October 16, 2002	Wednesday	Sha’aban 9, 1423

LONDON, Oct 15: Washington’s European allies on Monday reacted with alarm to a proposal to install a US general to govern Iraq in the event of the ouster of President Saddam Hussein.

In an opinion piece London’s Daily Telegraph said the proposal was an implicit acknowledgment that America’s efforts to identify an immediate and credible successor to Saddam among the ranks of the Iraqi opposition had foundered.

Diplomats say that the suggestion, made by senior Bush administration officials on Friday, has endangered frantic American and British efforts to secure a United Nations Security Council resolution backing tough new weapons inspections inside Iraq.

Under the plan, modelled on the US occupation of Japan after the Second World War, a top American commander - possibly Gen Tommy Franks, now in charge of US forces in the region - would assume the senior role in a coalition-run regime.

The paper says, “France and Russia, two of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, are dragging their feet over US calls for inspections to be backed up by the simultaneous threat of military force, and many Nato members are also nervous”.

Commenting on the proposal, a London-based diplomat said: “Someone at the Pentagon has decided it’s a good time to leak this, without thinking that it does not go down well elsewhere.”

At a practical level, there are doubts over whether America has sufficient service personnel required. The total strength of the US armed forces is 1,414,000, with an army of 485,000, but of these only 15 per cent or less are deployable on operations overseas.

US planners calculate that a force of 75,000 American and allied troops would be needed for the occupation, which could last up to 10 years.

A ground force of five armoured divisions and two airborne and helicopter assault divisions will be used in the operation to remove Saddam, according to a US official.