Iraq - Scheduling War
"From what can now be determined, it appears that President Bush finally made a decision on which of these invasion plans to follow in late August or very early in September.? Possibly fearing the political fallout of a battlefield disaster, should a lightly-equipped U.S. invasion force confront heavily-armed Iraqi forces, Bush selected the more conservative plan favored by Tommy Franks.? At that point, the countdown to war began in earnest as preparations got underway for the deployment of some 200,000 U.S. combat troops to the Middle East.

"But no matter how eager the chickenhawks were to go to war, it is not possible to move 200,000 troops and all their equipment to a battlefield 8,000 miles away overnight.? It takes time: six months at a minimum.? So, when President Bush gave the go ahead in late August, the earliest starting time for the initial attack automatically became late February or early March of 2003, some two to three weeks from now.? So, since, early September, everyone in the know in Washington has been aware that the war will break out sometime around March 1st, give or take a few days."

Iraq - Scheduling War
"From what can now be determined, it appears that President Bush finally made a decision on which of these invasion plans to follow in late August or very early in September.? Possibly fearing the political fallout of a battlefield disaster, should a lightly-equipped U.S. invasion force confront heavily-armed Iraqi forces, Bush selected the more conservative plan favored by Tommy Franks.? At that point, the countdown to war began in earnest as preparations got underway for the deployment of some 200,000 U.S. combat troops to the Middle East.

"But no matter how eager the chickenhawks were to go to war, it is not possible to move 200,000 troops and all their equipment to a battlefield 8,000 miles away overnight.? It takes time: six months at a minimum.? So, when President Bush gave the go ahead in late August, the earliest starting time for the initial attack automatically became late February or early March of 2003, some two to three weeks from now.? So, since, early September, everyone in the know in Washington has been aware that the war will break out sometime around March 1st, give or take a few days."