U.S. military planners are now looking at mid-March as a starting date for a war against Iraq, a delay caused by diplomatic snags and difficulties in moving heavy Army divisions.
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The timing of the war is critical, U.S. officials said, because it is best for troops and machines to fight in the Gulf's 70-degree winter weather than its oppressive desert heat of the summer. The temperatures begin to rise in April.
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The White House continued to signal this week that Mr. Bush will not let the debate at the United Nations push a war decision into the summer.
"There's not a lot of time left," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, adding that either Turkey agrees to host U.S. ground troops for a northern front or the United States would position them elsewhere. Senior officials have said this month that a war decision is "weeks, not months" away.

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Although the Bush administration's public stance is that the military can fight anywhere anytime, analysts say a winter campaign will be much easier on troops and equipment, given the moderate temperatures then.
"In the summer, our ability to employ maneuver warfare would be needlessly degraded," said a Marine aviator, who flew more than 30 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm during the 1991 Gulf war.
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"It's better to do it in the winter because you don't have to deal with the heat, and in military operations you want to deal with as few changing variables as possible," he said.
"But on the other hand, we can operate in the heat and in the desert, which we train for all the time. It's an extra inconvenience and could have a marginal effect on operational effectiveness. But it's not decisive."

» War's start pushed to mid-March -- The Washington Times