WASHINGTON, 6 July — A draft US military plan for an invasion of Iraq envisions a multi-pronged attack with tens of thousands of Marines and soldiers probably invading from Kuwait, The New York Times reported yesterday. The top secret document outlines a massive, three-pronged attack on Iraq by land, sea and air with as many as 250,000 troops and hundreds of warplanes.
The plan, described as a preliminary "concept" for a war, calls for invading Iraq with huge air assaults on Iraqi targets, including airfields, roadways and fiber-optics communications sites. None of the countries mentioned in the document as possible staging areas for an attack have been formally consulted, officials told the daily.
Citing a person familiar with the document, the newspaper said the highly classified plan calls for air, land and sea based forces to attack from three directions in a campaign to topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Another source familiar with US strategy toward Iraq told Reuters the plan described to the Times appeared to be an outdated version of one prepared by the Pentagon’s Central Command many months, if not years, ago.
Central Command commander Gen. Tommy Franks has since presented a refined version of the plan, putting more emphasis on the use of Iraqi opposition forces and US air power, said the source, who asked not to be named. Central Command is the part of the US military responsible for the Middle East.
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 Defense 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 defense official told the newspaper.
US President George W. Bush has openly declared his desire to remove Saddam by military force if necessary, but has offered few details of how he plans to accomplish that goal. According to the Times, the document envisions hundreds of warplanes based in as many as eight countries unleashing a huge air assault against thousands of targets, including airfields, roadways and fiber-optics communications sites. (The Independent)
