GULF WATCH: Day 149 : A Daily Briefing Paper on Developments in the Crisis

Political Front: President Bush is scheduled to meet with congressional leaders Thursday to discuss the Administration’s plans to attack Iraq if it has not withdrawn from Kuwait by Jan. 15. Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) and Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) said the Administration must intensify efforts to arrange talks with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein if it expects congressional support for eventual military action. The Administration, meanwhile, again accused Iraq of blocking progress on arranging the discussions.

In Beirut, an assortment of Iraqi opposition groups announced plans to join in an effort to oust Saddam Hussein from power and prevent a war over Kuwait. The newly formed Iraqi National Joint Action Committee includes pro-Iranian Muslim fundamentalists, Syrian-backed Muslim groups, Communists, socialists, dissident members of Hussein’s ruling Arab Baath Socialist Party, Arab nationalists and Kurds.

Military Front: Two aircraft carrier groups consisting of 17 ships and 16,000 sailors and Marines began leaving port for a two-week voyage to the Persian Gulf. The America and the Theodore Roosevelt and their escort ships will join three carrier groups already in the region.

Iraq test-fired a Soviet-made Scud ballistic missile, causing U.S. military commanders to send their troops to battle stations in the third such incident this month. The flight path did not threaten U.S. and allied forces in the region. The Pentagon confirmed that it will begin a program of inoculating some soldiers against biological weapons that could be used by Iraq. Officials declined to say how many U.S. troops would receive the vaccinations or when they would begin.

Britain ordered 390 medical reservists to active duty in the gulf conflict, its first mandatory reserve mobilization in 25 years.

Latest Iraqi Deployment Figures:

Iraqi troops in or near Kuwait: 500,000+

Tanks deployed: 4,000+

Artillery pieces deployed: 2,700

Armored vehicles deployed: 2,500

Military aircraft: 700