Australia: Preparing for War

September 30, 2002

According to the latest report brought by the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, the top priority for the Australian-US satellite ground station at Pine Gap, near Alice Springs, has been shifted to intelligence gathering in Iraq, including target identification, ahead of a threatened US-led first strike.

Well-placed sources say Pine Gap will also be able to directly transmit information to commanders in Iraq during a conflict. This would include directing the firing of missiles and the dropping of bombs.

In addition, Pine Gap is equipped to detect the launch of any Scud missiles fired by Iraq at its neighbors, including Israel.

Henry Marconi
Sydney

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