General Tommy R. Franks - American Soldier

I leaned forward in the leather chair, watching the blank video projection screen. After a flicker of static, the wood-paneled White House Situation Room snapped into focus.

President George W. Bush sat between Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell at the head of the mahogany table. The five other members of the National Security Council sat along the sides, facing the screen on which our image appeared, just as theirs was displayed here.

The mens dark suits were well cut. Dr. Condoleezza Rice wore a tailored jacket. They could have been a corporate board, but the subject of this teleconference was not profit or loss. The topic was war.

If the President gave me the order, thousands of Coalition soldiers and Marines would attack across the Iraqi border in a matter of hours. Hundreds of American, British, and Australian warplanes would support the ground force.

Can you hear me, Mr. President? I asked.

Yes we can, Tommy. We can hear you fine. Youve got the National Security Council here.

Sir, I began. I would like to give a brief introduction of our component commanders and let them give you a quick status report. Well go around the horn. Ill start with Lt. General Buzz Moseley.

I nodded to my left. Buzz wore a desert-tan U.S. Air Force flight suit with the three stars of his rank on the shoulders. Beside him at our oval table was Royal Air Force Air Vice Marshal Glenn Torpy, who commanded the Coalitions British aviators. Group Captain Geoff Brown, the commander of the Australian Air Component, sat to my right.

Our command and control is full up, Mr. President, Buzz reported. Our Coalition forces are in place. The Air Component is airborne, overhead Iraq right now. Mr. President, we have the best-trained, best-equipped, best-motivated people in the world, and were well prepared to execute this task.

The people in Washington looked grave. Colin was plainly tired. Maybe even as tired as I was. My immediate boss, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, was calm, thoughtful. Beside him, Air Force General Dick Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared somber. Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet sat across the table, listening closely. They recognized the gravity of the moment.

The ultimate objective of our forces was Baghdad. Their mission was to overwhelm the enemy and topple one of the most dangerous and repressive dictatorships in the world, the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein.

Then, as I looked at the screen, I could see President Bush speakingbut now I couldnt hear his words. Apparently the sound on the secure satellite video link had just failed. Hope this isnt an omen. The President spoke again, but the picture was mute. Don Rumsfeld waved, pointing a finger toward his ear and mouthing something. Then Buzz leaned over and tapped a switch on my black console.

I had inadvertently cut the audio. Mr. Secretary, I found this thing on my machine here, I said with exaggerated contrition. I can read you loud and clear now.

My gaffe had broken the tension. The White House Situation Room echoed with laughter.

Dont worry, Tommy, the President said, grinning. We havent lost confidence. Fortunately were dealing with pilots sitting next to you.

His tone changed. The Presidents words were precise. General, he asked Buzz Moseley, do you have everything you need to win?

You bet, Sir.

Pleased with the strategy? the President continued.

Absolutely, Buzz answered.

Our strategy to defeat Saddams military and free Iraq was contained in a complex and ambitious operations plan that my staff and I had hammered out over months with Don Rumsfeld, an OPLAN unique in military history. During Operation Desert Storm, which drove the Iraqis from Kuwait, the coalition had deployed 560,000 troops in fourteen divisions. The four-day ground war did not begin until an intense five-week air campaign had pounded the enemy. In Operation Iraqi Freedom, I would command fewer than half the number of troopsin only five divisions, equipped with less than half the armor and artillerythan the force that had defeated the Iraqi army in 1991. But we would not stop at the Euphrates River. We planned to go all the way to Baghdad and beyond. And under our strategy, decisive air operations would begin after our ground units went into combat.

This was a calculated risk. But in thirty-eight years as a soldier, Id learned the difference between a risk and a gamble.

Next, I introduced U.S. Army Lt. General David McKiernan, our Land Component commander in Kuwait. Mr. President, we have 170,000 American, British, and Australian soldiers and Marines that are trained and ready here.

Were proud of the British and the Australians, the President said.

As we speak, David continued, were moving into forward attack positions along the Kuwaiti border. Our logistics are in place to sustain our operations for as far north and as long as we need to go.

General, George Bush asked him, you got everything you need to win?

Yes, Sir.

Satisfied with the strategy?

Yes, Sir.

Next came my Naval Component commander, Vice Admiral Tim Keating, in Bahrain. He described his 149 shipssixty from Coalition alliesdeployed in the eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and the Arabian Gulf, a fleet that included five aircraft carriers. Were ready to execute, Mr. President.

Got everything you need? George Bush asked again.

We do, Sir.

President Bush tilted back in his chair and smiled. Im going to stop asking about the plan since you guys were the ones that developed it.

I heard laughter around the teleconference loop. The President had the natural leaders ability to put his subordinates at ease.

I moved on to our Marine Component commander, Lt. General Earl Hailston, also in Bahrain, who led our Consequence Management Task Force. Morale is high, he stressed, then added that his forces were ready to respond to any incident involving biological or chemical weapons.

All across the theater of war, our young men and women were pulling on their hot, uncomfortable MOPP protective suits before saddling up in the rest of their combat gear. Our latest intelligence reports suggested that Iraqi frontline units and Republican Guard divisions had been armed with nerve and mustard gasand possibly weaponized anthrax and botulinum toxins.

Neither Earl Hailston nor I could confirm the validity of this intelligence until the troops entered Iraq. But we had seen the Iraqis training to operate in a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) environment, and communications intercepts indicated their concern with chemicals and toxins. Since the Iraqis know we wont use WMD, I thought, their preparations must mean they will. I had no doubt WMD would be used against our forces in the days ahead. The enemy had the artillery and missiles to deliver these weapons of mass destruction. It was my duty as Commander, U.S. Central Command, to make certain the Coalition forces I would order into harms way were protected against any threat the enemy could present.

Indeed, I was glad that we had created Earl Hailstons task force to respond to whatever WMD threats we might encounter.