Americans buried Husein. Operation Desert Storm-II approved

Latest events in the Middle East moved aside the issue of Iraq, though not for a long time. General Tommy Francs, US commander in Persian Gulf, said to a high officer in Pentagon, that a new war against Iraq would demand 200,000 soldiers, Washington Times reported Friday. The general wants to organize Operation Desert Storm-II, so his statements on the subject are connected with the Bush administration’s discussions of an operation against Saddam Husein. Last weekend, President Bush met with some advisers on national security and discussed possible variants of the military campaign, an official said. The White House, independently on events in Iraq, already officially buried Husein’s regime. This could be concluded at least from comments of high functionaries of the Bush administration. Last week, US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld said, that he could not imagine a formula of international armament inspectors’ work, which would on one part satisfy Iraq, while on the other part would allow to the specialists to find the nuclear arm created by Baghdad. If Washington’s main task is to stop Saddam Husein menacing with weapon of mass destruction, the operation could be more effective, than diplomacy, he said. What is significant, however, that Rumsfeld is not alone in his striving for settling Iraqi issue with force methods: US Secretary of State Colin Powell and the President’s National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice are of the same view. Though, not all functionaries of the Bush administration are as belicose as Mr Power and Mrs Rice, and so far they managed to restrain military enthusiasm of representatives of the “War Party.” And not in vain Dick Cheney made a voyage to the Middle East (he had to create one more anti-Iraqi coalition). The failure of this mission and one more aggravation of Palestinian-Israeli conflict did not calmed his resoluteness to dethrone Saddam. Though, some functionaries are afraid of the White House being to hardly adjusted as for Iraq, while the war in Afghanistan is continuing and the conflict in the Middle East is growing. Moreover, there are opinions that any plan of the kind should be worked out more carefully, because negative consequences could only worsen the situation. Though, all sane ideas were buried, after Pentagon’s analysts who carried out a careful research concluded: the US is ready to fight on two fronts. According to the analysts, the US is on the level of military evolution, when it is ready to carry out three military campaigns simultaneously: a global one and two local ones. After this, all doubts were rejected, and a new stage of the preparations started. The only thing which they cannot agree upon, is in what degree so-called Iraqi opposition and Curds will be engaged in the operation: as the main force, or as an subsidiary one. Americans still discuss the idea of Iraqi Northern Alliance, though they have not understand yet that Iraq is not Afghanistan, so it hardly will work in Iraq. Therefore, the question about landing US military contingent in Iraq is still actual, which will advance to the capital with battles, supported from air. Apropos, not everybody likes the plan of incursion into Iraq, pronounced by general Francs. He is being criticized because he does not rely on usual landing troops in the war against Iraq, while Afghan experience shows that mobile Special Force’s troops are more effective than regular troops, of which 550,000 soldiers participated in the first war. Some time has gone since that war, so Saddam has probably took into consideration all mistakes of that war. Moreover, the Arab world, however with some exclusions, supports Husein. He is now a victim, but not an aggressor. Therefore, alignment of political forces, both in the Christian and in the Arab world could be seriously changed. Dmitry Litvinovich PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Vera Solovieva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/04/26/40387.html