'New war' to be fought with unprecedented secrecy

'New war' to be fought with unprecedented secrecy

By Jamie McIntyre
CNN Washington

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- America's "new war" against terrorism will be fought
with unprecedented secrecy, including heavy press restrictions not seen for
years, Pentagon sources said Monday.

Planning for possible military action has been "highly compartmentalized" to
ensure the fewest number of people possible have access to classified war
plans, the sources said.

According to Pentagon officials close to the process, the Bush
administration has decided to clamp down on even routine information because
it could prove of some use to potential terrorists.

"I want to make it clear to the American people that this administration
will not talk about any plans we may or may not have," President Bush said
Monday. "We will not jeopardize in any way, shape or form, anybody who wears
the uniform of the United States."

In response to the attacks, the U.S. Defense Department has stopped posting
on the Internet the general location of U.S. warships. The department's Web
pages that show ship location haven't been updated since September 10, the
day before hijacked airplanes struck the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon.

In addition, the Pentagon currently has no plans to allow reporters to
deploy with troops, or report from warships, practices routinely carried out
in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Sources said the Pentagon is drawing up "high-end" and "low-end" options for
military action.

The "high-end" options include air strikes against countries that support
terrorists, while "low-end" plans include the use of special forces to
capture or kill terrorist leaders, such as Osama bin Laden, sources said.

The actual plans are under close guard and have not been shared with news
agencies. The rationale, according to Pentagon officials: Terrorist
organizations lack the intelligence-gathering capacity that nations possess,
relying instead on news organizations to find out what their enemies are
doing.