U.S. May Rotate Desert Troops : Gulf crisis: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs visits Saudi Arabia. The GIs want to know ‘When can we come home?’

The United States hopes to begin rotating troops in Saudi Arabia to give them a break from the desert heat and allow them a chance to see their families, America’s top military officer said today.

Gen. Colin L. Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said after a whirlwind tour of several American base camps in the Saudi Arabian desert that morale is remarkably high despite the harsh conditions.

But at each stop, he faced at least one question on the expected length of the U.S. deployment. In the desert and at a news conference after his visits, Powell was unable to provide an answer.

“I want to get you home as fast as possible, but bear with me,” he told members of the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized). “I can’t give you an exact date. . . . But don’t think I ever forget that you have loved ones back home.”

He added that “we will start rotations as soon as possible” but did not say when that might be.

Iraq today gave the United States a veiled warning of possible terrorist attacks against American targets in retaliation for what it called “crimes” and “insults” against the Arab and Islamic nations.

The official Iraqi News Agency said the warning was contained in an official memorandum handed to a U.S. official in Baghdad in response to an American message delivered Wednesday to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

The U.S. message “claimed that certain terrorist groups which have bases in Iraq and are supported by Iraq are preparing for attacks against targets of the United States and its friends,” the news agency said.

The memorandum given to the U.S. diplomat, who was not named, said: “The Iraqi government categorically denies the American claims.”

But it said: “The American government and President Bush should expect that the crimes the United States of America is committing against the Arab nation and the insult it is directing to the Islamic shrines by occupying holy lands will undoubtedly produce a natural reaction from the Arab and Islamic masses.”

Also today, Reuters news agency reported that Syria has agreed to send an armored division to join the U.S.-led military buildup in Saudi Arabia, according to diplomatic sources.