AMERICAN forces will play the key role in the capture of Baghdad, with British troops being confined to the south of Iraq. “It won’t be the Union flag flying over Baghdad,” one British defence source said.

US Marines and armoured divisions will be given the role of advancing as rapidly as possible on the Iraqi capital.

The Pentagon hopes that it will not be necessary to conduct a street-fighting operation to capture the city. However, if there has to be an assault on Baghdad to overcome resistance by Iraq’s Republican Guard, the mission will be carried out exclusively by American forces, the sources said.

A senior British Army source said: “This decision is part political, part military, but the Americans have made it clear Baghdad is their prize.”

Defence sources said that a number of military options were still being considered but an advance on Baghdad by British units was not seen as a likely role for any of the formations now training in Kuwait.

Britain has sent 7th Armoured Brigade, 16 Air Assault Brigade and 3 Commando Brigade to the region. Defence sources said every expectation was that they would be given a significant role in the American battle plan.

The three British formations are now expected to be involved in operations in southern Iraq. All three are in or being sent to Kuwait and there are no plans to deploy any of them to Turkey in the event of the Turkish parliament changing its mind and approving 62,000 American troops being based in the country.

Military sources in Kuwait said that British troops were expected to assist in seizing Basra, Iraq’s second city, and control the southern segment of the country, including the oil fields at Rumalia.

America’s chief commander in Europe said yesterday that the vote of the Turkish parliament, on Saturday, not to allow US troops to be based in the country would not ruin the overall battle plan.

“I don’t think it will be a show-stopper,” General James Jones, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said. However, he said that advancing on Iraq from the north would “definitely have a military advantage” because of the importance of confronting Iraqi forces on several fronts.

General Tommy Franks, Commander of US Central Command who would lead a coalition invasion force, is said by US military sources to be full of admiration for the British military capability at his disposal and had intended to give 7th Armoured Brigade a role in the advance on Baghdad. This was vetoed by Washington, the sources said.

A British source said: “We never really thought we would be in the vanguard of troops going to Baghdad but it’s not an issue for us. The role to be given to British troops will be an important one. We are not there just for show.”

If the British role is to be in southern Iraq, their mission would include countering any resistance from regular Iraqi troops refusing to surrender.

This plan might change if it took longer than expected for US forces to reach Baghdad. A British military official said: “If, for example, they encounter significant resistance on their way to the capital, and this campaign looks like dragging on longer than Washington anticipates, it may be that British armour is moved further forward.”

If there is no change of mind in Turkey, General Franks will have to redirect about two dozen ships waiting to offload tanks and armoured vehicles into Turkish ports. The equipment, which is destined for the US Army’s 4th Infantry Division, would have to be sent to Kuwait, defence sources said. Yesterday, Sheikh Jaber al-Hamad al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti Defence Minister, said that his country would accept the American troops who had been bound for Turkey.

If Turkey had approved the use of its bases, American troops would have had a guaranteed supply chain and line of communication to Baghdad from the north. Defence sources said that plan “B” would involve a complex airborne operation, taking lightly armed infantry and marine forces from Kuwait to seize key locations in northern Iraq. Troops of 4th Infantry Division would have to drive there from Kuwait.

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