U.S. general meeting Blair
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Franks: "Saddam has the capability to bring his threats to reality."
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SPECIAL REPORT
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LONDON, England -- The general charged with leading a possible war in Iraq is in London to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the UK's most senior military officer.
U.S. Army General Tommy Franks, commander of U.S. Central Command, will have 40,000 British forces and more than 180,000 U.S. land, sea and air personnel to call on should military action be ordered.
Franks is meeting with Blair and Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, chief of the British defense staff, before heading to Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar, where he will meet the commanders who will report to him in the event of war.
He told The Associated Press that planning is continuing for a number of contingencies and that plans are flexible in case circumstances on the ground change.
"There are a lot of pieces in play (and) a great many pieces of the mosaic can be moved around in a lot of different ways.
"It's in my interest to move those pieces around in ways that are good for us. It's condition-setting.
"The conditions we have set to date may be different than the conditions we'll have set tomorrow or in the middle of April or whenever."
Franks refused to discuss in details troop movements or to confirm whether he would base himself at the newly installed command post at Camp As Sayliyah.
U.S. forces are keeping up the psychological pressure inside Iraq by warning soldiers not to carry out any order from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to use chemical or biological weapons.
Coalition planes on Monday dropped 360,000 leaflets over several areas in southern Iraq, stating that any Iraqi army unit that chooses to use weapons of mass destruction would face "prompt and appropriate responses by coalition forces."
Franks said: "We have a firm conviction that Saddam Hussein rapes, murders and abuses his own people, that he threatens the Western world and a great many nations in the international community -- and we're one of them -- (and) that he has the capability to bring his threats to reality. And it seems to us this should not stand."
