US reveals plans for Iraq attack
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
06 July 2002
A highly classified document reveals America's military command is planning
a three-pronged invasion of Iraq involving air, land and sea forces
attacking from separate directions to create an overwhelming strike that
will oust the dictator, Saddam Hussein.
Up to 250,000 American soldiers and marines would be involved, with land
forces invading from Kuwait. Hundreds of aircraft based in up to eight
countries would launch assaults on thousands of identified targets in Iraq,
including airfields, roads and fibre-optic communication sites. Sites
suspected of storing or producing Iraq's much-feared chemical and biological
weapons infrastructure would be targeted by special forces soldiers and CIA
covert operatives.
The war plan, called CentCom Course for Action was leaked to The New York
Times yesterday and is widely accepted as authentic. US military planners
have been putting together options for an assault against Saddam for some
time. It is understood that two months ago, one plan passed to the Defence
Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, was handed back with a "Must Do Better" label.
Pentagon officials yesterday insisted President George Bush had made no
final decision on an operation and no final battle plan had even been
"placed on his desk".
But the document contains the kind of precise details that suggest such
planning has moved well beyond the preliminary stages. "Right now we're at
the stage of conceptual thinking and brainstorming," a senior defence
official told the newspaper.
The document, drawn up by planners at US Central Command (CentCom) in Tampa,
Florida, reflects Washington thinking that the use of an overwhelming US
force is the only certain way of removing Saddam, something to which the
Bush administration is committed. Other options such as the fomenting of a
military coup or else the use of local opposition forces inside Iraq have
been deemed unlikely to succeed.
Adding to this view was the departure last week from the Pentagon of retired
General Wayne Downing who drew up a plan to fight a proxy war involving
local forces, similar to what happened in the initial stages of the
operation in Afghanistan using the Northern Alliance. He resigned last week
as Mr Bush's special adviser on counter-terrorism.
The leaking of the document in such detail to the newspaper also suggests
that many in the Pentagon wish to let it be known that a massive battle
group is being planned, no doubt partly to try to intimidate Saddam.
Iraq yesterday did nothing to reduce the likelihood of a military assault
from the US. The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, said diplomats had failed
to persuade Iraq to allow the return of weapons inspectors, a key demands of
the US and Britain.
The document says that up to 250,000 troops would be involved in the Iraq
operation, probably based in Kuwait. It also suggests that Turkey and Qatar
could be bases for troops or warplanes.
The precise timing of the assault is not mentioned, nor are the names of
those countries expected to support the US. Most commentators believe any
operation against Saddam is unlikely to start until the beginning of next
year. The document also fails to mention what Saddam's reaction might be to
the build-up of a large conventional army. "The Iraqis aren't just going to
sit on their butts while we put in 250,000 people,"one analyst said.
Apart from the document, there are signs on the ground that preparations for
an assault are being made. Thousands of marines from the First Marine
Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, California – the unit designated for
the Gulf – have been stepping up their mock assault drills.
And the Pentagon has increased production of ordnance, its supplies low
after Afghanistan. The air force is said to be stockpiling munitions and
spare parts. For months, the US has been setting up munitions dumps in Gulf
states, mainly Al Udeid in Qatar.
There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to see,
yet small enough to solve. -Mike- Levitt-
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