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2006-04-13 Syria-Lebanon-Iran
CENTCOM drafts plans for war with Iran
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Posted by Anonymoose 2006-04-13 08:59|| || Front Page|| [5 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 The U.S. Central Command is preparing contingency plans for the prospect of an American-led war against Iran.

We already have one. For high threat countries, it is updated every year or less. They are just updating it with all the current intel and will updated it weekly at least now that Iran is in the crosshairs.
Posted by DarthVader 2006-04-13 09:41||   2006-04-13 09:41|| Front Page Top

#2 Think of it as moving to "DEFCON 3".
Posted by Anonymoose 2006-04-13 09:52||   2006-04-13 09:52|| Front Page Top

#3 Pace said that Franks, who since retirement has opposed the U.S. military presence in Iraq
?
Franks?
Posted by 6 2006-04-13 11:31||   2006-04-13 11:31|| Front Page Top

#4 Franks, who since retirement has opposed the U.S. military presence in Iraq

Question? Is this true? I'm having trouble finding statements by Franks to back up this theory.
Posted by Sherry 2006-04-13 11:31||   2006-04-13 11:31|| Front Page Top

#5 Sherry, I had that same reaction. I haven't seen anything by Franks like that.
Posted by Matt 2006-04-13 11:48||   2006-04-13 11:48|| Front Page Top

#6 don't believe it
Posted by Frank G">Frank G  2006-04-13 12:04||   2006-04-13 12:04|| Front Page Top

#7 I sent a "friendly" email to World Tribune requesting their source(s) for this.

Ha! like I think I will get an answer! But hey, it's a virtual Friday in our office! (off tomorrow)
Posted by Sherry 2006-04-13 12:09||   2006-04-13 12:09|| Front Page Top

#8 from a 2004 Parade magazine article:

Franks did only eight media briefings during the main Afghan and Iraqi campaigns. But no one should underestimate his power and influence. His war plans all but eviscerated the military’s cherished “Powell doctrine,” articulated by now Secretary of State Colin Powell, which called for the use of overwhelming force against the enemy. Franks instead went into Iraq with just one Coalition soldier for every 2.5 Iraqi troops. Unhappy with how the heads of the Marine Corps, Air Force, Army and Navy “nitpicked” his plans for the Afghan war, Franks says he made clear to his civilian bosses at the Pentagon that the other generals’ presence at his daily satellite briefings was “not helpful” and that he wanted to be “left the hell alone to run the Iraq War.” He largely got his wish.

... After 9/11, Franks wrote a war plan for Afghanistan in 10 days. It relied on air power, Special Forces troops and Afghan militias. Not everyone in the military liked it, just as they didn’t like his plans for Iraq. Franks was accused of trying to please Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and President Bush, rather than holding out for what was best for the forces on the ground.

What Went Wrong

Franks now bristles at these suggestions. He maintains that, in Iraq, “having a smaller force gave the U.S. an element of surprise.” He believes that the quick rush to Baghdad saved Iraq’s oil wells from destruction, prevented total sabotage of its water supply and thwarted deadly missile attacks on U.S. forces. The only people who were surprised by Baghdad’s quick fall on April 9, 2003, he says, were the “cable news folks, like al-Jazeera and CNN.”

Franks says his biggest surprise of the campaign was the failure to find WMD—“the reason we went to war.” Every sign, he insists, from Arab leaders to intelligence estimates, had indicated that Saddam had them. “The only time a dead certainty applies is in a dream world,” he says.

While the campaign was formidable, the turbulent aftermath is likely to make Franks’ legacy more mixed. Things in Iraq went “as I had expected, not as I had hoped,” says Franks, who retired two months after formal hostilities ended. The U.S. let Americans and the world think “the post-war phase would be over as quickly as the hostilities,” he explains, “while the Iraqis expected to go from the dark ages to the prosperous middle class overnight.”

Franks clearly is disappointed in the Iraqis, who, in his view, initially chose looting and insurgency over “pulling themselves together to reform their country.” And he faults the international community, which never committed “serious numbers of peacekeepers or funds” to help Iraq after Saddam. During the planning, Franks and his team expected that 150,000 international troops would join U.S. forces in the post-war phase. They never materialized.

Could the current guerrilla war have been prevented, as critics contend? Franks says he isn’t sure. Knowing what he knows now, he would still attack with the same size force. But, he adds, he would handle the “approach and reconnaissance around key towns differently.” Yet he doubts that either would have changed the final result, although other strategists surely will disagree. Flooding the country with cash to quickly employ “angry young Iraqis” might have helped too, he adds.

What Lies Ahead

Franks believes that five years is a realistic timeline for the U.S. to be involved in Iraq, noting that the country has to dig itself out of a “30-year hole.” He says, “It takes time to solve problems when you’re talking about 25 to 26 million people.”

Looking back, Franks believes that the world is “far safer” without Saddam Hussein. And he is distressed by what he calls “the U.S.’s flogging of itself.” Says Franks: “America is not responsible for terrorism against America. Terrorists are responsible.”


Meanwhile, Franks hopes that we continue to fight terrorists outside the U.S.: “If you want your grandchildren to grow up in an open society, we’d better deal with the problem as far away from here as possible, even though that’s not easy or easily affordable.” He adds: “The blessings of this country are not by accident.”
Posted by lotp 2006-04-13 12:12||   2006-04-13 12:12|| Front Page Top

#9 The other General Franks maybe?
Posted by 6 2006-04-13 12:48||   2006-04-13 12:48|| Front Page Top

#10 Fred? He's not that dumb, is he?
Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-04-13 12:52||   2006-04-13 12:52|| Front Page Top

#11 I *think* LtGen?? Frank?? Franks is still on active duty.
Posted by lotp 2006-04-13 13:10||   2006-04-13 13:10|| Front Page Top

#12 Franks is retired. He commands a very high speaking fee, a VIP hotel room and a limo.
Posted by 2b 2006-04-13 13:12||   2006-04-13 13:12|| Front Page Top

#13 There are two General Franks. One was in command of a Corps in Iraq War I. General Tommy Franks was in command in Afghanistan and Iraq War II. I believe somebody is getting their General Franks mixed up. Everything I've read and heard General Tommy Franks say is supportive of the War. who since retirement has opposed the U.S. military presence in Iraq I believe this was inserted by the writer and he's the one who has his Franks mixed up, although I've not read or heard the other General Franks point of view lately.
Posted by Deacon Blues">Deacon Blues  2006-04-13 13:29||   2006-04-13 13:29|| Front Page Top

#14 Why bother bombing nuclear facilities? Iran has only 9 refineries and a limited number of hydroelectric generation facilities. A few well placed sorties turn off the electricity for the country. It is very hard to produce nuclear weapons as you sit in the dark with no gasoline and no electricity. Of course, they mullahs may not notice the difference.
Posted by RWV 2006-04-13 13:51||   2006-04-13 13:51|| Front Page Top

#15 Why not open up with economic sanctions ala Paleo V 2.0? it is working so good there that in one week the seethers are down to crumbs, the same thing could be done in Iran; admittedly it might take longer. And include the "we won't sell you goods" upgrade, so even if they continue to take in dollars, euros, lira, monopoly, whatever, they can't eat it, can they?
Jus' wonderin' is all.
Personnaly I am still partial to a zero-dark-thirty aluminum overcast followed by iron rain.
Posted by USN, ret. 2006-04-13 14:28||   2006-04-13 14:28|| Front Page Top

#16 Refineries? - check
Hydroelectric generation? - check
(Remember to knock out all the other generating facilities)
Shut down port facilities and airfields. One way or another, seal air vents and doorways to underground facilities.
A sustained propaganda effort along the lines of: "The current Iranian rulers have been dedicated to terrorism since 1979. They have loudly proclaimed their intent to use nuclear weapons as instruments of terror, and we take them at their word." Make sure this message gets into Iran, over and over again.
These sanctions are within the power of the US to take. Other sanctions only work if the rest of the world cooperates - ain't gonna happen. Fifth column support for Islamic fascism is world-wide, not just a problem in the west.
Be prepared for a storm of MSM confusion and discord, massive outbursts of terror in Iraq and nearby countries, and for $5 - $10/gallon gas domestically (if not outright shortages of fuel). Consider gas rationing.

The other alternative is go back to the mentality of the 50's, buy Geiger countries, stock up on food & build fallout shelters.
Not a pleasant choice.

Posted by Snuns Thromp1484 2006-04-13 17:57||   2006-04-13 17:57|| Front Page Top

#17 I take Bush at his word. WE won't need fallout shelters.
Posted by Darrell 2006-04-13 20:57||   2006-04-13 20:57|| Front Page Top

#18 Dang it. The Iranians have got illegal satellite dishes all over the place. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT they should be receiving a "Horrors of Nuclear War" channel, filled with the most nightmarish programming we have. If nothing else, show the movie "Threads" over and over again.

Give them 40 years of nuclear terror month on end until we get it through their thick head what they are facing.
Posted by Anonymoose 2006-04-13 21:44||   2006-04-13 21:44|| Front Page Top

23:16 rjschwarz
22:55 49 Pan
22:50 49 Pan
22:43 49 Pan
22:29 CrazyFool
22:18  Barbara Skolaut
22:13  Barbara Skolaut
22:11 Frank G
22:11 Ernest Brown
22:10 Fordesque
22:10 Cheater Ebbavith7926
22:09 Captain America
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22:07 Skidmark
22:03 Redneck Jim
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21:59 Skidmark
21:58 DMFD
21:54 Redneck Jim
21:54 smn
21:51 Anonymoose
21:50 Old Patriot
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21:46 Redneck Jim









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