US general promises war 'unlike any other in history'

US General Tommy Franks, in his first briefing since the start of the war in Iraq, promised today that the campaign would be “unlike any other in history”.

Franks is running the assault on Saddam Hussein’s regime from a command post in Qatar.

He said the assault on Iraq would be one of “shock, surprise, flexibility,” using munitions on a “scale never before seen”.

The campaign, the general said, was taking the fight “across the breadth and depth of Iraq” – aiming to secure bridges, airports and oil platforms.

"The Allied war plan allows commanders to “attack the enemy on our terms,” Franks said.

“We are on our timeline,” he said. When asked to assess the progress of the war, however, he said:

“The time for us to celebrate is when the mission is accomplished.”

He added that the US military had opened a dialogue with a number of senior Iraqi military leaders both “in and out of uniform”.

With his comments, the general became the first to use the US military’s high-tech €1.5m press briefing centre.