War two weeks after Haj: Pentagon source

Arab News ^ | 04 February 2003 | Barbara Ferguson

[Mossad1967]

The US will go to war against Iraq two weeks after Haj, which is scheduled to end Feb. 13, a former deputy secretary at the US Defense Department told Arab News yesterday.

“During this massive air attack, the last thing you want is cluttered airspace,” a former deputy secretary at the Defense Department told Arab News.

The “buzz” at the Pentagon, he said, is that Gulf War II will begin two weeks after Haj, before the end of February.

“The big thing is that you don’t want, right after Eid Al-Adha, hundreds of airplanes flying all over the place, and the Saudis certainly wouldn’t want anyone stranded in the Kingdom,” he said.

[savedbygrace]

Maybe we should call ahead and make sure their calendar is clear. Reservations can be important that time of year.

[spetznaz]

I doubt the veracity of this article for several reasons. First and foremost the web (including FR) has been inundated with 'reports' and 'leaks' saying war will start on this and this date, and on that particular lunar cycle, and up to now none of them has come to pass. Secondly this was a report given to the Arab media .....is there not a chance it is just some mental stratagem meant to confuse them more?

I really doubt the planners at the mil would be going over to Al Jazeera type networks and saying 'Hey abdullah ....we are going to be flying some F/A-18s on the second saturday of next month, so if you peek outside your tent you should see the afterburners to your west!'

Doubt it.

These sources are either conscious stratagems by the military planners to throw Saddam off by deluging him with so much info he does not know which is correct .....or it is just some kooky fella who thought he would get some kicks by telling the Arab media some stories.

I personally think the military planners have something to do with all these stories .....basic psyop tactics! Saddam will have so many stories to sift through he might be looking at the actualplans and never know.

[Man of the Right]

The U.S. could care less about any Muslim day. When the necessary force is in place and Bush feels it's time to go, we'll go. September 11 was the demarcation between Islamists making things happen and things happened to them. So, sit back and enjoy. And don't hang out in any mosques where weapons of mass destruction are being stored.

[Izzy Dunne]

Gulf War II will begin with 3,000-guided missiles ripping apart Iraqi military and leadership targets within the first 48 hours

Wrong.
Thank you for playing.
The correct answer is:
Gulf War II will begin with a massive disinformation campaign feeding plausible factoids to gullible self-important twits."

[RolandBurnam]

any mosque is a weapon of mass destruction.

[Kenny Bunk]

Haj best time for a strike. Turn Mecca and Medina into sheets of volcanic glass at the very next incident against us.

[Mike Darancette]

Gulf War II will begin with a massive disinformation campaign feeding plausible factoids to gullible self-important twits."

Give the man a cigar.

[RightWhale]

This makes sense. Who wants 2 million to 10 million people milling around in the desert for a couple of months fighting over airdropped ctates of MREs? Let them go home first.

[Kozak]

I don't doubt it. Two weeks after the 13th is the next new moon. WE OWN THE DARKNESS.
Much later in the year and we run into problems with the weather in a campaign in Iraq. Don't want to be suiting up in mop gear when the temps hit 100+ . It's gonna be end of February, or wait till next year.....

[Kozak]

This makes sense. Who wants 2 million to 10 million people milling around in the desert for a couple of months fighting over airdropped ctates of MREs?

MRE's hell. We should drop cans of spam.

[Semper Paratus]

Would the Pentagon awfully mind if they could also give the exact time of the strike.
Betting pools you know.

[firebrand]

What time on the 27th?

[firebrand]

Ha! You beat me.

[Man of the Right]

Good point.

[TheJollyRoger]

"drop cans of Spam"
Bingo!---We have a winner.

[RobFromGa]

As long as we get to decide when Haj starts.

I vote for January 20th as official "Haj 2003". The bombing will begin in ...

[craig_eddy]

Ties in nicely with Kuwait declares northern area closed military zone from February 15 (Reuters).

[hunter112]

Haj best time for a strike. Turn Mecca and Medina into sheets of volcanic glass at the very next incident against us.

That's for NEXT year. This year, the Saudis are still useful idiots who want these "guests" safely home before the rioting starts. After the royal family is replaced with fundamentalist Islamofacists who make the family look benign, THEN we work on paving the parking lot.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

But rooms are cheaper.