The White House insists war is a last option. And no single move indicates invasion is imminent. Instead, like a puzzle built piece by piece, a series
of developments over the past month form a picture of a nation preparing for combat.
Last week, the Pentagon began deploying some elements of the 45,000-member 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, as
well as about 1,300 engineers and intelligence officers based in Germany.
Reports indicate that retaliatory attacks by U.S. and British war planes patrolling the no-fly zones over Iraq have increased in intensity.
New York Times reports the president's advisers are close to finalizing a plan for an 18-month occupation of Iraq by a large American military force
ó the largest such operation since the administration of post-World War II Germany and Japan.
Iraq's oil would be sold to help pay for reconstruction, while Iraqi officials who helped the invasion or were not essential to the Iraqi regime
might escape punishment.
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