100 jets join attack on Iraq

into detail about the number of aircraft involved in the raid.
It said: "Coalition strikes in the no-fly zones are executed as a self-defence measure in
response to Iraqi hostile threats and acts against coalition forces and their aircraft."
The Pentagon said that the raid was launched in "response to recent Iraqi hostile acts
against coalition aircraft monitoring the southern no-fly zone".
Iraq had made 130 attempts to shoot down coalition aircraft this year.
The Ministry of Defence in London refused to confirm that RAF aircraft had taken part, but
defence sources said that Tornado ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft played a key
role. The attack on what the American central command described as an "air defence command
and control facility" was the first time that a target in western Iraq had been attacked
during the patrols of the southern no-fly zone.
Until yesterday, all strikes had been against air defence sites in the south, around Basra,
Amara, Nassairya and Baghdad.
Central command said it was still assessing the damage caused by the attack. If the air
defence installation was not destroyed, a second raid is expected.
As well as blinding Iraqi radar to any special forces helicopters, the loss of the H3
installation would allow allied aircraft mounting major raids on Iraq a trouble-free route
into the country.
In a further sign that America was preparing for war, a Pentagon official confirmed that
heavy armour, ammunition and other equipment
had been moved to Kuwait from huge
stores in Qatar.
Thomas White, the army secretary, said: "We have done a lot with pre-positioned stocks in
the Gulf, making sure that they are in the right spot to support whatever the president
wants to do."
Any war on Iraq is likely to begin with a gradual intensification of attacks on air
defences. But yesterday's raid appears more likely to be related to the special forces Scud
hunts.
It was the SAS which specialised in the attempts to hunt down the Scuds during the Gulf
war. Although the raids were largely unsuccessful, they spawned a series of rival books by
former members of the regiment.
Mr Bush, speaking in Louisville, Kentucky, said that, besides having talks with Mr Blair,
he would be meeting the leaders of France, Russia, China and Canada over the next few days.
He would tell them that "history has called us into action" to oust Saddam Hussein, the
president of Iraq.
He said he was looking forward to the talks, but suggested that the US could do the job on
its own if need be.
"I am a patient man," he said. "I've got tools; we've got tools at our disposal. We cannot
let the world's worst leaders blackmail, threaten, hold freedom-loving nations hostage with
the world's worst weapons."