IRAQ: US Special Operations troops are already operating in various parts of Iraq, searching for weapons sites, establishing a communications network and seeking potential defectors from Iraqi military units in what amounts to the initial ground phase of a war, US defence officials and experts familiar with Pentagon planning said.
The troops, comprising two Special Operations task forces with an undetermined number of personnel, have been in and out of Iraq for well over a month, said two military officials with direct knowledge of their activities. They are laying the groundwork for conventional US forces that could quickly seize large portions of Iraq if President Bush gives a formal order to go to war, the officials said.
The ground operation points to a Pentagon war plan that is shaping up to be dramatically different from the one carried out by the US and its allies in the 1991 Gulf War. Instead of beginning with a massive aerial bombardment, the plan envisions a series of preliminary ground actions to seize Iraqi territory and effectively encircle Baghdad before a large-scale air campaign hits the capital, defence officials and analysts said.
"It's possible that ground movements could come in and occupy large portions of Iraq almost unimpeded," said one person familiar with Pentagon planning. In northern Iraq, the source said, "we might get to the outskirts of Tikrit without firing a shot".
Tikrit, a city north of Baghdad, is Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's ancestral home and a major base of his power.
The buildup of US forces in the Persian Gulf region continues, even as the Bush administration pursues last-minute diplomacy to win over support for war at the United Nations.
The Pentagon announced the activation of nearly 40,000 more reservists this week, bringing the total to more than 150,000, the highest number since the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks. There are more than 135,000 US troops in the vicinity of Iraq, and that is expected to grow by next week to 150,000 - the number cited by military planners as the minimum required to launch a full-scale assault.
The Special Operations forces in Iraq have several missions. Some are establishing relations with opposition groups and setting up airstrips into which US forces could be flown, the officials said. Others are focused on preventing Iraq from launching missiles or drone aircraft against Israel. Those troops are believed to move in and out of Iraq from neighbouring countries.
In addition to the ground operations, a small-scale air war against Iraq also continues. US and British aircraft patrolling no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq have conducted airstrikes several times a week for months, hitting anti-aircraft sites, military communications lines and other government facilities. On Tuesday, US warplanes dropped more than a dozen bombs on a medium-range missile launcher system in southern Iraq. On Wednesday, they returned to bomb the radar system for that launcher.
A psychological operations campaign also has been under way, with leaflets and broadcasts preparing Iraqis for military action, telling them, among other things, that "coalition forces do not wish to harm the noble people of Iraq".
"The strategic war has already begun," said retired Marine Lieut Gen Paul Van Riper, an expert in war planning.
Early moves of US forces into northern, southern and western Iraq could substantially reduce the obstacles faced by the large-scale ground operations that would follow, military planners said.
In the north, Kurdish militias have achieved considerable autonomy while the south is overwhelmingly populated by members of the Shi'ite sect of Islam that widely resents Saddam's Sunni-dominated leadership. Western Iraq is largely uninhabited desert. - (The Washington Post)