From the time Congress authorized war to the end of February, how long did the President have to gather all the troops and logistics? The end of February is considered the end of the optimal time to conduct a war, especially wearing space suits. Remember that Turkey waffled for some time before finally turning us down, so we've had to re-deploy some assets and probably have had to change war plans significantly from a two-front to a one-front war. That kind of change isn't carried out overnight. Bush is dabbling with the UN, IMO, because the pieces aren't quite in place yet. If he fails to move by early April, then I'll join you in questionining what the heck is up. But there have been sufficient events to explain the delay.
U.S. ready to attack Iraq: general September 21, 2002
KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (CNN) --
The commander of U.S. forces based in the Gulf has said he is prepared for an attack on Iraq.
General Tommy Franks, the commander of the U.S. Central Command, said Saturday: "We are prepared to undertake whatever activities and whatever actions we may be directed to take by our nation.
"We are prepared to do whatever we are asked to do," he told a news conference in Kuwait.
snip
Bush has made it clear to the U.N. that the American administration is prepared to act alone if the organisation "fails to act" on Iraq. (Full story)
But Franks added: "The president of the United States has not made a decision to go to war.
"What he has made a decision to do is go before (the) United Nations, and to go before the Congress of my own country, and say the only course of action that is not available to us is not to continue the course of action that we've seen over the past 11 years."
U.S. officials have downplayed Franks' visit to the region as a prescheduled trip, although it coincided with an increased focus from the Bush administration on Iraq and its violation of U.N. resolutions calling for weapons inspectors.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/09/21/iraq.franks/
President Bush is tying to make the UN stronger with all the waffles!
Some important dates of Desert Storm:
August 8, 1990: Iraq annexes Kuwait August 22, 1990: President Bush authorizes calling up the reserves.
November 8, 1990: Bush orders additional deployments to give "offensive option" to US forces.
November 29, 1990: UN Security Council authorizes force if Iraq doesn’t withdraw from Kuwait by midnight EST January. 15.
January 12, 1991: Congress votes to allow for US troops to be used in offensive operations.
January 16, 1991: Marlin Fitzwater announces, "The liberation of Kuwait has begun..."