US & Britain launch 100 plane airstrike against Iraq

British media reported Friday that 100 British and American planes have launched the biggest air attack on Iraq in four years, possibly foreshadowing the early stages of a future U.S. invasion to oust Saddam Hussein. President Bush, meanwhile, used telephone diplomacy Friday to try to persuade three skeptical nations — China, Russia and France — that action against Baghdad is urgently needed.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH’S front page report said Thursday’s air strike on Iraq appeared to be “a prelude to the type of special forces operation that would have to begin weeks before a possible American-led war.”
It said 100 U.S. and British warplanes had taken part in the raid Thursday on an Iraqi command and control center in what it said was a first strike in western Iraq and the largest in four years. The British Broadcasting Corp. aired a similar report.
The British Ministry of Defense declined to comment on numbers, but said the raid was part of the normal enforcement of the southern “no fly” zone, one of two zones policed by Britain and the United States since the 1991 Gulf War.
Although it was the second such strike in six days, a spokeswoman said there was no sign of an increase in the tempo either of allied operations or Iraqi activity on the ground.
However, sources interviewed by the British media said the size and location of the strike were significant — in areas where the Iraqis could position Scud missiles capable of hitting Israel as retaliation for a U.S. invasion.

NO CONFIRMATION
Neither the Pentagon nor U.S. Central Command in Florida would give any more information beyond a confirmation issued on Thursday that U.S. jets had launched precision-guided weapons against a command-and-control post at a military airfield 240 miles west of Baghdad.

“We never release that kind of detail,” a spokesman said.
The strike was the 35th this year by American and British jets patrolling no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq.
Meanwhile, Bush, who has been accused of maintaining a go-it-alone foreign policy, is trying to build a coalition at home and abroad for action against Iraq, just as his father did in 1991 for the Gulf War.
Bush said in speeches in Kentucky and Indiana this week that he looked forward to making his case to Congress, the American public and world leaders, after announcing on Wednesday he would seek support from Congress for action against Iraq and would outline his case to the United Nations.

‘CASE MUST BE MADE’
Speaking on NBC’s “Today” show on Friday, Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, urged the White House to make its case for war.
“There isn’t any conclusive evidence one way or another ... but the case to the American people must be made,” Daschle said.
Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt pushed first for a diplomatic solution. “We’ve got to deal with this problem diplomatically if we can, militarily if we must,” he said.
Bush did hear support for a “regime change” in Baghdad from fellow Republican, Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi.

“The big issue here is time,” Lott said on the “Today” show. “With every passing week (Saddam) is gaining more strength and ability of delivery (of weapons of mass destruction).”
Iraq, meanwhile, continued to deny it had amassed biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. Mohammed Aldouri, Iraq’s ambassador to the United Nations, said on the “Today” show Friday that “we have no such capabilities. We have no weapons of mass destruction.”

BUSH SEEKS SUPPORT
Opening the international phase in his campaign to win similar backing, Bush targeted three of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — China, France and Russia — with telephone calls Friday. The United States and Britain are the other two permanent members.



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British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a staunch backer of the U.S. call for regime change in Baghdad, meets with Bush at his Camp David presidential retreat on Saturday. The president meets Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who said Thursday he has yet to see evidence to justify Canadian support for a military campaign against Iraq.
Bush called Presidents Jacques Chirac of France, Jiang Zemin of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia.
Putin also spoke by phone with Britain’s Blair, saying he doubted there were any grounds for using force against Iraq, the Kremlin said.
Putin told the British leader that he had “deep doubts that there are grounds for the use of force in connection with Iraq,” a Kremlin statement said.
France and China have also expressed deep doubts about military action against Iraq.
Both countries have said that any military action against Iraq should be decided by the United Nations. Russia’s opposition is clouded by growing economic and diplomatic ties to the country.


Mohammed Aldouri, Iraqi Ambassador to the United Nations, discusses his country's stance on weapons of destruction, and Pres. Bush's lobby for a possible war, in an exlusive interview with ``Today's'' Katie Couric.
Bush’s conversations could lay the groundwork for his administration’s likely request that the Security Council adopt a resolution setting a deadline for Iraq to admit weapons inspectors or risk punitive action. By not specifying there would be an attack on Baghdad, the administration hopes to avert a Chinese, or more likely, a Russian veto, two administration officials said.
“It’s the beginning of the process that the president outlined on Wednesday to consult with friends and allies on how to remove the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and his relentless acquisition of weapons of mass destruction,” said another administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

BUSH’S CASE FOR WAR
Bush was unlikely to raise the issue of the resolution with the leaders on Friday, a fourth senior administration official said. Nor was Bush to present to the three leaders any evidence that the American public has not already heard, this official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Other officials said Bush planned to restate the argument he made in public Wednesday, that the Security Council was obligated to hold Iraq accountable for not complying with the U.N. resolutions. Bush did not intend to propose or even float any new initiative for dealing with Saddam in the telephone calls.
The officials confirmed he was reviewing several ideas, including giving Saddam a last-ditch deadline for allowing unfettered access to weapons inspectors, but said the president and his advisers had determined that Friday was too soon to show his hand.

Indeed, he does not plan to break major new ground in a Sept. 12 address to the United Nations; aides who have seen early drafts say Bush makes a forceful case for ousting Saddam and warns the United Nations that its credibility and relevancy is on the line. While there is no “huge divergence” on what to say, the topic is still the subject of lively discussions within the administration, one official said.
Aides say concrete plans to oust Saddam will likely wait for another speech, perhaps a joint session of Congress, once Bush is finished consulting with allies and lawmakers and makes a final decision on how to handle Saddam.

‘DELIBERATE, PATIENT’ DECISION
It wasn’t clear whether Bush would have answers at the ready if questioned Friday about what impact war in Iraq would have on the Mideast peace process or the war on terrorism; or about what postwar scenario he envisions in Iraq, if he chooses to attack.
“I will remind them that history has called us into action, that we love freedom, that we’ll be deliberate, patient, strong in the values we adhere to,” he said Thursday.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld planned to meet with the president Friday at the White House.

Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney, and CIA Director George Tenet met at the Pentagon on Thursday with the bipartisan group of senators, many of them members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Later, Cheney and Tenet met with congressional leadership on Capitol Hill.
In remarks to reporters, Senate Majority Leader Daschle indicated he will not be rushed to judgment on Iraq.
“I’m more concerned about getting this done right than getting it done quickly,” the South Dakota Democrat said. “And getting it done right means that we have to ensure that we have the answers to questions that you’ve heard many of us ask now for the last several days.”

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.