Veterans question war strategy

Doubts over the US-led military strategy in Iraq intensified yesterday as several Gulf war commanders added their voices to the charge that it was a mistake to send such a small main force to advance on Baghdad from the south.

General Barry McCaffrey, who commanded the 24th Mechanised Infantry Division in the 1991 war, is among the highest-profile of those arguing that the Pentagon erred by sending in an assault force a third the size used in Desert Storm, leaving the coalition's supply chain between Kuwait and the outskirts of Baghdad vulnerable to ambush.

The 3rd Infantry is the only heavy US division yet involved in the push on Baghdad, reflecting the Pentagon philosophy of using lighter ground forces and aerial attacks rather than overwhelming artillery.

"There should have been a minimum of two divisions and an armoured cavalry regiment," Gen McCaffrey said.

Troops from the 1st Cavalry Division remain in Texas; only a small proportion of the 1st Armoured, based in Germany, has been dispatched, and the 1st Infantry, also in Germany, has not yet left for the region.

The forced cancellation of plans for a northern advance from Turkey left the coalition without the 21,000 soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division, which has only just been dispatched to Kuwait.

Observers fear the policy could lead to a pause in the advance on Baghdad. "You don't get up there and let them get their nerve back," Gen McCaffrey told...