Kuwait troop numbers 'exaggerated'

THE NUMBER of US troops in Kuwait has been exaggerated by a factor of up to ten, high-level British sources said yesterday, writes Christopher Bellamy. The Pentagon has put more than 20,000 troops, including US Marines and some of 24th Infantry Division, there but ground observers have not found them.

Britain rushed its spearhead battalion group - nearly 1,000-strong, to Kuwait starting on Tuesday. Although of the highest quality, the troops are unsuitable for 'heavy metal' warfare if 700 Iraqi tanks headed towards them.