BY RICHARD PARKER and MICHAEL D. TOWLE
Knight Ridder News Service
WASHINGTON — After a year of unfulfilled military threats, the United States on Wednesday opened a prolonged attack on Iraq, pounding military installations and suspected weapons sites as punishment for Baghdad's refusal to allow the destruction of its chemical and biological weapons.
President Clinton, speaking to the nation about an hour after the 5 p.m. EST attacks, said the United States was “delivering a powerful message to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein: If you act recklessly, you will pay a heavy price.”
At least one missile fell on an area near Mr. Hussein's biggest palace in Baghdad, witnesses and officials said. At least two people were killed and 30 were injured, a doctor said.
Mr. Clinton decided to attack after chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler concluded that Iraq had failed to live up to its November pledge to cooperate fully with inspections that began after a U.S.-led coalition defeated Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War.
“The international community gave Saddam one last chance to resume cooperation with the weapons inspectors,” Mr. Clinton said. “Saddam has failed to seize the chance.
“And so we had to act and act now.” Military and administration officials said they expect to keep up the attack — primarily unmanned cruise missiles and planes loaded with bombs and missiles — for two or three days and hope to conclude the operation, known as Operation Desert Fox, before the Muslim holiday of Ramadan begins this weekend.
Defense officials cautioned, however, that air attacks could continue into the Muslim holiday. And the Pentagon ordered a buildup which will soon place 40,000 U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf. British fighters were poised to participate in the current strike.
The Iraqi president urged Iraqis to “Fight the enemies of God, enemies of the nation, enemies of humanity.” He said “several targets” were hit, in the statement carried by the official Iraqi News Agency.
Mr. Hussein said the attackers did not “come to meet you face to face” and depended “on a long technological arm, which is not a measure of bravery.”
Dr. Hazim el-Nasri, head of the Aliyarmouk Hospital, said two people were killed and more than 30 were injured, suffering mostly burns in the face, hands and legs. However, no authoritative account of the damage caused by the airstrikes was available.
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary William Cohen said the United States began planning the operation Nov. 15, just after Mr. Hussein last agreed to allow inspections to continue.
Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave very few details about the mission, but said it would “degrade the very capabilities that Saddam has tried to preserve,” echoing what Mr. Clinton and others said.
At 3 p.m. EST, 50 Navy strike fighters, including F-14 Tomcats and F/A-18 Hornets took off from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in the southern Persian Gulf, according to senior military officials, who asked not to be identified by name. Eighteen minutes later, U.S. ships launched at least 100 Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Wednesday night, the Navy strike fighters were bombing Iraqi air defense systems throughout southern Iraq in advance of attacks by land-based U.S. Air Force aircraft, said one of the officials. Attacks with radar-seeking HARM missiles were meant to blind Iraq's air defenses and pave the way for more attacks.
Meanwhile, cruise missiles struck an array of targets — ranging from military units to suspected weapons sites in Baghdad.
B-52 bombers with air-launched cruise missiles and British Tornado fighters were expected to participate.
Mr. Cohen said there had been no American casualties as of Wednesday evening.
There was mixed reaction from Capitol Hill, though most lawmakers took pains to say they supported the U.S. troops involved. Some Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., complained that the timing of the attack was suspect because of pending impeachment proceedings against President Clinton, but others, including Sen. John Chaffee, R-R.I., supported the president's actions.
Former President Bush, who presided over the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq, issued a statement from his Houston office saying he supported Mr. Clinton's action “as long as one American military airman, seaman or soldier is in harm's way.” It said Vice President Al Gore had called to brief Mr. Bush on the decision. Mr. Gore also called former Presidents Carter and Ford.
Mr. Cohen insisted the attack was not intended to distract either the public or Congress: “I would place 30 years of public service on the line to say that the only factor important in (the) decision is what is in the American people's best interest.”
Mr. Clinton late Wednesday dispatched Mr. Cohen and other senior military officials to meet with members of Congress.
After backing off of an attack just last month after Mr. Hussein vowed to comply with U.N. weapons inspectors, Mr. Clinton said he had made it clear “that if Saddam failed to cooperate fully, we would be prepared to act without delay, diplomacy or warning.”
Mr. Clinton said his national security advisers and America's allies concluded that now was the time to strike, despite the House of Representatives' original intention to begin debating his impeachment today. House leaders on Wednesday postponed the debate indefinitely, but indicated it would occur soon.
The element of surprise was important, Mr. Clinton said. But it was also important not to launch a strike during the Muslim's holy period of Ramadan, which begins this weekend. Waiting until after Ramadan would have “given Iraq a month's head start,” Mr. Clinton said. And initiating a military strike during Ramadan would have damaged relations with Arab nations in the region, he said.
Assembled in the Persian Gulf since the confrontation last month are eight Navy ships equipped with some 300 Tomahawk cruise missiles and the Enterprise aircraft carrier, with more than 50 strike aircraft. There are more than 200 combat aircraft in the region.
More than 30 more combat aircraft, F-117 fighters, an Army brigade and the carrier USS Carl Vinson were also ordered to the region. Those forces would take part if the initial attacks failed or if Iraq struck out at neighboring nations, such as Israel, according to military officials.
Military planners have identified 300 sites, primarily buildings, within Iraq that are suspected of being part of the weapons program banned since the end of the 1991 Gulf War. Other targets include Republican Guard units and Special Republican Guard units, which are thought to be involved in controlling Iraq's weapons program, according to military officials.
Gen. Shelton said the military began planning the strike last month and wanted to launch Wednesday to keep Iraq from preparing for a strike. In addition, the decision was influenced by the arrival of the second carrier and additional bombers in recent days.
“Things just fell into place,” said Gen. Shelton.
Before U.S. forces struck, U.S. surveillance satellites and aircraft showed that Iraqi military units were only partly prepared for an attack, according to a top-ranking military official, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity. Anti-aircraft units had yet to disperse early Wednesday and Republican Guard divisions were stationed just outside their bases, said the official who asked not to be quoted by name. Inside their bases, they would be more vulnerable to strikes.
Additional U.S. forces would allow the United States to conduct a longer air campaign against Iraq if necessary or to retaliate against Iraq if it decided either to move against Kuwait or launch attacks against others such as Israel.
“We would hope that Iraq not strike foolishly,” Mr. Cohen said, adding that the administration had warned of “very serious consequences.”
