The Pentagon has delivered to U.S. President George W. Bush a detailed set of options for using military force to remove Saddam Hussein from Iraq's presidency and neutralize his most dangerous weapons, according to a senior defense official.

　　The highly classified plan was delivered to the White House in early September by General Tommy Franks, the Central Command chief who would run any military operation against Iraq.

　　The plan will undergo additional refinements in the weeks ahead, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Saturday.

　　Bush has made no decision on Iraq, White House spokesman Sean McCormack said. "He has options before him, and he is reviewing his options," McCormack said.

　　On a visit to American troops in Kuwait, Franks said his forces are ready.

　　"We are prepared to undertake whatever activities and whatever actions we may be directed to take by our nation," he told a news conference on Saturday. He also said, "Our president has not made a decision to go to war."

　　Kuwait would be a likely launching pad for an attack on Iraq. Thousands of American and Kuwaiti forces are preparing to begin a large-scale training exercise in several days.

　　Called "Eager Mace," it will use amphibious, ground, air and naval forces, including Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The exercise has not been publicly announced.

　　Iraq said it would reject any new U.N. resolutions that Saddam's government believes are unfavorable. "The American officials are trying ... to issue new, bad resolutions from the Security Council," Iraq's state-run radio said.

　　McCormack said the White House found it "very disappointing that Iraq says it will not abide by future resolutions."

　　"We are working very hard within the international community, and specifically in the United Nations, to address in an effective way the issue of Iraqi non-compliance," he said. "As the president has said, this is an important test of the United Nations' resolve."

　　U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, leaving yesterday for a NATO meeting in Poland, said the Iraqi comment was in character.

　　"Anyone who has watched the past decade has seen the Iraqi government ... change their position depending on what they thought was tactically advantageous to them and kind of jerk the United Nations around," he told CNN.

　　The Bush administration is consulting with Russia and other countries on a new U.N. resolution that would threaten Iraq with war if it does not meet its decade-old obligation to disarm.