Washington: The US is most likely to launch an offensive against Iraq in March as
the conditions favourable for waging a war would be available then, a media report
said on February 10.
The US Air Force likes to begin its bombing campaign in moonless nights. In Iraq,
for two weeks in early March, the moon will remain below the horizon until at least
4 am, a report published in the 'Time' magazine said.
The report said there will be 250,000 American troops on Iraq's doorstep or just
down the block. The number is more than enough to fight any sort of war that the
Pentagon may be thinking of waging, it said quoting military officials.
Despite their insistence in public that they are capable of fighting in an Iraqi
summer, US military officials want to avoid a war in the season, the magazine said.
By April, daytime temperatures soar over 100 degree Fahrenheit, hampering soldiers
wearing heavy suits to protect them from chemical and biological
weapons.
Helicopters cannot fly as efficiently in hot, thin air. Heat also causes equipment
breakdown, it said, adding more water has to be shipped to the front for its
troops.
The month is also suitable to its diplomatic timetable, Time said. Hans Blix, the
head UN weapons inspector, who returns from Baghdad this week, will report to the
Security Council on February 14. On the good assumption that he will not give Saddam
Hussein's regime a "clean bill of health", Council members are beginning to consider
a final resolution.
"So it will probably be sometime during those moonless nights at the beginning of
March that the diplomatic phase will finally end and the military one begin, it
said.
PTI
