The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
led by the
3rd Infantry Division, would attack up lines of march west of the
Euphrates
River in a
long arc that curved from lines of departure in Kuwait to reach
Baghdad.
The 1st
Marine Expeditionary Force – divided into reinforced Regimental
combat
teams –
would follow the road network along the Tigris River, farther east.
The Army
and Marines
would link up to destroy any surviving Republican Guard units
south
of the
capital. The 4th Infantry Division would advance south from staging
areas
in Turkey,
provided we could persuade the Turks to lend us their territory for
a few
months. A
division-plus-size British ground force would pivot northeast out
of Kuwait
and isolate
Basra, forming a protective cordon around the southern oil fields.
And
US, Brit
and Australian Special Operations Forces would control Iraq’s
western
desert,
preventing the regime freedom of action to launch long-range
missiles
toward
Jordan and Israel.”
33.
The plan had
four “Phases”, described by Gen Franks as:
•
Phase I –
Preparation;
•
Phase II –
Shape the Battlespace;
•
Phase III –
Decisive Operations; and
•
Phase IV –
Post-Hostility Operations.
34.
Phase I
included establishing an “air bridge” to transport forces into the
region, and
securing
“regional and international support for operations”. During Phase
II, separate
air
operations would begin, intended to “shape the battlespace” before
the start of
ground
operations.
35.
Gen Franks
wrote that during Phase II the US would “launch air and
Special
Operations
Forces into Iraq … to destroy key target sets and set conditions
for deploying
heavy
units”.
36.
Special
Operations forces would deploy to destroy Iraqi observation posts
along the
western
border and seize control of potential missile-launching sites –
“Scud baskets” –
and
airstrips in Iraq’s western desert.
37.
Phase II of
the plan also included dropping thousands of leaflets in the
southern
No‑Fly Zone
warning Iraqi troops against the use of WMD and intended to
prevent
sabotage of
the oilfields.
38.
During Phase
II, targets would not include Iraq’s electrical power grid,
power
plants,
transformer stations, pylons and electricity lines, so as to
preserve the national
infrastructure
and protect electricity supplies for hospitals.
10