- (AFP) -- The US administration plans to declare victory
in Iraq in due course, whether or not Saddam Hussein and his lieutenants
have capitulated, the Washington Post reported, citing US officials.
-
- "The objective is not necessarily to take buildings
or occupy areas," one senior military officer involved in planning
for the war's conclusion told the Post. "It's the people. It's getting
them to accept the fact that the regime is gone. That's the essence of
the thing."
-
- And the "rolling" victory theory will come
at an as yet unspecified moment in the future when US forces are in control
of "significant territory and have eliminated a critical mass of Iraqi
resistance," the Post said.
-
- US officials do not foresee a surrender similar to Germany's
to the Allies at Reims that concluded World War II.
-
- "Rather, they hope to recognize a moment when the
military and political balance tilt decisively away from Hussein's Baath
Party government," the unnamed senior military officer told the daily.
-
- But while the US administration intends to intimidate
Iraqi leaders and seize power, it risks credibility by declaring itself
in charge while significant resistance remains, the article adds.
-
- General Richard Myers, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs
of Staff, on Thursday stated that the Iraqi capital would not have to be
under US control in order for the United States to set up a new interim
administration.
-
- When Baghdad becomes isolated from the remainder of Iraq,
the city would be "almost irrelevant," Myers said.
-
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