WASHINGTON -- American and British forces unleashed more blistering missile attacks on Iraq yesterday afternoon as Pentagon officials declared Wednesday's initial assault a success -- with more than 50 military targets hit, ranging from radar and anti-aircraft sites to barracks, airfields and intelligence headquarters.
"We are achieving good coverage of our targets," announced Defense Secretary William S. Cohen. "We're diminishing [Saddam Hussein's] ability to threaten his neighbors, either conventionally or with weapons of mass destruction."
But the Clinton administration scrambled yesterday to contain diplomatic fallout from the attacks. A day after leveling harsh criticism within the United Nations Security Council, Russia underscored its disapproval by summoning its ambassador here back to Moscow.
As President Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright worked the phones to generate foreign support, the United States lost the backing of Syria, which had joined in criticizing Iraq during a crisis in November.
At a Pentagon briefing, Gen. Henry Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, displayed before-and-after pictures of Baghdad's Directorate of Military Intelligence as well as barracks of the Special Republican Guards, Hussein's elite units that guard and help transport chemical and biological weapons. Both had been reduced to "rubble," Shelton said, using a pointer.
"You'll see out of the five barracks, four or five were destroyed," he said.
The second wave of attacks caused huge explosions in Baghdad and drew anti-aircraft fire that lit the evening sky.
Cohen and Shelton said no casualties have been reported among U.S. and British forces.
In Baghdad, Iraq's health minister, Umeed Madhat Mubarak, said yesterday that at least 25 people were killed and 75 wounded after U.S.-led attacks in Baghdad.
Clinton conceded today that there would be civilian casualties, adding: "I regret that very much."
"One thing should be absolutely clear: We are concentrating on military targets," Cohen stressed. "We are not attacking the people of Iraq. And we have no desire to increase the suffering that Saddam Hussein has imposed on his people."
Shelton, while saying little about specific bombing targets, did say that some strikes were "not as successful" as others.
As both men were briefing reporters at the Pentagon in early afternoon, B-52 Stratofortresses were flying north from the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to unleash cruise missiles with 2,000- to 3,000-pound warheads in and around Baghdad. Their payloads were at least twice as heavy as the Navy Tomahawk missiles launched from ships and a submarine the night before.
About 9 p.m., huge explosions in Baghdad's downtown lit the sky and shook the ground.
The B-52s, which can launch missiles from 1,500 miles away, were to be joined by Air Force attack jets and Navy carrier-based aircraft armed with laser-guided bombs. British Tornado attack jets joined the countrywide attack, which is expected to last at least until tomorrow. Officials said the bombing campaign could spill into next week if the scores of planned targets have not been struck.
Clinton, Cohen and other administration officials said they were sensitive to Sunday's start of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.
"Our goal is to complete it as soon as we can without restricting the military operation," Cohen said.
The initial assault included more than 200 cruise missiles from Navy ships in the Arabian Gulf, followed by missions by dozens of Navy attack aircraft, including F-14 Tomcats and F/A-18 Hornets from the carrier USS Enterprise.
Navy officials said at least two women F-18 pilots -- among nine women aviators aboard the Enterprise -- flew in the bombing runs, adding that it was only the second time that women have taken part in combat attacks. The first time was during airstrikes on Serbian positions in Bosnia in 1995.
Shelton said another carrier, the USS Carl Vinson and its battle group was to arrive in the area late yesterday. Ground and air forces from bases in the United States were to arrive in the Persian Gulf region during the weekend.
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, said the Clinton administration's long-term strategy is threefold: to deliver "more than a pinprick," and "we'll come back at them again. This is not the only time force will be used. We continue to make it clear that we are promoting and helping, and are prepared to continue to generate support for this guy's overthrow.
"I would not be surprised -- I would be pleased -- if you saw after this a countrywide no-fly zone, no-movement zone for troops," Biden said. "I'd be disappointed if at the end of this two, three, four, five number of days, that the administration said we've accomplished our goal and everything's OK. I believe, by the way, that we will see UNSCOM [U.N. Special Commission] back in."
fTC Asked about the long-term strategy, Cohen said: "The bottom line is we're going to continue to contain [Hussein]. Containment has worked to this point. He has been unable to reconstitute his weapons of mass destruction program, to rebuild his military."
Cohen said that in the event Hussein tries to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons or threaten his neighbors, "we will be prepared to take military action once again."
Cohen and Shelton were asked whether the bombing strategy was designed to remove Hussein from power. After prodding by Congress this year, the Clinton administration expressed support last month for a change in Iraq's government and said it would offer assistance to Iraqi opposition groups.
While Shelton reiterated that the goal of the bombing campaign was to reduce Iraq as a military threat, he added: "Anything else that would weaken his regime would be value added."
Pub Date: 12/18/98