NewsMax.com Wires
Tuesday, July 30, 2002

This "inside-out" approach, as the strategy has been dubbed, would aim to disrupt Iraq’s potential use of its weapons of mass destruction and topple or kill dictator Saddam Hussein.

The pros and cons of the plan are being discussed, but have not been presented to President Bush or senior members of his national security team, the Times said. Senior administration and Defense Department officials said other alternatives were also being considered.

Officials told the Times it might be possible to hit Iraq’s centralized command-and-control system in which midlevel officers are not taught to improvise. Those officers might not fire weapons of mass destruction if they fear Saddam has been killed.

Advantages

The Times said the plan would require less than 250,000 troops and would appeal to neighboring Arab nations whose bases the United States would want to use in the event of a war. Most Arab countries have opposed an attack on Iraq.

The Times said, however, something near the 250,000 figure might have to be deployed anyway, to ensure any forces dropped into Baghdad do not become isolated.

Saddam’s elite troops surround the city, which is filled with anti-aircraft batteries, the Times said. The Times said any attack of "Iraq would probably include intense air attacks followed by a combined airborne and ground assault on strategic targets.”

The Defense Department did not comment on the report.

The plan has some supporters on Capitol Hill.

"There is a divergence of views on how can one best diminish the prospect that he uses weapons of mass destruction, with any efficacy," said Sen. Joseph Biden Jr., D-Del., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Biden said he had not been briefed on the plan.

The senator told the Times: "That is where the argument for an inside-out operation gains credibility. There is a diminished possibility that he will use chemical or biological weapons."

The operation is expected to be mostly U.S.-run, with Britain contributing significant forces.

Copyright 2002 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.

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