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U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has signed a deployment order to send "significant'' ground forces, combat aircraft and logistics support to the Arabian Gulf, a move that marks the beginning of a final buildup for a possible war against Iraq, senior defence officials said on Friday.

As the Pentagon girds for possible military action against Iraq, it is having problems providing U.S. troops with state-of-the-art protective gear against chemical and biological attacks, lawmakers from both parties said this week.

Just seven months ago, Capt. Glenn Kozelka and his men from the Army's 10th Mountain Division fought Al Qaida terrorists in the mountains of Afghanistan.

The Clinton administration is considering a military option to punish Osama bin Laden if investigators conclude the Saudi fugitive was behind the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen.

Airborne troops, fifth carrier sent to Gulf

General backs U.S. capability

The U.S. military is assembling a ground force for a possible invasion of Iraq that could exceed 100,000 troops and include three to four heavy army divisions, an airborne division, a marine division and an assortment of special operations forces, according to defence officials and analysts.

U.S. and British warplanes have bombed more than 80 targets in Iraq's southern "no-fly" zone over the past five months, conducting an escalating air war even as UN weapons inspections proceed and diplomats look for ways of heading off a full-scale war.

U.S. won't be ready until March

Deadly digitised tank faces Iraqi armour