U.S., British Pound Military Sites

Amid political infighting at home and limited support from European allies, the United States unleashed cruise missiles and carrier-based aircraft Thursday to pummel a series of military targets in Iraq for a second consecutive day.

Outside Baghdad, dull orange glows marked the impact of the bombardment from Tomahawk missiles and warplanes that remained invisible in the moonless, star-filled night. Cars and trucks took shelter under highway overpasses to avoid a chance hit from the falling shrapnel. Iraq reported at least 25 fatalities.

With no sign from Baghdad of any willingness to end its defiance of U.N. weapons inspectors, the forces concentrated their attacks on Iraq’s air-defense system, airfields and other military targets, including the command-and-control systems of President Saddam Hussein’s armed forces. British Tornado fighter-bombers based in Kuwait joined U.S. aircraft in the assault.

Briefing reporters at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen characterized the strikes as successful and said all aircraft returned safely.

“There have been no American casualties, and we are achieving good coverage of our target,” Cohen said. “And as a result, we are advancing our goal of containing Saddam Hussein.”

Clinton Defends Decision, Its Timing

The latest wave of aerial strikes came amid a number of fast-moving developments in the Iraq crisis, including:

* A strong defense by President Clinton of the decision to attack Iraq and the timing for doing it. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Clinton said that allowing Hussein to continue ignoring the U.N. program for detecting and destroying Iraqi weapons of mass destruction “would have been a disaster for us.”

* A backlash to remarks by leading congressional Republicans who accused Clinton of launching the Iraq attack to avoid impeachment proceedings, which after a delay are scheduled to begin this morning. The GOP broadsides raised doubt about congressional support for the operation as U.S. forces were going into action.

* A concerted diplomatic offensive, spearheaded by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, to shore up international support for the U.S. offensive after sharp criticism from U.N. Security Council members France, Russia and China. Late Thursday, Moscow announced that it was recalling its ambassador to Washington, Yuli M. Vorontsov, to protest the strikes.

* A series of anti-terrorism precautions intended to guard against possible reprisals, including a general tightening of security at airports and federal government installations in the United States and the temporary closure of more than 40 American embassies in Africa.

* A report from Iraqi Health Minister Omed Medhat Mubarak that at least 25 people were killed and 75 injured in the first two rounds of the attack.

Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that more than 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles and more than 70 Navy and Marine Corps planes from the aircraft carrier Enterprise were deployed in the first day’s attack, which began late Wednesday afternoon Washington time.

Second Wave Is More Extensive

There were indications that the second wave of aerial strikes, which began at midday Thursday and continued into the evening, was more extensive and included larger numbers of cruise missiles and aircraft. On Thursday, land-based B-52 bombers fired cruise missiles deep into Iraq.

The British planes played a significant role in the campaign, U.S. officials said. Longer runways for the land-based Tornados give them a greater payload capacity. Shelton praised the British as “not only staunch allies [but] superb warriors.”

Of about 50 targets hit in the first day’s assault, Shelton provided details on only two: the headquarters of Iraqi military intelligence in Baghdad and a barracks area for the Special Republican Guard, whose mission, according to Shelton, is to protect and transport Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.

“We are going to hit those forces that deal with the weapons of mass destruction and [that] also put [Hussein] in a position to threaten his neighbors,” Shelton said.

Both Shelton and Cohen denied that the military strikes were aimed at destabilizing Hussein’s regime or killing Hussein outright, although helping a successor gain power in Baghdad is a central element of the Clinton administration’s long-term strategy for Iraq.

The targets also apparently included the palace of the youngest of Hussein’s three daughters, Hala, near Baghdad. Iraqi government radio reported that Hussein visited the site during a tour Thursday of targets struck by U.S. missiles.

Early today, the road between Amman, Jordan, and Baghdad was lighted up by dim red-and-white flares and tracers from antiaircraft artillery about 40 miles west of Baghdad in what appeared to be a sustained air attack on targets north of the highway. About 10 explosions could be seen.

Farther west, dozens of vehicles waited at a gas station for daylight, when they believed that it would be safe to enter the capital again.

In Baghdad itself, the streets were empty overnight except for soldiers standing guard outside government buildings and a few hardy souls emerging after the morning call to prayer and opening up for business at the city’s markets. Telephone and electric services were functioning normally, as were television and radio broadcasts.

The decision to launch an aerial assault follows a prolonged cat-and-mouse game between Hussein’s regime and teams of U.N. inspectors trying to detect and destroy the Iraqi dictator’s capability to produce weapons of mass destruction--mainly chemical and biological weapons. A month ago, Hussein narrowly avoided an attack by agreeing at the last moment to open all sites to U.N. inspectors and cooperate with them unconditionally.

A number of nations, including India, Pakistan, Israel and South Africa, are known to possess weapons of mass destruction, but only Iraq has actually used them. Hussein used chemical weapons during Baghdad’s eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s, and later against domestic enemies.

While the timing of Clinton’s decision--on the eve of scheduled impeachment proceedings against him in the House of Representatives--generated a wave of stinging, cynical criticism, the president Thursday vigorously defended his actions.

“I am convinced the decision I made to order this military action, though difficult, was absolutely the right thing to do,” Clinton said. “It is in our interest and in the interest of people all around the world. I think it is very important that we not allow Saddam Hussein to destroy the [U.N. inspection] system without any penalty whatsoever and to escape sanctions. I think it would have been a disaster for us to do this.”

Clinton also rebuffed accusations that the aerial strikes represent a real-life “Wag the Dog” scenario to stave off impeachment. In the film, which played to large audiences throughout the United States earlier this year, presidential aides conjure up an international crisis to divert public opinion from a presidential sex scandal.

On Wednesday, a clearly enraged Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) implied that similar motives were at work in Clinton’s case.

By Thursday, however, the criticism was noticeably more muted amid signs that even many Republicans were stunned by the vicious tone of their colleagues’ comments. Lott backed away from his earlier statements, and the tenor of congressional debate on Iraq softened.

Outgoing House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) gave a rousing speech on the House floor that noted how Americans have always unified in times of international crisis--although, in more measured language, he called for a clearer definition of Washington’s long-term objectives in Iraq.

Democrats were swift to defend their president’s actions.

Former President Jimmy Carter called the attacks on Clinton’s motives “unjustified and ill-advised.” Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), a respected voice in the Senate on foreign affairs, described them as unprecedented and expressed concern about the possibility of “an institutional breakdown.”

Albright Works to Shore Up Support

As the administration tried to counter criticism of Clinton’s actions at home, Albright worked to shore up a level of international support that had visibly ebbed since Hussein last brought the international community to the brink in mid-November.

Albright told reporters at a State Department briefing that she had talked with more than 20 foreign leaders since the strikes were launched, “and the response has been gratifying.” She acknowledged, however, that “we have encountered some expressions of regret that a peaceful solution couldn’t be found despite all our best efforts.”

In fact, several key names were missing from the list of nations that Albright reeled off as full backers of U.S. action, including Russia, China and France. Other reservations were expressed by the governments of key North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies that were prepared to lend full backing for aerial assaults only weeks ago.

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin called the raids “inevitable but not necessary,” while his Italian counterpart, Massimo D’Alema, called for an end to the military action and a resumption of political initiatives. While Germany’s new chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, expressed full support, his foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, from the alternative Greens party, offered only lukewarm backing.

The State Department was notified in late afternoon that Vorontsov, the Russian ambassador to the U.S., had been ordered to fly home to Moscow for “consultations,” according to James P. Rubin, the State Department spokesman. “That is unfortunate,” Rubin added.

Albright rejected Moscow’s attacks on U.N. chief weapons inspector Richard Butler, claiming: “They’re trying to shoot the messenger here. The fault and the problem here is Saddam Hussein.”

At the United Nations, Butler said he had no plans to resign, as Russia has urged.

Overseas, 40 U.S. embassies in Africa were closed temporarily. Islamic extremists launched successful terrorist attacks in August against U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Times staff writers John Daniszewski in Baghdad, John-Thor Dahlburg in Paris, John J. Goldman at the United Nations and Norman Kempster, Bob Drogin, Edwin Chen and Alan C. Miller in Washington contributed to this report.

Video clips from the crisis in the Gulf, including President Clinton’s remarks and scenes

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Return of the B-52

One of the emblems of the Cold War--the B-52 bomber--is again called to duty against Iraq. The advantage of the B-52 over smaller fighters is its ability to carry large amounts of ordnance over long distances without refueling.

Unlike the B-52’s role in the Gulf War, when as many as 45 aircraft performed saturation bombing over Republican Guard installations, the current fleet of about 15 is delivering cruise missiles to pinpointed targets.

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Boeing 747-400

Length: 231 feet

Wingspan: 211 ft.

Maximum takeoff

weight: 800,000 lbs.

Maximum speed: 608 mph

Cruise altitude: 32,300 ft.

Range: 8,450 miles

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Boeing B-52 Stratofortress

Crew: 6 (includes pilot, copilot, navigator, radar navigator, ECM operator and gunner)

Length: 160 ft. 10.9 in.

Wingspan: 185 ft.

Maximum takeoff

weight: 488,000 lbs.

Maximum speed: 595 mph

Maximum altitude: more than 50,000 ft.

Range: 7,500 miles

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Key Staging Point

Diego Garcia

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Distance from Baghdad: 3,300 miles

Ownership: Claimed by Mauritius since 1982

Size: 15 miles long by 7 miles wide

U.S. force: Approximately 1,300 naval workers reside there

Troop buildup: From Air Force bases in Minot, N.D., and Barksdale, La., sent Nov. 14 during the previous Iraqi crisis

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Low-light television scanner turret

Length: 20.73 inches

Wingspan: 11.98 feet

Launch weight: 3,300 lbs.

Range: 700 miles

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Missile payloads

Missiles are carried on pylons under the wings or from a rotary launcher inside the plane that works like the cylinder of a revolver. A B-52 can carry up to 20 cruise missiles, or about 70,000 pounds of mixed ordnance.

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Bombs

Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missiles (CALCMs) deliver payloads of up to 3,000 pounds each. (Tomahawks deliver 500-700 pounds.)

Some CALCMs are believed to be former nuclear missiles retrofitted with conventional warheads.

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Remote control tail gun: Four 12.7-mm, M-3 machine guns

Sources: Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft; Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons; Associated Press; U.S. Air Force; Los Angeles Times

Researched by VICTORIA McCARGAR and DAVE RICKLEY / Los Angeles Times