The Pentagon is preparing a campaign directed at deterring Iraqi officers from firing chemical or biological weapons during an American invasion, because intelligence officials believe Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has given field commanders conditional authority to use the weapons in the event of an attack.
According to defense and intelligence officials, quoted Monday by The Washington Post the effort would include extensive leafleting of Iraqi military positions - a tactic used by US forces in the course of the 1991 Gulf War - but also might employ clandestine techniques that would enable the US message to reach Iraqi commanders.
The newspaper said that final authority to use weapons of mass destruction has resided with Saddam Hussein. However, the Iraqi ruler’s knowledge that Washington would seek to take down Iraqi command centers and communications systems at the outset of any military attack means he has probably already given authority for firing chemical and biological weapons to his most loyal commanders in the field, the officials added. They said Saddam Hussein issued similar orders prior to the Gulf War.
The sources explained that as a result, the Pentagon plans to appeal in a direct fashion to these officers not to use the weapons. One of the biggest challenges before military planners, it seems, is determining which Iraqi military units can be encouraged to defect in the event of a US invasion and how to communicate with them, defense officials have conveyed. (Albawaba.com)
