Military Intelligence chief expects U.S. to attack Iraq in February

Ha'aretz ^ | 24/12/2002 | By Gideon Alon, Ha'aretz Correspondent, and Ha'aretz Service

[Mossad1967]

Military Intelligence chief Major General Aharon Ze'evi (Farkash) told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee ýTuesdayý that ýhe expects the United States to attack Iraq in the beginning of February, shortly after the American government reviews the United Nations inspectors' weapons report expected to be presented by January 27.

Ze'evi also said that in contrast with the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq has not issued particularly harsh statements against Israel. Instead, Iraq has issued general statements saying that it will attack whomever attacks it first.

He added that Al-Qaida has changed its pattern and is now focusing on Jewish and Israeli targets.

UN sources said this week that Iraq's account of its weapons arsenal failed to include information on 6,000 chemical warfare bombs. The account of the missing bombs, contained in the so-called "Air Force document," first came to light in July 1998. A UN inspector saw the six-page document and took a few notes before it was snatched from her hands during a 16-hour inspection search and standoff at the Air Force headquarters.

After withholding the Air Force document since then, Iraqi officials handed it over to a UN inspector in Baghdad on November 30. But Iraq gave no explanation for the missing weapons in its cover letter or in the 12,000-page weapons declaration submitted a week later, the sources said.

[Mossad1967]

Tick, Tick, Tick...

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Israeli intelligence: U.S. attack on Iraq to start in February; Al Qaeda plans to hit Jewish targets

[ASA Vet]

Bingo, Be sure to watch the evening news on Jan 31, 2003.

[Mixer]

I am thinking the attacks will come in January.

[Mossad1967]

More disinformation???

[Rokke]

I think folks need to recall all the guessing as to when we planned on hitting Afghanistan. The initiation of events there happened much later than anyone (even Israeli Intelligence Chiefs) predicted. And in that event, we really didn't have to coordinate our actions with the UN, a multitude of Middle Eastern countries, and Sean Penn. This time is different. February would be ideal. And waiting for a dark night would be nice. But we don't control all the cards here, and the timeline is not entirely ours to control. In the end, we're going to do it right, and well...but that ticking clock you hear has a solar powered battery that has a lot of ticks left before the alarm goes off.

[canuck_conservative]

Here's my prediction:

Week 1 - Cruise missiles, air campaign starts
Week 2 - Air campaign continues
Week 3 - Ground troops roll in; amphibious assault on Basra.
Week 4 - Iraq army crushed; Baghdad surrounded
Week 5 - Saddam tries to flee to Libya (to avoid coming cimes-against-humanity trial), but plane is shot down.

Stay tuned.

[txhurl]

Attack on Iraq Betting Pool

Filling in for Mamow here.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Happy Valentines Day, Sodom!

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Feb. 1st in Iraq will be a day of Liberation.

[Mixer]

More disinformation???

I believe so. I was watching Rummy last night and he was saying that he (they) does not announce military buildups or other activity of the armed forces. Sure it would be easy enough for people in those regions to see a significant buildup but I doubt there would be a formal announcement about dates for launching attacks.

[Centurion2000]

January 3rd .... next new moon OR Jan31st. Either way it's going to be a REALLY interesting month.

[Argus]

Early January would work. The US needs to send a message to the Koreas, both North and South, that defiance brings destruction. Demonstrating that on Saddam's head at this time is a twofer.

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

I do not think anyone knows the date nor month when we will attack... maybe even as we read this thread, we will attack.

[Dog Gone]

I've always thought it would be early February. The bases and staging will be complete. The UN will have its chance to speak. The cool weather will still be there.

And it will be at least a couple of weeks after we're completely ready, which will drive the Iraqis nuts and shooting at every bird or bug that enters their airspace.

[Doctor Mongo]

My calendar says Jan 27 is the beginning of Last Quarter Moon and New Moon occurs on Groundhog Day, Feb. 2, 2003.

[Momaw Nadon]

Attack on Iraq Betting Pool

Filling in for Mamow here.

Thank you very much! It's spelled Momaw by the way. :-)

[VOA]

Military Intelligence chief expects U.S. to attack Iraq in February

I'd love to see the look on Saddam's face as an Abrams tank rolls up to the bay windows
of his palace...tomorrow...on Christmas Day, 2002.

(OK, I know that is a fantasy...)

[Milwaukee_Guy]

I hate to say it but we should have attacked when the we still had support from the rest of the world after 9/11.

If we had concrete evidence of Iraqi WMD we should have put it on the table a long time ago. Apparently we do not have a smoking gun that will satisfy the UN.

Of course Saddam has WMD (and the will to use them) but our intelligence resources appear to have failed us again.

I don't like the way this whole thing is going....

[txhurl]

I don't like the way this whole thing is going....

It's a containment thing... the best prospect is that we don't need to ground attack or nuke or invade because of new weaponry.

True, North Korea and Axis of Evil, et. al. may have the smoking guns to tie it all together, but I personally believe the global military community knows we are fixin' to show off some next-gen weapons, in this rodeo, that will demonstrate our commitment.