thedrifter
02-26-03, 01:15 PM
February 25, 2003
Franks: Force remains flexible, could grow
By Robert Burns
Associated Press
LONDON — The start of war in Iraq seems to be growing close, yet the American general who would lead an invasion says he believes he has time to strengthen the force and change its attack plans.
“There are a lot of pieces in play,” Gen. Tommy R. Franks, commander of U.S. Central Command, said in an Associated Press interview Monday while flying to London from his Tampa, Fla., headquarters.
Franks was meeting Tuesday with Prime Minister Tony Blair and Adm. Sir Michael Boyce, chief of the British defense staff. Afterward he was flying to Qatar to meet with commanders. Britain is contributing more than 40,000 land, sea and air forces to the buildup in the Gulf.
Franks said the deployment of U.S. forces in the gulf region has not reached the point at which Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has asked him whether he has all the firepower he needs to attack.
“There may come a day when he asks me: ‘Are you satisfied that you have enough?’ And I will tell you truthfully he has not asked me that question,” Franks said in the one-hour interview.
There are more than 180,000 U.S. air, land and sea personnel arrayed against Iraq, and the number is growing daily.
U.S. forces are keeping up the psychological pressure inside Iraq by warning soldiers not to carry out any order from Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to use chemical or biological weapons. U.S. planes on Monday dropped 360,000 leaflets over several areas in southern Iraq, including Al Kut, Az Zubayr, Qalat Salih, Salman Az Azhir and Basra.
A Central Command statement said the leaflets stated that any Iraqi army unit that chooses to use weapons of mass destruction will face “prompt and appropriate responses by coalition forces.”
Franks said Rumsfeld has not yet informed him that President George W. Bush has decided to use force to disarm Iraq.
“What that means to (me) is we still have a great many pieces of the mosaic that can be moved around in a lot of different ways,” he said. “It’s in my interest to move those pieces around in ways that are good for us. It’s condition-setting. What you want to do is you want to set conditions. And the conditions we have set to date may be different than the conditions we’ll have set tomorrow or in the middle of April or whenever.”
Although he said he was not focused on Saddam as a target, Franks had harsh words for the Iraqi president.
“We have a firm conviction that Saddam Hussein rapes, murders and abuses his own people, that he threatens the Western world and a great many nations in the international community — and we’re one of them — that he has the capability to bring his threats to reality,” Franks said. “And it seems to us this should not stand.”
Franks would not discuss details of the U.S. troop buildup.
“What everyone wants to say is, ‘Everything that’s going to be involved in this fight — it’s there now.’ And then others will say, ‘Everything that’s needed for this fight won’t be there till April or May.’ And the fact of the matter is, I don’t think it’s in my interest to disabuse either side,” he said.
It was clear from Franks’ comments that he is preserving as much surprise as possible. He would not say, for example, whether he would run the war from his newly installed command post at Camp As Sayliyah, in Qatar, or elsewhere.
Franks planned to visit the camp this week to meet with the land, sea and air commanders who report to him, but he insisted this was no indication war is imminent.
“A lot of people will be speculating and say, ‘OK, this is a last-minute exercise to check out the war plan and all of that.’ That is not the case,” Franks said. He said it was simply part of his normal “battle rhythm” — reviewing preparations each day with all key people involved.
In the interview, he addressed many topics, including a personal matter: the Pentagon investigation into allegations that he allowed his wife to sit in on classified briefings and failed to reimburse the government fully for her travel.
“I’m not satisfied that there is any malfeasance with any of this, and so I really don’t have anything to say until it’s finished,” he said.
Asked whether it has distracted him at this critical moment, he said: “The ability of a guy in my position to focus on his work is very, very important to getting the job done. This ongoing investigation has had no impact on my focus at all, because I’m comfortable with the way I do my business. And I’m comfortable that at the end of the day, everyone will understand why I am comfortable.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press
Sempers,
Roger
Franks: Force remains flexible, could grow
By Robert Burns
Associated Press
LONDON — The start of war in Iraq seems to be growing close, yet the American general who would lead an invasion says he believes he has time to strengthen the force and change its attack plans.
“There are a lot of pieces in play,” Gen. Tommy R. Franks, commander of U.S. Central Command, said in an Associated Press interview Monday while flying to London from his Tampa, Fla., headquarters.
Franks was meeting Tuesday with Prime Minister Tony Blair and Adm. Sir Michael Boyce, chief of the British defense staff. Afterward he was flying to Qatar to meet with commanders. Britain is contributing more than 40,000 land, sea and air forces to the buildup in the Gulf.
Franks said the deployment of U.S. forces in the gulf region has not reached the point at which Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has asked him whether he has all the firepower he needs to attack.
“There may come a day when he asks me: ‘Are you satisfied that you have enough?’ And I will tell you truthfully he has not asked me that question,” Franks said in the one-hour interview.
There are more than 180,000 U.S. air, land and sea personnel arrayed against Iraq, and the number is growing daily.
U.S. forces are keeping up the psychological pressure inside Iraq by warning soldiers not to carry out any order from Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to use chemical or biological weapons. U.S. planes on Monday dropped 360,000 leaflets over several areas in southern Iraq, including Al Kut, Az Zubayr, Qalat Salih, Salman Az Azhir and Basra.
A Central Command statement said the leaflets stated that any Iraqi army unit that chooses to use weapons of mass destruction will face “prompt and appropriate responses by coalition forces.”
Franks said Rumsfeld has not yet informed him that President George W. Bush has decided to use force to disarm Iraq.
“What that means to (me) is we still have a great many pieces of the mosaic that can be moved around in a lot of different ways,” he said. “It’s in my interest to move those pieces around in ways that are good for us. It’s condition-setting. What you want to do is you want to set conditions. And the conditions we have set to date may be different than the conditions we’ll have set tomorrow or in the middle of April or whenever.”
Although he said he was not focused on Saddam as a target, Franks had harsh words for the Iraqi president.
“We have a firm conviction that Saddam Hussein rapes, murders and abuses his own people, that he threatens the Western world and a great many nations in the international community — and we’re one of them — that he has the capability to bring his threats to reality,” Franks said. “And it seems to us this should not stand.”
Franks would not discuss details of the U.S. troop buildup.
“What everyone wants to say is, ‘Everything that’s going to be involved in this fight — it’s there now.’ And then others will say, ‘Everything that’s needed for this fight won’t be there till April or May.’ And the fact of the matter is, I don’t think it’s in my interest to disabuse either side,” he said.
It was clear from Franks’ comments that he is preserving as much surprise as possible. He would not say, for example, whether he would run the war from his newly installed command post at Camp As Sayliyah, in Qatar, or elsewhere.
Franks planned to visit the camp this week to meet with the land, sea and air commanders who report to him, but he insisted this was no indication war is imminent.
“A lot of people will be speculating and say, ‘OK, this is a last-minute exercise to check out the war plan and all of that.’ That is not the case,” Franks said. He said it was simply part of his normal “battle rhythm” — reviewing preparations each day with all key people involved.
In the interview, he addressed many topics, including a personal matter: the Pentagon investigation into allegations that he allowed his wife to sit in on classified briefings and failed to reimburse the government fully for her travel.
“I’m not satisfied that there is any malfeasance with any of this, and so I really don’t have anything to say until it’s finished,” he said.
Asked whether it has distracted him at this critical moment, he said: “The ability of a guy in my position to focus on his work is very, very important to getting the job done. This ongoing investigation has had no impact on my focus at all, because I’m comfortable with the way I do my business. And I’m comfortable that at the end of the day, everyone will understand why I am comfortable.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press
Sempers,
Roger