22 August 2002

US general quits over fixed Forces wargame US's biggest ever war game, staged this month at a cost of $US253 million with 13,000 troops, was rigged to ensure that the Americans beat their "Middle Eastern" (viz Iraq) adversaries, says the man who led the US' opposition. [General Van Riper] sent orders with motorcycle couriers to evade sophisticated electronic eavesdropping equipment. When the US fleet sailed into the Gulf, he instructed his small boats and planes to move around in apparently aimless circles before launching a surprise attack which sank a substantial part of the US Navy. The war game had to be stopped and the American ships "refloated" so that the US forces stood a chance. "They had a predetermined end, and they scripted the exercise to that end," said General Van Riper, who quit when he found out that his orders were being overruled by the military co-ordinators of the game. 10:46:18 PM     comments