Operation Desert Thunder/Operation Desert Viper

If this operation actually became a full-scale war, do you think the coalition would have gone all the way to Baghdad, similar to what the US-lead coalition did in the 2003 war?

Or do you think they would pull out in similar fashion to what the US-lead coalition did in the Gulf War?
 
It would help if you could describe what the two things are. Where they rejected plans for marching on Baghdad in 91, or CENTCOM plans for a possible war with Iraq in the later 90s?

Some background please :)
 
Wikipedia said:
Operation Desert Thunderwas a response to threats by Iraq's president Saddam Hussein to shoot down U-2 spy planes, and violate the no-fly zone set up over his country. The operation was designed to bring stability to the region by bringing in a military presence during the negotiations between Iraq and the United Nations over weapons of mass destruction. The name Operation Desert Thunder has been applied to the build-up of forces in the Persian Gulf region during 1998. If an actual attack had been ordered and executed, the name would have changed to Operation Desert Viper.

Wikipedia said:
On November 11, 1998, further non-compliance by Iraq resulted in the initiation of Operation Desert Thunder. CENTCOM moved its forces into position to initiate strikes into Iraq. 2300 additional personnel were deployed during this operation. Saddam Hussein again backed down.In December 1998, Iraq again refused to allow inspections and Operation Desert Fox kicked off. Several key Iraqi facilities and specialized equipment were destroyed during several days of combat operations. This set back the Iraqi ballistic missile program by several years. Eight minutes before Operation Desert Viper kicked off, President Bill Clinton shut it all down.

In theory if Desert Viper had gone through it could have lead to an occupation of Baghdad and a collapse of the Iraqi regime; depening on how the Clinton Administration reacted to international pressure or to developments on the battlefield.
 

MacCaulay

Banned
Some background please :)
As I remember, Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq by Michael R. Gordon and General Bernard E. Trainor mentions that it was a very Desert Storm-esque warplan written up during the CENTCOM command tenure of USMC General Toni Zinni.

Over 200,000 soldiers were required, I seem to remember 300,000 being a number in there. It wasn't going to be attempted without a Desert Storm-like Coalition of countries that could also carry combat weight.

There was also talk of at least 9 months of conventional runup to the projected war as it would take time to build up that much warfighting capacity.
 
It's very likely that Republicans wouldn't support this. This is around the time of impeachment, and they're not big on the UN. (And if anyone remembers what Hussein Kamil said, Monica will be the least of Bill's worries.)
Further, Iraq will be stronger than in 2003. They'd have had a bit over four fewer years of sanctions and bombing.
Finally, US forces would be attacking from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (and perhaps even Turkey), which would make it a bit tougher on Iraq, with more areas to defend. Iraq also would have had less time to plan. (OTOH, US forces in Saudi Arabia might not be expecting attacks from al-Quaida...)
 
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