US ready for attack 'before Christmas'

US military chiefs have told President Bush they will be ready for an attack on Iraq before Christmas rather than the previous date of February.

At the same time it emerged that Mr Bush's national security team now regard war with Iraq as "inevitable" and are looking at a "sooner rather than later" operation.

Pentagon officials told NBC that the operation can begin "as early as December".

A "multiple-part" war plan in keeping with this timetable is already on the president's desk, the officials said. But they insisted that "no final decision has been made".

The plan proposes a "prelude" to war in which an early warning would be given to Saddam Hussein's military forces, telling them they will be "destroyed" if they do not co-operate.

A force of US bombers, B1s, B2s and B52s could drop as many as 1,300 precision-guided bombs on Iraq military targets each day.

As the supply of such bombs now stands, such an operation would last about two weeks.

There has been a steady buildup of troops, ammunition and supplies in the Gulf region and there are now 55,000 US troops within shooting distance of Iraq.