""commanders were required to obtain the approval of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld if planned strikes were thought likely to cause more than 30 civilian deaths. More than 50 such strikes were proposed, and all were approved. ""
Report: U.S. Planned Pre-War Attacks on Iraq Defenses
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. air war commanders carried out a comprehensive plan as far back as mid-2002 to disrupt Iraq (news - web sites)'s military command and control system to prepare for the Iraq war, The New York Times reported in Sunday editions.
Citing an internal briefing on the conflict by the senior allied air war commander, the Times said the plan named "Southern Focus" called for attacks on the network of fiber-optic cable that Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s government used for transmitting military communications, as well as air strikes on key command centers, radars and other military assets.
The strikes, conducted from mid-2002 into the first few months of this year, were publicly justified as a response to Iraqi violations of a no-flight zone that U.S. and British officials established in southern Iraq, but Lt. Gen. T. Michael Moseley, the chief allied war commander, said the attacks also laid the foundations for the military campaign against Baghdad.
"It provided a set of opportunities and options for Gen. Franks," Moseley, in an interview, told the Times regarding the strikes and referring to Gen. Tommy Franks, who was head of U.S. Central Command.
While there were indications the United States was trying to weaken Iraqi air defenses in anticipation of a possible war, the scope and detailed planning that lay behind the effort were not generally known before, the Times report said.
One reason it was possible for U.S. forces to begin the ground campaign without preceding it with extensive air strikes was that 606 bombs were dropped on some 391 carefully chosen targets under the plan, Moseley said.
The disclosures were contained within an assessment by Moseley on the lessons of the war with Iraq, the paper said, which he presented at an internal briefing for U.S. and allied military officials at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada on Thursday.
Among other disclosures were that there was not a bunker in the Dora Farms area near Baghdad where U.S. intelligence initially believed Saddam was meeting with aides and which was attacked by F-117 stealth fighters and cruise missiles at the outset of the war; and that commanders were required to obtain the approval of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld if planned strikes were thought likely to cause more than 30 civilian deaths. More than 50 such strikes were proposed, and all were approved. |
