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Sleeping Baghdad bombed at dawn

iraq fires scuds on Kuwait; saddam vows victory; blitzkrieg to come; Bush sees a 'longer, difficult' war

Star Desk
Cruise missiles and laser-guided bombs jolted a sleeping Baghdad awake as the US-led invasion campaign against Iraq began before dawn yesterday.
Baghdad woke up to the chilling air raid sirens at 5:35am local time as more than 40 Tomahawk missiles landed from US warships in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Gulf.
Afterwards, B-2, B-1 and B-52 bombers droned over the city, dropping laser-guided bombs.
The pre-dawn sky lit up with Iraqi anti-aircraft tracer bullets. The barrage was unrelenting, coming in waves.
The US said the attack was a limited strike targeting Saddam Hussein and top Iraqi leaders who were holding a meeting at an undisclosed place.
A much bigger and comprehensive attack is on the way, which US President George W Bush said could be longer and more difficult than some predict.
Iraq also retaliated the invasion by firing at least four missiles into Kuwait. British and US military officials said they were Scuds. Pentagon said one Scud was intercepted by US Patriot missiles. US and British troops and civilians immediately donned chemical protective suits and air raid sirens blared in Kuwait City. Throughout the day, sirens blew off and on.
Iraq said a civilian was killed in the pre-dawn attack. Reporters were taken to a hospital in Doura, a southern suburb of the capital, to show civilians wounded in the strike.
Immediately after the attack, Saddam in a "live" television address vowed to fight and defeat the "reckless and criminal" Bush.
"You, Iraqis, will be victorious... Your enemies will be in disgrace and shame," a tired-looking Saddam said.
He appealed to Muslims to go for Jihad (holy war) against the US.
Addressing the nation over television, Bush said these are the opening stages of what will be a broad and concerned campaign.
"Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration is to apply decisive force. And I assure you this will not be a campaign of half measures and we will accept no outcome but victory," he said.
The declaration of war brought fierce criticism from world leaders yesterday, as Russia accused the US of committing "a big political mistake" and France expressed its "regret" over the strikes.
China launched a scathing attack on the US, saying the war is an illegitimate conflict and violation of the norms of international behaviour.
In Baghdad, a city already crouched in its shell in war apprehension, streets were empty on an eerie quite morning after the attack. People expecting fiercer strikes preferred to stay home.
Ambulances wheeled through the city streets. Electricity and water supplies were still in place. The presidential palaces were still intact and were not targeted. The Iraqi flag was flying there.
More than 600 US combat aircraft are within striking distance of Iraq, operating from five aircraft carriers and land bases across the Gulf region, Pentagon officials said.
Nearly 180,000 US and British troops, meanwhile, have been straining at the leash in northern Kuwait, awaiting the word to lunge into southern Iraq in tanks, armoured fighting vehicles and assault helicopters.
B-2 bombers alone can strike up to 16 targets in a single pass with 2,000 pound satellite guided bombs. The B-1 bombers can hit 24 separate targets. And the B-52 can fire airlaunched cruise missiles or unload a dozen 2,000 pound satellite-guided bombs along with cluster munitions.
Tomahawks were fired from six
US surface warships and submarines in the opening strikes, a Navy spokeswoman in Washington said.
Lieutenant Commander Mike Brown, spokesman for the navy's northern Gulf battle group, said the missiles were aimed at "targets of opportunity," and that more than 10 were directed at least two targets.
The destroyer USS Milius, the cruisers USS Cowpens and USS Bunker Hill, and the submarines USS Cheyenne and USS Montpellier also fired missiles, the spokeswoman said.
The limited scope of the strikes and the riskier near-dawn raids prompted speculation that the US military was responding to unexpected, time-sensitive intelligence, possibly on the movements of whereabouts of Saddam Hussein.
"They decided not to wait, to go after Saddam Hussein now," said Loren Thompson, a military analyst at the Lexington Institute.
Oil prices plunged in London and Asia, where the dollar slid against other major currencies. Stock markets rose moderately in Asia, slid on opening in Europe and then picked up.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries reiterated that the oil-producing organisation was ready to make good any shortage of oil to the market.