WASHINGTON, July 5 (Xinhuanet) -- The United States is planning a
comprehensive attack on Iraq to topple President Saddam Hussein, The New
York Times reported Friday.
According to the paper, the US military is working on a preliminary
planning document which calls for air, land and sea-based forces to attack
Iraq from three directions -- the north, south and west.
The document projects that tens of thousands of US marines and
soldiers would probably be needed to stage an invasion from Kuwait.
Meanwhile, hundreds of warplanes based in as many as eight
countries, possibly including Turkey and Qatar, would unleash a huge air
assault against thousands of targets, including airfields,roadways and
fiber-optics communications sites in Iraq.
Special operations forces or covert CIA operatives would strikeat
depots or laboratories storing or manufacturing Iraq's suspected weapons
of mass destruction and the missiles to launch them.
The New York Times said that the existence of the document, though
preliminary one, indicates an advanced stage of planning inthe US military
even though the Bush administration states publicly it has no plan on the
table for an immediate invasion of Iraq.
It said that the document, entitled "CentCom Courses of Action,"
was prepared by planners at the Central Command in Tampa, Florida, and has
already undergone revisions.
"Right now, we're at the stage of conceptual thinking and
brainstorming," the newspaper quoted a senior US defense official as
saying. Enditem
