U.S. Exploring Baghdad Strike as Iraq
Option
New
York Times.
Excerpts.
The "inside-out" approach, as some call this
Baghdad-first option, would capitalize on the American military's ability to
strike over long distances, maneuvering forces to envelop a large target.
Those advocating that plan say it reflects a strong desire
to find a strategy that would not require a full quarter-million American
troops, yet hits hard enough to succeed.
One important aim would be to disrupt
The advantages and risks of strikes aimed deep inside the
country and radiating outward are now under active discussion, according to
senior administration and Defense Department officials.
No formal plan has yet been presented to President Bush or
the senior members of his national security team, and several officials
cautioned that a number of alternatives were still under consideration.
The inside-out ideas are essentially the reverse of the
American strategy in the Persian Gulf war of 1991,
which dislodged Mr. Hussein's occupying army from
The aim would be to kill or isolate Mr. Hussein and to
pre-empt
Officials say it may be possible to paralyze an Iraqi
command-and-control system that is highly centralized and authoritarian.
Under such a system, midlevel officers are not taught to
improvise, should they be cut off from commanders. It is also possible that
those midlevel officers, if they fear that Mr. Hussein has been killed, would
not bother to fire weapons of mass destruction.
If that can be accomplished with a smaller invasion force
than the 250,000 troops suggested in early drafts, the approach could appeal to
skittish gulf allies whose bases would be required for a war.
Those states are quietly advocating the quickest and
smallest military operation possible, to lessen anti-American protests on their
streets.
In that sense, the war planning includes the political
dimension of trying to tip reluctant allies into supporting, tacitly at least,
the operation.
A plan to immobilize the Iraqi leadership would draw from
lessons learned on maneuver warfare in the invasion of
Pentagon officials warn however that tracking Mr. Hussein
with any certainty is difficult if not impossible, as shown by the global
manhunt now under way for Osama bin Laden.
Something nearer the 250,000 figure might have to be
deployed to the region anyway, to make sure that any forces that drop into
Baghdad do not become isolated or surrounded, bereft of a land line providing
military support, food and ammunition.
The Defense Department deputy spokesman, Bryan Whitman, said
the Pentagon would have no comment on potential military plans for
But it is clear that the debate over whether and how to
dislodge Mr. Hussein is gaining speed within the administration and on Capitol
Hill.
No timetable has been set for military action, however, and
if President Bush decides to go ahead, his aides say, he will have to make a
public, convincing case about why Mr. Hussein poses an intolerable threat to
the
Some members of Congress, including conservative
Republicans, are beginning to urge Mr. Bush to explain his reasoning and goals
before committing American forces to topple a foreign government that has not
attacked the
"The time will come to do all of that," a senior
administration official said in an interview on Friday.
"And no one is opposed to doing it."
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