US President George W. Bush is reviewing specific military options for attacking Iraq that the Pentagon delivered this month but has made no decision on whether to order an offensive, administration officials say.
The detailed and highly classified material was sent to the White House early in September by General Tommy Franks, the commander of US forces in the Gulf region who would oversee any military action in Iraq. Officials said it was likely to be refined as Bush weighs using force to disarm Iraq and oust President Saddam Hussein.
"The president has options, he's reviewing them and he has not made any decisions," one US official said on Saturday. He declined to comment on the details of the war plans.
Franks' delivery of the document was first reported by The New York Times. The newspaper cited officials familiar with war planning as saying it contained the number of ground troops, combat aircraft and aircraft carrier battle groups that would be needed to knock out Iraq's air defences and military communications.
In Kuwait on Saturday, Franks told reporters his troops were ready if called upon.
"We are prepared to undertake whatever activities we might be directed to take by our nation," he said, adding that Bush had made no final decision on any campaign against Iraq.
"The only course of action that is not available to us is to continue the course of action that we have seen over the last 11 years," since the US-led Gulf War ended Iraq's seven-month occupation of Kuwait in 1991, he said.
Franks was on a regional tour to meet Gulf Arab and US commanders in charge of operations in the area.
The United States has accused Iraq of developing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, and told it to disarm or face the consequences. The United States and Britain have stepped up pressure on the Security Council to adopt a tough new Iraq resolution before any resumption of U.N. arms inspections to search for weapons of mass destruction.