U.S. General Franks sees no pause in Iraq campaign

AS SAYLIYA CAMP, Qatar, March 30 (Reuters) - U.S. Central Command chief General Tommy Franks rejected reports on Sunday that there was a pause in the drive of U.S.-led forces towards Baghdad.

Some U.S. troops said on Sunday they had been told a pause in land advances from the south towards Baghdad could be extended by several weeks because of overstretched supply lines and stiff Iraqi resistance.

Addressing a news conference at U.S. war headquarters in Qatar, Franks rejected suggestions of a pause in fighting: "It is simply not the case."

"Reporting that is coming from inside Iraq... would reflect that combat operations are continuing. They're continuing in the north, they're continuing in the west, they're continuing right around Baghdad."

Military officials told troops with one frontline unit south of Baghdad that the pause could last 35 to 40 days, far longer than a wait of up to six days they were warned of on Saturday. The Pentagon has denied that there is any pause on the battlefield.

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I watched this whole news conference. These reporters are either ideologically blinded or downright stupid. At least four questions on "did you have enough force."

Some key statements for "him who has ears, let him hear":

1) THE PLAN from the get go was a "flow" of forces introduced onto the battlefield, and at any given point Franks could say STOP. He instructed the press, and some Freepers, to look at the deployment orders---that they were ALL many months ago. None were drawn up recently.

2) Franks not only "signed off" on the plan, but designed it. He all but said it was nonsense that Rumsfeld overrode anything. He said that he and several others, NONE OF WHOM IS TALKING, know and designed the plan, and it is working. He implied it is working to near perfection.

3) There is no sign of insufficient supply. He distinguished between "Pvt. Franks" who is in the extreme edges of combat who may not have gotten his MRE today, and the supply line as a whole which is effectively functioning and is delivering to pre-ordained points in a timely fashion. The former is a general feature of combat, he implied, not a "problem."

4) This is the one that the press, I guarantee you, totally missed. Responding to a question about the 4th ID, Franks all but said they were never intended to go through Turkey to BEGIN WITH. Those people were right where we wanted them right until the moment we moved them for a very specific reason. Get it? He fixed Saddam's tank battalions in the north while we shot in the south, and secured the oil fields. NOW THE IMPLICATION IS THAT THE IRAQI FORCES HAVE BEEN REDEPLOYED TO THE SOUTH (too late). Hmmm. What does that tell you about our next move?

5) He keeps trying to get these people to understand the plan. The plan is a "mosaic." It involves "options" or "branches" in which ANY of three main attack sources can operate individually against targets of opportunity or in unison---special ops, air, or ground. They "jumped off" when they did because they saw that Saddam had not achieved the ability to destroy the southern oil fields. But apparently there were contingent plans to start with air, or to start with special forces.

6) At any point, he indicated you will see one of the three, two of the three, or all three operating. That does not mean there is a "pause." It means that the plan calls for this to happen in a fluid strategy.

FOLKS, HE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE OPAQUE: THIS IS THE MILITARY EQUIVALENT OF THE "WEST COAST" PASSING OFFENSE. YOU GO TO THE LINE, READ THE DEFENSE, AND IMMEIDATELY ATTACK THE WEAKEST POINT UNTIL THE ENEMY ADJUSTS, THEN YOU AUDIBLE INTO THE NEXT "BRANCH" AND KEEP HITTING 'EM WHERE THEY AINT!"

7) There are continued references to allies working with free Iraqis, not only in Basra, but in other cities on a regular basis as part of the operations. I think this is, in large part, how we intend to take Baghdad. One general said last night we expect it to fall from within. Our "special ops termites" will do a great deal of digging first, but Franks seemed totally confident that we would be successful.

8) He referred to the terror base in the north as "massive." Stupid reporter asked why we haven't seen the chem/bio weapons there. He said, "let's see what we find after we get it investigated."

9) All in all, this was a masterful press conference, and I guarantee you the media has no clue what he just said. He is not the showman Schartzkoft was, but is VERY effective and I have full confidence in this guy.

Military tactics are based on a pause here and an advance there. I get the impression that if the media was running the war, we would line up on the Iraq border and advance in a straight line for the far side of Iraq and continue in a straight line regardless of the terrain, the resistance in certain areas, etc. If a unit faces more combat than other units, it is normal to pause and take on needed supplies and ammunition.

Rest also enters into the equation. The human body is not a perpetual motion machine. The press should be awarded an "armchair general" award for their work in these press briefings.

I am not opposed to press figures embedded with units in the field. I do feel that discussions of strategy and tactics in a command area does not serve well for the reason that strategy gives the enemy too much of a leg up on future events.

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IRAQ == TERRORISM CENTRAL