U.S. Launches Air

Strikes Against Iraq

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States

and Britain launched a ``strong and

sustained'' series of air strikes against Iraq

early Thursday, saying Baghdad must be

punished for refusing to cooperate with U.N.

weapons inspectors.

President Clinton said in a televised

address he had ordered the strikes on Iraqi

military and security targets, saying that if

left unchecked Iraqi President Saddam

Hussein would use chemical and biological

weapons.

``I have ordered a strong, sustained series

of air strikes against Iraq,'' he said.

Clinton said he had acted quickly to avoid

launching military action during the Muslim

holy month of Ramadan.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair told

reporters British involvement in the

operation dubbed ``Desert Fox'' would be

significant.

Witnesses heard dull thuds in the Iraq

capital at around 1 a.m. (2200 GMT

Wednesday) and saw the flash of

anti-aircraft fire, but it was not immediately

clear if missiles or bombs had struck.

The strikes came shortly after chief U.N.

weapons inspector Richard Butler issued a

report Tuesday complaining that Iraq was

breaking a pledge made only last month to

give the inspectors full access, and was

pulling them out.

In Baghdad the sound of the gunfire

thundered around the Ministry of Culture

and Information offices where western

journalists are based shortly after air raid

sirens had sounded for about 30 seconds at

around 0020 local time (2120 GMT).

In Kuwait, residents spending the Muslim

weekend at beach homes in the south of

the country said they heard what sounded

like the launch of missiles possibly from

U.S. ships deployed offshore. They said the

loud bursts were heard some 30 minutes

after midnight local time (2130 GMT

Wednesday).

Blair, in a statement delivered outside his

Downing Street residence, said: ``We have

exhausted all other avenues.''

Describing British involvement as

significant, Blair accused Iraqi President

Saddam Hussein of ``constant lies,

prevarication and breaching of the agreed

conditions.''

``We have no option but to act,'' he said,

adding that the strikes were aimed at

degrading Saddam's capability to build and

use weapons of mass destruction.

The U.S. and Britain came within minutes of

attacking Iraq when it last defied the

inspectors just over a month ago.

President Saddam Hussein put Iraq on a

war footing Wednesday and urged his

people to defy the West's attempt to make

them ''kneel.''

The two came within minutes of attacking

Iraq when it last defied the inspectors just

over a month ago, .

In Iraq President Saddam Hussein had

earlier put the country on a war footing and

urged his people to defy the West's attempt

to make them ``kneel.''

Saddam appointed four regional

commanders to ``confront foreign

aggression'' and preserve internal security,

an official statement said.

Russia, a traditional ally of Baghdad, tried to

head off an attack by calling an meeting of

the U.N. Security Council with France.

Russian Minister Igor Ivanov said any use of

force would only worsen the situation and

not win compliance with U.N. resolutions on

arms inspections.

But State Department spokesman James

Rubin told a briefing:

``There is no end in sight for this pattern of

obfuscation, obstruction or outright

violation... We can find no grounds for

optimism that the Iraqi leadership, if left to

its own devices, will suddenly change

course and opt for cooperation...''

The U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM)

reported Tuesday that Baghdad was not

cooperating with its inspections, meant to

eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass

destruction, and 92 UNSCOM inspectors

and support staff were evacuated to

Bahrain Wednesday along with International

Atomic Energy Agency nuclear inspectors.

Earlier Saddam called on the Iraqi people

``after relying on God, to throw out their

dreams and their failed visions, and prove

by solid facts that they will fail as they have

failed during the Mother of Battles,'' it said,

referring to the 1991 Gulf War which ended

Iraq's occupation of Kuwait.

``They have been planning for a long time to

commit a new aggression against you,

motivated by their Zionist hatred, thinking,

may God forbid, that they can achieve their

goals that all the Arab nation should kneel

under their feet.''

Reut19:25 12-16-98

(16 Dec 1998 19:25 EST)