The Boston Globe February 26, 2003
US troops in range of Iraq's missiles
Allied jets intensify strikes on batteries
By Robert Schlesinger and Bryan Bender, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent
WASHINGTON -- Iraq has begun deploying ground-to-ground missiles in the north and south within range of tens of thousands of US troops in neighboring countries, American officials said yesterday, indicating that Saddam Hussein's regime is preparing to defend against a possible invasion.
US and British jets struck at least four such missile batteries across Iraq in the past two days. The attacks in both the northern and southern no-fly zones, among the most extensive since the UN Security Council passed its latest resolution demanding that Iraq disarm in November, marked an escalation in the US and British effort to aggressively police large swaths of Iraqi territory.
The attacks took place amid reports that Iraq was undertaking other efforts considered by US military officials and intelligence analysts to be preparations for war. CNN reported yesterday that US officials were monitoring a convoy of Iraqi army trucks moving north of Baghdad that could be used to transport heavy armor.
The majority of previous US and British airstrikes have targeted antiaircraft missiles and other air-defense facilities that could threaten allied pilots over Iraq. The latest assaults, however, concentrated on missiles and rocket launchers that have recently been moved into the no-fly zones and could be used to strike at US and coalition troops.
Army General Tommy R. Franks, who heads the US Central Command, said yesterday that with the buildup of allied forces around Iraq, air patrols have become more vigilant. ''Obviously we're sensitive right now because we have more people on the ground, so it's very much a force-protection issue,'' Franks said en route to Qatar, where he would oversee the war effort. ''When the Iraqis enhance their position with unauthorized weapon systems, it triggers a response from us,'' he said, referring to the strikes on missile positions.
Yesterday marked the fourth day in the past two weeks that allied forces have struck ground-to-ground missiles and the first time such strikes have occured in the north.
In the northern no-fly zone, US and British forces on Monday struck three missile systems approximately 6 miles south of Mosul, the first allied strikes in the northern zone since Jan. 31, military officials said. To the south near Basra yesterday, US and British jets also targeted one mobile ground-to-ground missile as well as one antiaircraft system.
''The coalition executed today's strike after Iraqi forces moved the mobile missile system into range of coalition forces in Kuwait,'' the Central Command said from its headquarters in Tampa. ''This action by Iraqi forces violated United National Security Council Resolution 949, which prohibits the Iraqis from enhancing its military capacity in southern Iraq.''
The NATO secretary general, Lord Robertson, had warned last week that Iraq was deploying missiles to near the border of Kuwait, where the bulk of the 180,000 US troops in the region are deployed. ''It clearly had displayed an intent by Iraq to perhaps get involved in preemptive strikes,'' he said .
A defense official described the missiles posing a threat to US troops in Kuwait as the Astros-2 rocket system, with a range of more than 50 miles.
''That would suggest that [Hussein] figures the balloon is going to be going up pretty soon,'' said John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org, a Virginia-based defense think tank. ''He may not have anticipated the relative ease with which the US would be able to target them, but that sounds like he's getting ready to go.''
None of the missiles hit by the airstrikes have been the Al Samoud 2 missiles that UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix ordered Iraq to begin destroying by Saturday because they exceed the 93-mile UN limit. While Hussein reportedly said in an interview recently that he would not destroy the missiles, Iraqi officials were said to still be considering the demand. Ground-to-ground missiles, however, could be used against allied forces in a war -- perhaps tipped with chemical or biological weapons.
''These missiles are not Scuds and you wouldn't use these things to attack Kuwait City and you wouldn't use these to attack Tel Aviv, but they're the perfect thing to attack concentrations of US troops,'' said Owen Cote Jr., the associate director of the MIT's Security Studies Program.Franks scheduled an all-day meeting today with his air, land, sea, and special operations commanders to review battle plans. He also was scheduled to meet separately with British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon.
Robert Schlesinger can be reached at schlesinger@globe.co.
Copyright © 2003, Globe Newspaper Company.
