as a warning to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Pentagon officials said they decided to send more troops to the region because of “unusual movements” by Iraqi forces that could threaten Kuwait and Jordan.

Jordan was not a target of Iraq in the Persian Gulf War, but the Clinton Administration is concerned that Saddam Hussein could take action against the country because it has given refuge to two of the Iraqi president’s sons-in-law, both high-ranking military officers, who defected to Jordan last week with their wives.

One of the defectors told the Associated Press on Sunday that Iraq had planned to invade Kuwait and Saudi Arabia this month, but called off the attack after the defections.

Lt. Gen. Hussein Kamel al-Majid, who was head of the country’s clandestine weapons program as well as a son-in-law of Saddam, said he attended meetings of the Cabinet and the Revolutionary Command Council in which the invasions were discussed.

In a statement released during the weekend, the Iraqi government scoffed at the U. S. military buildup, saying the United States is reacting with “obvious hysteria.”

Griesmer said the Marines were expected to land Tuesday at an unidentified Persian Gulf port. From there, they will be flown by helicopters to rendezvous with U. S. ships that have already departed from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

The ships, known as the Maritime Prepositioning Force, carry tanks, artillery and enough ammunition, food and fuel to sustain a force of 16,500 Marines in combat for 30 days, Griesmer said.

Once aboard those ships, the Marines will make military tanks and other equipment battle-ready “so when they arrive at a specified port they will be ready for action, if necessary,” Griesmer said.