The Christian Science Monitor March 20, 2003
U.S. missiles strike Iraq; President Bush announces attack begun to disarm Saddam.
By Craig Nelson, Larry Kaplow
Baghdad, Iraq --- The United States made good late Wednesday night on its threat to use force to disarm Saddam Hussein, launching missile strikes against "selected targets of military importance" in Iraq.
"These are the opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign," a somber President Bush told the nation from the White House at 10:15 p.m. EST.
Bush called it "the early stages of the campaign" and warned of a possibly long and bloody war.
"A campaign in a country the size of California cold be longer and more difficult than some predict," Bush said in his four-minute address.
Still, he sought to reassure a wary nation that "we will accept no out come other than victory."
The long-awaited attack followed months of failed diplomatic efforts at the United Nations, where the United States and Britian sought to win approval for an attack. When France, Russia, China, Germany and other nations foiled those efforts, Bush vowed to press on alone or with just a handful of allies.
That attack came two hours after a deadline for Saddam to choose exile or war had passed with the Iraqi dictator defiant. U.S. and British military forces made last-minute moves into position to oust him.
Minutes after the 8 p.m. deadline in Washington, an aide told Bush there were no signs that Saddam would heed his ultimatum. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters the fuse was lit.
"The disarmament of the Iraqi regime will begin at a time of the president's choosing," he said. "The military is ready, the nation is ready, and the cause is just."
But in Baghdad, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said it was "impossible" for Saddam to choose exile, the ultimatum President Bush had delivered 48 hours earlier in a televised address from the White House.
The Persian Gulf state of Bahrain issued a public offer of exile for Saddam, but it went unanswered.
Aziz cautioned that a military invasion led by the United States would not be as easy as the Bush administration has suggested. "It is going to be a bloody war, and it will take a long time," Aziz said. "We are ready to fight."
Aziz was shown on live television speaking to reporters in Baghdad, in part to deflect rumors he had defected or been killed trying to flee the capital.
Throughout the city, armed forces took up sandbagged positions. Streets were deserted Wednesday night in anticipation of U.S. airstrikes.
Earlier in the day, Iraqi lawmakers vowed to die for Saddam. "We will all be martyrs defending Iraq," members of parliament said in a letter to the president after an emergency session.
Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf, the government's information minister, said Iraqis are "completely prepared to foil any stupid aggression against our country." He reiterated assertions that Iraq's military had taken unspecified special measures to thwart invading troops.
Despite the government's claims, 17 Iraqi soldiers surrendered Wednesday to American forces assembled on Iraq's border with Kuwait. "We're confirming that it's true, that they have surrendered," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Charles Owens, a spokesman at allied headquarters in Qatar.
U.S. war plans reportedly call for a two-day barrage of missiles and bombs across Iraq, coupled with lightning advances by ground troops toward Baghdad. Pentagon officials have indicated the invasion force could be at the capital's doorstep within hours of the start of war.
Weather conditions were not favorable, however. An enormous sandstorm swept through the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, limiting visibility to a few yards, grounding helicopters, making breathing difficult and causing some convoys to simply stop in the desert.
Military meteorologists were hopeful the storm would subside by nightfall, and it gradually did. By 9 p.m., stars were visible in the desert sky.
But even as the dust settled, the weather remained a crucial concern. Such storms are typical this time of year. The sand creates the greatest problems for helicopters, which sat in the desert in northern Kuwait all day. It also limits the effectiveness of laser-guided bombs and night-vision equipment.
While the major air and land assault did not appear to have begun, a series of offensive actions to undermine Iraq's military capabilities were under way.
Allied warplanes attacked about a dozen Iraqi artillery pieces near the southern town of Az Zubayr and on the Al Faw Peninsula in range of Kuwait's Bubiyan Island. Previously, warplanes patrolling the southern no-fly zone have attacked surface-to-air missiles sites, radar installations and surface-to-surface missiles sites in southern Iraq. But this was the first time artillery has been targeted.
In Washington, Bush sent a formal notice to Congress of his intent to attack Iraq, a requirement under a resolution adopted by Congress last October authorizing use of force. The notice said force against Iraq was necessary "to protect the security of the American people."
On the Senate floor, the oldest voice in Congress rose to warn that the president is misguided in his march to war. "No more is the image of America one of a strong, yet benevolent peacekeeper," said 84-year-old Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.).
Psychological warfare units, meanwhile, continued pummeling Iraq with radio broadcasts and leaflets aimed at encouraging Iraqi soldiers to lay down their arms and surrender.
U.S. and British planes flying over the southern no-fly zone in Iraq dropped 1.98 million leaflets at 29 military and civilian sites Wednesday, officials said. The leaflets were the first to contain instructions detailing how Iraqis can surrender, according to the U.S. Central Command.
Earlier pamphlets had urged Iraqis to not fire on coalition aircraft and not unleash chemical or biological weapons. A Central Command spokesman said the latest airdrop brought the year's total to about 17 million leaflets.
Most of the nearly 300,000 allied troops within striking distance of Iraq are Americans. About 45,000 British troops and 2,000 Australians are on standby in the Middle East. Most of the members of the 31-nation coalition the Bush administration has assembled are providing military bases and permission for overflights rather than offering up fighting forces.
At an air base in Britain, crews loaded bombs aboard U.S. Air Force B-52 long-range bombers.
At the United Nations, a Security Council meeting scheduled to allow chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix to deliver a final report attracted only five foreign ministers of the 15 Security Council member nations.
--- Staff writers Don Melvin in Qatar, Bob Gee in Kuwait and Bob Deans and George Edmonson in Washington contributed to this article.
GRAPHIC: Photo: Hours before the allied air assualt began, members of a combat team from the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Benning on Wednesday cross into the demilitarized zone at the Kuwait border with Iraq. / DAVID P. GILKEY / Detroit Free Press;
Map: FROM THE SEA
Five U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups, one British carrier battle group, two U.S. amphibious task forces and two U.S. amphibious groups are in the region.
FROM THE AIR
About 1,100 aircraft of all types are positioned in Europe, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar and on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
ON THE GROUND
U.S. and British ground forces numbering well over 130,000 troops are in Kuwait.
Map of Iraq
Sources: Center for Defense Information, Associated Press, GlobalSecurity.org
/Staff
Copyright © 2003, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
