Date:22/03/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/03/22/stories/2003032203271400.htm

International

3,000 sites in Iraq identified for bomb attack

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington March 21. Finding the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq digging in and defiant and with the "right'' people not coming forward to surrender, the United States military has started the "shock and awe'' campaign.

A massive air assault on Iraq is now under way with the heavy duty B-52s said to be taking the lead in the assault that is intended to give a "punishing blow" to the regime in Iraq.

Unnamed officials said the "shock and awe" policy was expected to continue for three to four days. The capital city of Baghdad is under heavy bombardment. But there are plans to hit as many military and government targets all over the country, especially in Saddam's home area of Tikrit.

It is said that at least 3,000 sites have been identified and will be attacked by an assortment of missiles and bombs from the air, land, ships and submarines. Leading the strike on Baghdad on Friday were not only the B-52s but also the Stealth aircraft, the B-2s and the F-117As. And scores of Tomahawk cruise missiles have already been unleashed with television footages showing huge balls of fire upon impact.

A senior unnamed U.S. official was quoted in an agency as saying that the Commander running the war, Gen. Tommy Franks, would "scale'' the intensity of the bombing over Iraq; and that if there was no forward movement in the surrender talks, the bombings would get into ''full throttle''. There are as many as 1,000 strike aircraft in and around Iraq with about 300 in the five aircraft-carriers in the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean.

After meeting Congressional leaders at the White House, the U.S. President, George W. Bush, said the U.S. would stay on the task in Iraq "until we've achieved our objective, which is to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and free the Iraqi people so they can live in a society that is hopeful, democratic and at peace in its neighbourhood''.

Asked if Saddam Hussein was dead or alive or of how things were going, he would go no more than saying, "Secretary Rumsfeld will be briefing today''.

In the first two days of the start of the military campaign, the Pentagon was making it clear that one reason why the ``shock and awe'' campaign had not yet been effected was out of a belief that victory could be still achieved without a major loss of Iraqi lives and large scale damage to property.

"The days of the Saddam Hussein regime are numbered'', the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said at the Pentagon. "We continue to feel that there's no need for a broader conflict if the Iraqi leaders act to save themselves and to prevent such further conflict'', the top administration official remarked. The assessment is that there is a serious communication problem between Saddam Hussein and his top commanders, with some officials here not quite sure if the military has been getting any instructions at all.

One impression is that the U.S. is in close touch with at least three Commanders of the Iraqi Republican Guard, goading them to lay down their weapons or to turn against the Saddam regime. While Washington is keen on finishing the operations in a short period of time, it clearly does not wish to go overboard and bring about the destruction on a magnitude that will further fuel criticism in the international community, especially in the Arab world.