US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he had ordered an update of all US contingency war plans, including those outlining possible military action against Iraq. He also refused to give any details late Monday about the plans, even if President George W. Bush decided to bring about a regime change in Iraq through military means. (Read photo caption)
"You do not let anybody in on war plans," Rumsfeld said in an interview on CNBC television. "If you have plans as to how one is going to conduct an operation, you do not let anybody know what those are."

The defense secretary said he had recently ordered a review of dozens of Pentagon plans for hypothetical battles and other emergency situations that might involve US troops.

Rumsfeld's comments came as Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was poised to begin talks in Ankara with top Turkish officials on security cooperation in the region and Turkey's possible role in US efforts to topple the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The New York Times reported earlier this month that Washington has a secret blueprint for a massive attack on Iraq by land, sea and air with as many as 250,000 troops and hundreds of warplanes.

The plan, described as a preliminary operational "concept," outlines a simultaneous land invasion of Iraq from Turkey, Jordan and the Gulf region supported by massive air strikes against Iraqi targets, including airfields, highways and fiber-optics communications sites, according to the report.

General Tommy Franks heads the US Central Command, which is in charge of US military operations in the Middle East and the Gulf region.

Efforts to dispel speculation about US plans were joined by Secretary of State Colin Powell, who indicated that policy toward Baghdad was in the hands of only five officials, and the president so far had received no recommendation of a course of action.

"Until you hear something from the president, or Vice President Cheney, or myself, or Secretary Rumsfeld, or Dr. Rice, all these stories are just so much speculation," Powell said on US television.

Condoleezza Rice is the president's national security adviser.

PHOTO CAPTION
Defense Secretry Donald H. Rumsfeld, center, flanked by Attorney General John Ashcroft, left, and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill prepare to testify on Capitol Hill Thursday, July 11, 2002 before the House Select Committee on Homeland Security. Rumsfeld's arm is in a cast after he had surgery Monday to correct a problem with arthritis(AP Photo/Doug Mills)