Reprinted from The Washington Times, March 2, 1998
U.S. Gulf forces to remain at least 90 days
By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The U.S. armed forces buildup in the Persian Gulf will stay in place and operate at a high tempo for at least the next 90 days while United Nations inspectors resume their search for Iraq's prohibited weapons, senior military officials said.
They said the Pentagon believes it will take that long for inspectors to visit "test-case" sites, such as presidential compounds suspected of holding components for biological and chemical weapons.
During that time, Washington can assess whether Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is honoring a pledge to cooperate, or stalling inspectors and moving materials from one site to another, the officials said.
"So much is dictated by what he does," one officer said.
It is costing the Pentagon about $230 million a month, beyond the cost of normal operations, to maintain two aircraft carriers, some 33,000 troops and over 200 strike aircraft in the region.
The Pentagon says "Desert Thunder" has rolled up $600 million in added costs since November, when U.S. forces began rushing to the Gulf. The Defense Department plans to ask Congress for supplemental funds later this month.
Military officials, who spoke on the condition they not be identified, said there is unhappiness -- but no outright revolt -- in the Pentagon over the limited size of a planned air strike against Iraq if Saddam again defies the United Nations.
One officer said that "less than 100 targets" are designated in the plan, and that the initial attack could last less than two days. Bombing could resume if the first strike is deemed inadequate.
The majority of targets are sites suspected of holding materials banned under U.N. resolutions Iraq signed after losing the 1991 Persian Gulf war.
Some members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff want to target Saddam's security forces and Republican Guard troops --the personnel that keep him and his inner circle in power.
U.S. weapons would seek out Guard tanks and other armaments. Off-limits are electric power plants and telecommunications centers.
Officials said the air campaign doesn't call for "leveling" Saddam's network of presidential compounds, or "palaces," although they would be hit.
They said one sign the air plan is limited is the fact that Gen. Anthony Zinni, commander of the U.S. Central Command, didn't request the only two planes capable of dropping the Air Force's 5,000-pound "bunker-buster" bomb.
The weapon, carried by the F-15E and B-2 stealth bomber, is designed to penetrate deep inside a reinforced, underground bunker and explode. Officials said there are sites for which the bomb could be deployed if a more open-ended air war was endorsed by the White House.
Kenneth Bacon, spokesman for Defense Secretary William S. Cohen, told reporters last week the Air Force is still honing the performance of nine operational B-2s.
"The program has not reached what's called the full operational capability yet," Mr. Bacon said. "That won't happen until the summer of 1999. So, the Air Force is still working with the plane and bringing it up to full operational capability."
The sources said National Security Adviser Samuel R. Berger has worked to keep the attack mostly limited to destroying weapons of mass destruction. The sources described Mr. Cohen as "much more hawkish."
They also said it is difficult to find any one commander taking credit for target selection. "Nobody wants to be associated with this thought process," said one officer.
The officer complained, as have Middle East policy analysts, that the bombing is not tied to a strategy to remove the real problem -- Saddam.
The United Nations has set no date for restarting inspections under new guidelines worked out last week by Saddam and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.Copyright 1998 News World Communications, Inc.
Reprinted with permission of
The Washington Times.
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