OPLAN 1003 V

"The plans of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord"
- Proverbs 16:1

The Washington Post had an excellent piece on its cover this morning, revealing new details about the changes in war plans leading up to the invasion.

Over the ensuing 14 months, in a series of what these sources described as seemingly endless, often excruciating two- to three-hour sessions in Rumsfeld's office and in secure video conference calls between the Pentagon and Franks's headquarters in Tampa, the Pentagon planners came up with more than 20 versions of the plan. In all, Bush received a dozen detailed briefings as it evolved.

Not only did the plan change frequently during the long term, but it was ultimately scrapped when intelligence came through that Saddam and his sons would be spending the night in the Dora Farm complex, and when Iraq fired a few missiles into Kuwait. So the U.S. military is thinking on its feet, but not without having taken great precautions.

Right on schedule Wednesday, U.S. Special Operations forces -- accompanied by smaller contingents of British and Australian special forces -- moved into Iraq. Two and a half hours later, Tenet walked into the White House, where he joined the president, Vice President Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in the Oval Office. He had fresh intelligence about Hussein's whereabouts. The war plan was about to change once again.