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CNN Live At Daybreak

Pentagon Officials Concede U.S. Military Not Ready for Iraq

Aired March 28, 2002 - 05:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to the issue of Iraq, while President Bush openly hinted possible military action against Saddam Hussein, Pentagon officials have privately conceded to CNN that the U.S. military is not quite ready for another major war.

Our Military Affairs Correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Already taxed by current operations in Afghanistan, the U.S. military is not fully ready to attack Iraq, and probably won't be for months, a senior defense official tells CNN. This candid assessment comes as President Bush continues to signal a willingness to do what it takes to topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Again, all options are on the table and -- but one thing I will not allow is a nation such as Iraq to threaten our very future by developing weapons of mass destruction.

MCINTYRE: According to the senior official, the U.S. military needs more time to retool its ships, aircraft and weapons, restock munitions and to rest its troops. While the U.S. has plenty of the latest satellite-guided bombs, it is short of other high-tech assets, such as unmanned spy planes, which commanders now see as indispensable in providing real-time reports from the battlefield. Also, Pentagon sources say, U.S. Central Commander Tommy Franks, the general who would command any Iraq invasion, doesn't want to fight in the withering heat of Iraq's summer, arguing it puts too much wear and tear on both troops and equipment.

While that would seem to push any action into the fall, military officials tell CNN that President Bush has told the Pentagon to be ready any time, even though no decision has been made to move against Saddam Hussein.

PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: Our preference is always to try to solve these things through diplomatic means if it's possible. Obviously, this is a man who has shown great resistance to accepting any reasonable outcomes. But there's been no decision yet made on using military force. MCINTYRE: Pentagon sources say the standard invasion plan for Iraq, modeled on the successful 1991 Persian Gulf War, was updated after September 11 and presented to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. But an official says Rumsfeld rejected the plan, which called for hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops and a long build-up as outdated Cold War thinking.

(on camera): Sources say Rumsfeld sent his military planners away with orders to draw up more imaginative options that involved fewer troops, more surprise and more emphasis on cutting off potential escape routes for Saddam Hussein.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, The Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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