Egypt, the United States and 10 other countries are staging one of the Middle East's largest war-games exercises, code-named Bright Star 2005. Amirah Ibrahim reports Egypt and the US have kicked off the latest round of their biannual military exercise, Bright Star. Ten other countries are also taking part. At a joint press conference on Sunday, Egyptian commanders expressed their optimism about the increasing cooperation between the participants and their different military approaches. "For the participants, Bright Star provides a good opportunity to get acquainted with each other's equipment, tactics and training," said Maj Gen Ahmed Mokhtar, chief of the Armed Forces Exercises Authority. "The exercise is designed to improve readiness and interoperability, as well as strengthen relationships between Egypt, the US and other participating forces," he said. "The manoeuvres embody international cooperation. This year's games will include peace-keeping training as well." The biannual exercise was cancelled last time around because of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. The same thing happened in 1991, when both US and Egyptian troops took part in efforts to liberate Kuwait. Bright Star is a joint exercise involving tactical, as well as air, ground, naval and special operations forces field training. It is designed to enhance military cooperation by strengthening joint commitment to regional stability and mutual interests. Participants include forces from Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. General James Comstock, the US senior planning commander for the manoeuvres, said Bright Star was one of the "major military exercises the US army conducts, which validates training and demonstrates capability to respond to various contingencies." Besides the participants, representatives of up to 36 countries will be present during the war games as observers, he said. "We are happy that what began as a small unit training has now evolved into a joint, combined computer-aided command post-exercise and a tactical air, ground, naval and special operations forces field training exercise," Comstock said. The Bright Star exercise traces its roots back to Egypt's signing of the 1979 Camp David Peace Accord. It was shortly after this that the United States military began to train side-by- side with their Egyptian military counterparts in the Egyptian desert. Bright Star was first conducted in the summer of 1980 as a single service bilateral ground manoeuvre event involving only ground forces from the United States and Egypt. In 1981, similar bilateral ground manoeuvres were conducted with a larger force from both countries. With this increase in troop size, the logistics involved in conducting the exercise grew as well. As a result, in 1983 a decision was made to make Bright Star a biennial event, which it has been ever since. It remained a bilateral ground forces event until 1985, when the air forces of both the US and Egypt were added to the game. In 1995, the exercise expanded to include 60,000 troops from the United States, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, France and the United Kingdom, as well as observers from numerous Middle East and Western countries. Bright Star grew again in 1997, when the US and Egypt invited more NATO nations, including Germany, to take part. With the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and other Arab countries on board, what began as a small training event has become one of the largest exercises involving US troops anywhere in the world. The 1997 exercise featured naval, tactical air, amphibious assault, undersea, special forces and ground combat training. In 1999, it expanded to include more than 70,000 troops from 11 nations, adding the Netherlands, Italy, Greece and Jordan. This time around, although more countries are participating, fewer troops are being deployed. Up to 30,000 troops are taking part in the five phases of exercises that involve all army branches from the navy to the air, ground, artillery and special forces. Modern and advanced weapon systems will also make an appearance during this year's exercises. Bright Star, which will continue until 2 October, is being staged in the Western Desert along the Mediterranean coastline.
