Posted on 02/14/2003 2:24:53 PM PST by areafiftyone
In new United States war plans, thousands of helicopter-borne troops and paratroopers would be flown deep into Iraq to seize oilfields, dams and banned weapons, and advance as far as Baghdad on day one of fighting, according to Pentagon officials.
President George Bush met his top field commander, General Tommy Franks, on Thursday to review plans quite unlike those used in the last Gulf war. That began with weeks of aerial bombardment, but the US suspicion that Saddam Hussein will try to wreck his country rather than surrender dictates that ground troops would be involved in the fighting on the same day as the air force or even before.
"I think the targets will be aimed at decapitation," one US defence official said. "You want to take away all his capabilities to respond with any WMD [weapons of mass destruction]. You don't want him to blow his dams, set fire to oilfields, or fire Scud missiles at neighbouring countries. You also want to put him immediately in a box in Baghdad and Tikrit."
The US has more than 150,000 troops in the Gulf, including some special forces inside Iraq preparing airfields and communications. There will be six aircraft carriers and 500 US air force planes in the region by the end of this month. Starting this week, 3000 soldiers a day are being flown to the area on chartered civilian planes.
Yet, despite the urgency of US pressure on the United Nations Security Council to give immediate backing for military action, it could be up to a month before some of the units and equipment central to the new strategy arrive in the Gulf.
The 101st Airborne Division and a paratrooper brigade from the 82nd Airborne Division will secure oilfields or dams, but they were only just leaving their barracks on Thursday.
The 82nd Airborne is a light force and can fly its equipment into war, so it can be in position (probably in Turkey and Jordan) in a matter of days. However, the 18,000-strong 101st Airborne, the biggest air mobile force in the world on D-day, has sent its trademark helicopters by ship.
As Mr Bush gave departing troops and sailors a morale-boosting send-off, the Apache gunships, the Black Hawks and Chinook helicopters were still on the dockside, encased in plastic.
Navy officials said it would take three days to load the equipment on to ferries, which would take three weeks to reach Kuwait and 28 hours to unload. It would take another few days to ensure they were in good working order.
"The 101st are exactly what you want if you want to put a force deep inside Iraq, and hit all those targets," Daniel Goure, a Pentagon consultant, said. "It may be we're looking at the middle of March before we're ready."
However, mid-March would coincide with a full moon. US combat troops would prefer to launch their first attack on a dark night, which could necessitate a further delay. But Pentagon officials insist they are capable of launching an overwhelming attack at any time from now, arguing it is not essential that the 101st Airborne be used on the first day of the war.
Defence officials and most analysts said the US would prefer to start the war with the maximum possible force on the first day, to overwhelm the Saddam regime, rather than to try a "rolling start" to the conflict.
"We tried the incremental use of force in Kosovo, but we found it just stiffened Serb resistance," a US official said. "I don't think there's much talk of a rolling start any more, unless Saddam mounts pre-emptive action."
Many pieces have yet to fall into place in the US plans before that full-strength force of 200,000 troops - including more than 40,000 British troops - is ready
Gotta find him first....
US jets destroyed the entire operation with smart bimbs the day they finished it. Source: Morton Kondracke on Fox News.
Michael
That I can see happening faster than most think. The rest I don't buy.
The story does not agree with the title and I seriously doubt that we have a "NEW" plan.
The game plan is not a mystery. It's sound and minimizes casualties but we aren't going into Bagdad.
Franks will wait for a political solution at a respectable distance from the city.
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