 War Begins With Air Strikes, Bush Addresses Nation By CRAIG NELSON and LARRY KAPLOW Cox News Service BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Anti-aircraft fire and explosions rocked this city at dawn Thursday as President Bush announced the war to disarm Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein was underway. In Washington, Bush said that the military assault was intended to "disarm Iraq and to free its people." "Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration is to apply decisive force," Bush said in his address to the nation. "We will accept no outcome but victory." U.S. military officials told reporters that forces struck with cruise missiles and precision bombs against a site near Baghdad where Iraqi leaders were thought to be. The strikes used Tomahawk cruise missiles from naval ships in the region and precision-guided bombs dropped from stealth fighter-bombers, the F-117 Nighthawks. Reports also suggested that a sustained air bombardment was underway throughout southern Iraq in an effort to clear the way for ground troops expected to move north from Kuwait. The first bursts of anti-aircraft fire cracked over Baghdad at 5:33 a.m. local time, 9:33 p.m. Wednesday EST. Massive explosions were heard south of the city and arcs of tracer fire lighted the sky. Streets were deserted except for several four-wheel drive security vehicles speeding through downtown. The lull after the first burst of explosions was followed by the sound of the morning call to prayer at local mosques. In the distance to the south, plumes of smoke could be seen rising on the horizon and a steady thump of explosions echoed in the distance. Bush's deadline for Saddam to choose exile or war had passed Wednesday night with the Iraqi dictator defiant as U.S. and British military forces in Kuwait moved into positions to advance on his country. 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 the capital of Baghdad. Pentagon officials had indicated that the invasion force could be at the capital's doorstep within hours of war's start. In Washington, before his address to the nation at 10:15, Bush met with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. As the 8 p.m. deadline for Saddam approached, Fleischer said, White House Chief of Staff Andy Card consulted the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency one last time to check for signs that Saddam might be preparing to flee. Shortly after 8 p.m., Card called Bush, who was at the residence with First Lady Laura Bush, to inform him that there were no such signs. Earlier Wednesday, the president sent a formal notice to Congress of his intent to attack Iraq, notification required under the resolution adopted by Congress last October authorizing force. The notice stated that force against Iraq was necessary "to protect the security of the American people." But Wednesday on the Senate floor, the oldest voice in Congress rose with warnings that the president is misguided. "No more is the image of America one of a strong, yet benevolent peacekeeper," said 84-year-old Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va. In his address, Bush pledged that the war would be short and, "Our forces will be coming home as soon as their work is done." Most of the nearly 300,000 troops within striking distance of Iraq are Americans. There are 45,000 British troops, and 2,000 Australians who were already on standby in the Middle East. Most of the members of the 31-nation coalition the Bush administration has assembled are providing bases and permission for overflights rather than a fighting force. Earlier in Baghdad, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said it was "impossible" for Saddam to choose exile, as Bush had urged two days ago. The Persian Gulf state of Bahrain issued a public offer of exile for Saddam, but it went unanswered. Aziz also cautioned that a military invasion led by the United States would not be as easy as the Bush administration has suggested. "It won't be a picnic for him," Aziz said. "It is going to be a bloody war, and it will take a long time." He added: "We are ready to fight." Aziz was shown on live television here Wednesday speaking to reporters in Baghdad, in part, to deflect rumors that he had defected or been killed trying to flee the capital. Earlier, Iraqi legislators vowed to die for Saddam. "We will all be martyrs defending Iraq," parliament said in a letter to the Iraqi leader after an emergency session. Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf, the Iraqi government's information minister, also ridiculed the notion that overrunning Iraq would be easy, saying that senior Bush administration officials were lying to the U.S. military about the alleged ease with which U.S.-led forces will overrun Iraq. "All the country, not only Baghdad, is completely prepared to foil any stupid aggression against our country," the minister said, reiterating recent Iraqi assertions that Iraq's military had taken unspecified special measures to thwart allied troops. However, 17 Iraqi soldiers surrendered Wednesday to American forces assembled on the Iraqi border. "We're confirming that it's true, that they have surrendered," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Charles Owens, a spokesman at the allied headquarters in Qatar. For paratroopers of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne in the deserts of Kuwait, there was a special pre-combat meal of lobster and steak Wednesday. Other soldiers took part in an impromptu war dance -- leaping into the air and firing empty rifles. And some sent e-mails to their loved ones and savored what could be a last good shower for a long time. With the approach of war, Baghdad and Washington have been waging a war of words. Psychological warfare units are 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. These leaflets, part of an on-going process, were the first to contain instructions detailing how Iraqis can surrender, according to U.S. Central Command. Earlier pamphlets had urged Iraqis to take such steps as not firing on coalition aircraft and not following orders to unleash chemical or biological weapons. A Central Command spokesman said the latest pamphlet drop bought the year's total to about 17 million. Over the weekend, U.S. planes dropped nearly 250,000 leaflets telling Iraqi troops that if they don't resist they won't be targeted. The fliers said that any Iraqi soldiers who lay down their weapons would be sent to temporary holding camps. In the air campaign 3,000 or more precision-guided bombs and missiles will rain down on Iraq, according to a Pentagon briefing Wednesday by Air Force Col. Gary Crowder, chief of strategy with the Air Combat Command. "I do not think that our potential adversary has any idea what's coming," he said, adding that "we would not have believed it possible in 1991." He said the level of attack would be 10 times the 300 to 400 precision-guided weapons that opened the Gulf War. Military officials have said their plan is for an assault to create such "shock and awe" that Iraq capitulates quickly. But Crowder emphasized that U.S. and British forces don't known what they will find when the fighting starts. "We really have little clear understanding of exactly what will happen when we step across that line," he said. "I think there's going to be a wide variety of different reactions by the Iraqi people and the Iraqi military forces." At the United Nations on Wednesday, Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on the United States and its allies to not forget the humanitarian needs of Iraq as the envoys from France, Germany and Russia, told the Security Council there was no evidence that Saddam poses an imminent threat. Major advances in intelligence, analysis, stealth, targeting and munitions guidance systems now enable U.S. forces to strike targets more efficiently and with fewer deaths and less destruction, Crowder told reporters at the Pentagon. He said 50,000 or more potential targets in Iraq had been examined as planners drew up a list of those to hit. When there is potential for civilian deaths, he said, senior commanders will review the targets. "In each instance," he said, "the commanders will look at what the specific effects are, what they intend to achieve and whether or not that desired effect and military worth is worth that trade-off in terms of potential civilian casualties." Crowder said planners selecting targets work to minimize the death and destruction that result from a successful strike, which is known as collateral damage, and what is called unintended damage, which refers to casualties and devastation that come from mistakes such as mechanical failure or faulty intelligence. "When you employ military force, collateral damage is going to occur, unintended damage is going to occur, and, unfortunately, and as tragic as it might be, civilians who have no business in the operation and who are not targets will be killed in the operation," he said. Crowder said it was not possible to estimate how many civilians might die because there are so many unknowns about how the war might unfold. "There is simply no way to accurately calculate that number," he added. Asked about the capability for targeting target Saddam and others in the ruling circle, Crowder said that was very difficult: "When you start trying to target individuals, the world gets really complicated really fast." (This article was supplemented by reporting from Don Melvin in Qatar, Bob Gee in Kuwait, and Bob Deans and George Edmonson in Washington.) |
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