Deaglán de Bréadún reports from Centcom in Qatar - from where the war is being directed.
An isolated outpost in the Arabian desert with a tongue-twister for a name will become the best-known military location in the world in the next few days. Decisions taken there could have untold effects and the names of the decision-makers will be on everyone's lips, their faces flashing across millions of TV screens.
The place is Camp As Sayliyah on the outskirts of Doha, capital of the tiny state of Qatar in the Persian Gulf, and it is the headquarters for the US-led coalition to oust Saddam Hussein.
There is nothing grand or glamorous about the exterior of Camp As Sayliyah, which consists mainly of low-slung prefabricated warehouses. To get there, you have to drive through the equivalent of an industrial estate, adding to the impression of arid functionality. But inside, the facilities are extremely advanced. This is truly the "cutting edge" of modern high-tech warfare.
The 262-acre site has been designated as the "command and control" centre for the war and an estimated 1,000 military planners travelled from US Central Command (Centcom) in Tampa, Florida earlier this year to take up their stations in the camp.
Centcom is responsible for US military interests throughout 25 countries in east Africa, the Middle East and central Asia.
Each day the planners work in front of their computer screens in the air-conditioned warehouses, preparing the overthrow of Saddam. When I was there this week, some of them were taking a break with a game of basketball. The contest was almost completely screened from the view of the media by a series of high concrete barriers, but you could hear the shouts. There are reported to be about 400 British military planners also at the base.
In all, Camp As Sayliyah consists of 33 hangars or warehouses, built in Florida and shipped to Qatar in segments last October. The whole operation cost an estimated $100 million. Last December, an elaborate war game called "Internal Look", which lasted a week, was staged at the camp in preparation for the conflict. The exercise covered a US attack on Iraq, possible Iraqi counter-attacks and even pre-emptive strikes by Baghdad. Earlier war games had been conducted in the US - in one of those the Pentagon reportedly played out a scenario in which Iraq emerged victorious but few, if any, planners in the US-led coalition would contemplate this happening in reality.
The As Sayliyah base originally opened in August 2000 with just 300 US troops but its existence was kept secret until announced by the Emir just a year ago this month. A further attraction for the Americans in Qatar is that the country's Al Udeid airbase has a 4.5km runway, the longest in the Gulf, which cost a billion dollars to construct.
In the last Gulf War, media briefings by the flamboyant Gen Norman Schwarzkopf, also known as "Stormin' Norman", made him a household name. The US commander this time is Gen Tommy Franks, whose style is far more low key. He will work alongside Air Marshal Brian Burridge, who commands the British forces, and the pair will move between their space-age control room and the high-tech media centre for the duration of the conflict. Yesterday US military personnel dealing with the media said that, in the event of war, they did not know how often or at what times the press briefings would take place, telling a US colleague of mine that this would be determined by the "battle rhythm" in Iraq.
Although it is in the Gulf region, the camp is some 700 miles from Baghdad, making it strategic but relatively safe. However, the Americans are not taking any chances. Security is tight and a sign on the way there reads, in English and Arabic, "Road under radar surveillance". Col Ray Shepherd, who is in charge of the media operation for Centcom, told me the camp was "our forward deployable headquarters".
Meanwhile, analysts say that moving the Centcom headquarters out of the US to the actual region of conflict is a significant development in strategy. The US sees itself as fighting a global war on terrorism and it now has a moveable headquarters which can be set up virtually anytime, in any place. The world may never be quite the same again.