Iraqi leaders are sent private e-mails and phone messages as information war begins

Senior Iraqi military officers and members of the regime's inner circle have been receiving e-mails and telephone messages from American "psy-ops" experts, urging them to break with Saddam Hussein.

Specially selected members of Iraq's economic and political elite have been getting the messages on their personal cellphones and private e-mail addresses, claiming that they do not need to tie their futures to the Iraqi leader.

The electronic and cyber assault on the upper echelons of the Iraqi leadership is the latest twist in American and British efforts to undermine President Saddam's support in advance of any military strike.

"The goal of the information warfare is to win without ever firing a shot," said James Wilkinson, a spokesman for America's Central Command, based in Tampa, Florida. "If action does begin, information warfare is used to make the conflict as short as possible."

The exact wording of the messages being delivered by America has not been revealed, but officials say that the message they wish to deliver is clear: there is no point in resisting.

The same message has been delivered to Iraqi soldiers through more than eight million leaflets that have been dropped by British and American planes.

Many of the leaflets – dropped over most of the big cities in central and southern Iraq – urge Iraqis to tune their radios to special broadcasts being put out on specific frequencies. Those broadcasts – delivered by American experts – argue that President Saddam has insulted the honour of Iraqi soldiers.

"Soldiers of Iraq," says one, "since the beginning of time there has been no profession more honourable than that of being a soldier ... Saddam has tarnished this legacy.

"Saddam spews forth political rhetoric along with a false sense of national pride to deceive these men to serve his own unlawful purposes.

"Saddam does not want the soldiers of Iraq to have the honour and dignity that their profession warrants. Saddam seeks only to exploit these brave men."

The radio broadcasts are prepared and delivered by specialists from the 4th Psychological Operations Group, based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and relayed by an EC-130 Commando Solo aircraft.

Such planes, operated by the 193rd Special Operations Wing, were flown during the Afghanistan campaign to fill the airwaves with messages designed to persuade Taliban and al-Qa'ida fighters to lay down their arms and to tell Afghan civilians that American and coalition forces were not the enemy.

One senior US officer told The New York Times: "In Afghanistan the biggest lesson we learnt in our tactical information broadcasts was the importance in explaining, 'Why we are here.' The majority of Afghans did not know that 11 September occurred. They did not know of our great tragedy."

He added: "The voilà moment came when we saw that the population understood why coalition forces were fighting the Taliban and al-Qa'ida. In Iraq it will be when we see a break with the leadership."