US 'rethinking' Iraq attack

Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit

BBC Online - May 24, 2002
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_2006000/2006526.stm


US 'rethinking' Iraq attack

US military officials believe they have made headway in persuading
the Bush administration not to mount a military campaign in Iraq,
reports say.

The Washington Post quotes senior Pentagon officials as saying that
the Joint Chiefs of Staff mounted an "aggressive campaign" for the
White House to reconsider such an attack.

This included a private briefing for President George W Bush by
General Tommy Franks, the head of US Central Command.

General Franks is said to have warned that any invasion would require
at least 200,000 troops - more than some officials originally
estimated.

Officials told the Washington Post that the chiefs of staff were
concerned about the possibility of brutal hand-to-hand fighting with
Iraqi soldiers which would result in high casualties.

Refocused attitudeThe Bush administration has in recent weeks
refocused its attitude towards Iraq on the possibility of
overthrowing Saddam Hussein through covert means, and also using
international diplomacy and Iraqi opposition groups based abroad, the
officials said.

Mr Bush said during his trip to Germany that he had no plans for an
Iraqi invasion at present. He felt it necessary that his
administration used "all means at our disposal" to overthrow Saddam
Hussein, hinting that the military option was not the only one being
considered.

The latest reports present a marked contrast to previous messages
from the White House, which had indicated that an attack on Iraq was
all but inevitable.

'Iraq hysteria'

Mr Bush's inclusion of Iraq in his "axis of evil" during his State of
the Union address in January led many to believe an attack would be
imminent.

But in April the Bush administration denied a report - this time by
the New York Times - that said the military strategy for an attack
had been worked out.

The officials told the Washington Post that one general had expressed
relief that much of the "Iraq hysteria" had been at least partially
defused.

Some of the chiefs have reportedly felt that the ageing Saddam
Hussein had improved his behaviour in recent months. They were also
were concerned that he appeared to have no successor the
administration felt it could deal with.

However, the paper reported that it may be difficult to persuade
other, more hawkish, Republican officials to soften their line
towards Iraq, with one military official quoted as saying that the
chiefs' plans "smack(ed) to me of risk aversion".

 
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nytmid-05.26.02-03:26:55-2188