Commander of the United States Central Command General Tommy Franks insisted Tuesday that US President George. W Bush has not made any decision yet to launch a military campaign in Iraq.
Franks made the comment after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. He told reporters that his meeting with the Egyptian leader also included discussions on the US-led Operation Joint Freedom, issues of regional stability, the Middle-East situation, and the ongoing debate in the United Nations Security Council over the Iraqi crisis.
Franks, however, who would oversee any US military operation in Iraq, maintained that Washington has not yet made any decision to wage war on Iraq. "The fact is that no decision has been made to conduct military operations inside Iraq," he said, dismissing various media reports about US military preparations in the region as pure "speculation".
Moreover, Franks said the US certainly welcomed "the possibility to have command and control elements located where ever they need to be," but stressed that "there are no command and control facilities located anywhere without the agreement of the host nations where those assets are located." (Albawaba.com)
