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05 March 2003

Rumsfeld Says Regime Change Would Be Iraq War Goal

(Defense secretary, Gen. Tommy Franks brief at Pentagon March 5) (440)
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made clear March 5 that replacing
Saddam Hussein would be a military objective if force must be used in
Iraq.
"[I]n the event force has to be used -- and that decision has not been
made -- it will be because of a failure on the part of Saddam Hussein
and his regime to cooperate with 17 U.N. resolutions," Rumsfeld said
at a Pentagon media briefing. "Therefore, clearly the goal of the use
of force would be unambiguously to have people who did not cooperate
not [be] there."
Reporters questioned General Tommy Franks, commander of U.S. Central
Command, who had briefed President Bush earlier in the day, about U.S.
military plans. General Franks, however, was sparing in his comments
with the media.
Franks said U.S. troops in the field "are trained, they're ready, they
are capable. And if the president of the United States decides to
undertake military options with the coalition mentioned by the
secretary [Rumsfeld], there is no doubt we will prevail."
Asked what alternative plans he has for the thousands of troops that
would have been disembarked in Turkey, Franks said, "[O]ne would not
want to make a decision about where those ground forces might be
introduced publicly.... [W]e protect our planning effort. ... [A]s the
combatant commander ... I actually am interested in security, and I am
interested in secrecy. ... We're going to protect our forces," Franks
said.
Franks said he could not speculate on whether civilian casualties
would be lower than in the 1991 Gulf War, "because we recognize that a
very ruthless regime sits in Baghdad" and Saddam Hussein "will make
his own decisions about where to position the lives of his own
people."
Asked about targeting of sites inside Iraq, Franks said this is always
done by pairing the weapon which might be used with the desired
target.
"[T]hen you'll begin to look at all of the places where we know we do
not want to strike because we're Americans, because we're part of a
coalition that treats citizenry like that in Iraq as victims, not as
enemies, as the president said," Franks commented.
Asked whether non-lethal weapons may be part of the U.S. arsenal,
Franks said the possibility exists that some will be used. He refused,
however, to specify types of weapons, except to give as an example
"offensive electronics." Asked to explain that, Franks said, "I
wouldn't describe exactly what I mean."
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)