Foreign Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Secret War Games Anticipated Problems With an Iraq Invasion
WASHINGTON — The American government conducted a series of secret war games in 1999 that anticipated an invasion of Iraq would require 400,000 troops, and even then chaos might ensue. In its “Desert Crossing” games, 70 military, diplomatic and intelligence officials assumed the high troop levels would be needed to keep order, seal borders and take care of other security needs. The documents came to light Saturday through a Freedom of Information Act request by the George Washington University’s National Security Archive, an independent research institute and library. “The conventional wisdom is the U.S. mistake in Iraq was not enough troops,” said Thomas Blanton, the archive’s director. “But the Desert Crossing war game in 1999 suggests we would have ended up with a failed state even with 400,000 troops on the ground.” There are currently about 144,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, down from a peak of about 160,000 in January.
— Associated Press
Cuban Official Backs Off Predictions of Castro’s Return to Power
HAVANA — Cuba’s foreign minister backed away yesterday from his prediction that Fidel Castro will return to power by early December, leaving open questions about the pace of the communist leader’s recovery from intestinal surgery. Felipe Perez Roque told the Associated Press that Mr. Castro’s recovery was “advancing” but declined to guarantee that Mr. Castro would be well enough to attend the postponed celebration of his 80th birthday on December 2. Mr. Castro turned 80 on August 13 but announced delayed festivities when he told Cubans of his surgery in late July. Mr. Perez Roque had told the AP in September that he expected Mr. Castro to be fully back at the helm by early December.
— Associated Press
Rice: Iraqis Will Split Oil Money in Unity Move
Secretary of State Rice predicted Iraqis will divide control of the country’s oil revenue along regional lines while retaining a central government to maintain political unity. “They are not going to have such a centralized system with the use of that resource, and that’s probably a good thing because we do know also that a centralized system around oil tends to produce corruption,” Ms. Rice said yesterday in an interview for “Political Capital with Al Hunt” to air this weekend on Bloomberg Television.
— Bloomberg News
London Bomber Planned To Attack N.Y. Stock Exchange, Lawyers Say
An Al Qaeda operative captured in Britain planned to bomb the New York Stock Exchange and plotted a series of murderous attacks on London, including a scheme to blow up a London subway train as it passed below the River Thames, prosecutors said yesterday. Dhiren Barot, 34, pleaded guilty last month to conspiring to commit mass murder in terrorist plots on both sides of the Atlantic. He faces a life sentence in Britain, but he also is wanted in America and Yemen on separate terror-related charges.
— Associated Press