The U.S. military, despite having bombed al Qaeda camps in August 1998, had no off-the-shelf invasion plans and had to scurry to the drawing board.

I find that extremely hard to believe, given the context of the run up to september 11th, the attempts to get BL, the negotiating process with the Taliban, the UN security council resolutions... If the Pentagon didn't have a warplan they were totally out to lunch. Furthermore, if they developed the one they used in the period of time between the attacks and the start of activity under the level of pressure that would have been present at that time we're bloody lucky it worked.

The Pentagon ought to have warplans for any military conflict we're likely to get into. They ought to have people playing with strategies for likely conflicts all the time, in close cooperation with country experts, so that when unpredictable events occur, we are prepared to respond and don't have to sit around arguing over maps.

RE: Into al Qaeda's Lair