- The former supreme allied commander of Nato has accused
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of putting allied troops at risk through
poor planning.
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- Wesley Clark said Mr Rumsfeld's insistence on a smaller
invasion force had left troops vulnerable and the 300-mile oil supply line
between Kuwait and Basra open to guerilla attack.
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- Troops had been tied up in "messy fighting"
around Nasiriyah and Baghdad, he said, leading to "logistics problems".
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- He added that hopes of a quick victory spurred by a popular
revolt against Saddam had been dashed.
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- "The simple fact is that the liberation didn't quite
occur. They didn't rise up."
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- Other war veterans have also spoken out against the early
stages of war planning.
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- Miscalculations
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- Ralph Peters, a military scientist and former Army officer,
wrote in the Washington Post that a coalition victory would be achieved
"despite serious strategic miscalculations by the office of the Defence
Secretary".
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- The "shock and awe" strategy of aerial bombardment
had failed to shatter the will of Saddam's regime, he said, and if anything
had encouraged greater resistance.
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- "It delayed essential attacks on Iraq's military
capabilities," said Mr Peters. "This encouraged at least some
Iraqis in uniform to believe they had a chance to fight and win.
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- "Now our forces advancing on Baghdad face the possibility
of more serious combat than would otherwise have been the case."
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- Coalition commander General Tommy Franks's draft invasion
plan proposed using four or five heavy divisions moving slowly towards
Baghdad.
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- New warfare
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- Mr Rumsfeld is said to have rejected this, complaining
that it was too similar to the strategy used in the 1991 Gulf War. Instead
he insisted on a smaller, lighter force relying heavily on special forces
and air power.
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- Retired US Army General Barry McCaffrey, commander of
the 24th Infantry Division 12 years ago, said Mr Rumsfeld had ignored warnings
that he was underestimating the number of troops needed.
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- "I think he thought these were generals with feet
planted in World War Two who didn't understand the new way of warfare,"
he said.
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- "If the Iraqis actually fight it's going to be brutal,
dangerous work and we could take a couple to 3,000 casualties."
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- Mr Rumsfeld insisted his strategy was working.
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- "It's a good plan everybody agrees to, and it is
a plan that in four and a half or five days has moved ground forces to
within a short distance of Baghdad."
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- http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-12275965,00.html
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