Alternative Plans For Iraq

MILLIYET- Columnist Sami Kohen writes about changes in US thinking on launching an operation in Iraq. A summary of his column is as follows:
In my article on Saturday I said that not a day went by without us hearing something new from Washington or London. I was right because according to the latest information making the rounds, the US is considering changing its plans to launch a large military operation in Iraq. In fact, the US could even postpone the strike on Iraq until now planned for the end of this year. This development was reported in the Washington Post and the New York Times, so I think we can safely conclude that the Bush administration is reassessing its strategies and that in fact it has begun to change its way of thinking on the issue of Iraq. The article in the Washington Post states that senior military officials have started to rethink the Pentagon’s plans for an operation in Iraq. According to these anonymous military officials, it would be risky to simply abandon political means and resort to military strategies to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. And according to the New York Times, the Pentagon is now working on plans for a limited operation against the Iraqi regime instead of total war. Plans to gain control of Baghdad and important military command centers, for instance, are being considered. The paper also states that US officials believe such a limited operation would not require ground troops of 250,000 men, as was initially planned, and wouldn’t meet much protest from countries in the region. We don’t know whether this ‘alternative thinking’ will actually be put into practice, but these reports show that senior military and civilian officials advising the Bush administration are looking for alternatives to all-out war against Saddam. The Pentagon is formulating new and different strategies. But why is this needed? Firstly there is the political factor. Almost all the world, and especially the countries in the region are against a wide-scope operation including Russia and international bodies such as the United Nations and the European Union. Great Britain is an exception. British Prime Minister Tony Blair is promising support, but even his Labour Party and most of the British public do not approve of his approach. President Bush needs to take the likely opposition of his international partners into consideration before US congressional elections in November. Secondly there is the military factor. It is said that Iraq constitutes a threat with its weapons of mass destruction. However an increasing number of people agree that launching a war may actually constitute a much greater threat. So, if these alternative US plans gain ground in US politics, then a US operation in Iraq will become less likely; in which case Turkey would undoubtedly let out a sigh of relief.

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION