A long-range attack by Tomahawk cruise missiles is likely to be the Pentagon's first choice for punishing Iraq if diplomatic efforts and economic sanctions do not quell President Saddam Hussein's defiance of UN weapons inspections, military experts say.
Pentagon leaders appear to favour using as many as dozens of the $1.2 million sea-launched missiles to pound Iraq's weapons factories, air defences or other military assets, they say.
The US military could also mobilise aircraft to add destructive power and accuracy to any response. But a large-scale attack by fighter jets is far less likely because of Washington's reluctance to have pilots injured - or seized as political trophies by the Iraqi president.
For the moment, US and UN officials are playing down the idea of using military force to persuade Baghdad to allow US weapons inspectors to resume their places on the UN arms control team overseeing the dismantling of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction - and to withdraw the Iraqi threat to shoot down a US spy plane on loan to the UN disarmament team. Instead, officials intend to try turning up the pressure through sanctions and continued diplomatic efforts.
But US and allied diplomats are losing patience, and prospects are rising that the confrontation will lead to a military strike.
The 18-foot long Tomahawks, launched from navy vessels and capable of travelling about 700 miles, have been used four times against Iraq since the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
While they put no US personnel at risk and deliver 1,000 lbs of explosive force, their destructive power is limited. Twenty-four were needed to blow up the Iraqi military intelligence headquarters building in downtown Baghdad in June 1993, and destruction of larger-scale military facilities may be beyond their capacity. Targeting weapons factories would be viewed as a proportional response to Hussein's latest actions, military experts say.
The goal of any attack would also be psychological: US policymakers want to convince Saddam that they can hurt him, either by destroying things that he cares about or by hitting his armed forces hard enough that they may begin to lose confidence in him.
AFP adds: The Iraqi envoy, Mr Tareq Aziz, yesterday urged world powers to allow Baghdad's case to be heard before considering measures to force Iraq to allow weapons inspections. "Give us a chance before stampeding another unjust resolution against Iraq," Mr Aziz said after UN meetings in New York. "Let the council give us the opportunity to comment on these accusations." Mr Aziz was speaking after meeting the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, the Chinese ambassador, Mr Qin Huasun, who currently holds the presidency of the Security Council, and Russia's UN ambassador, Mr Sergei Lavrov.
Mr Annan earlier told Mr Aziz that Baghdad would have to drop its ban on US nationals before it could make its case for ending sanctions to the Security Council. The 15-member body convened last night to consider further steps to force Iraq to allow the weapons inspections.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Iraqi families carrying their mattresses entered one of Saddam's palaces in Baghdad yesterday to act as human shields against any US attack, witnesses said.
Men, women and children made space for themselves to sleep. "We want to take part in the defence of the palace, which is the property of the people," a woman said.
The official news agency INA said earlier that hundreds of families had volunteered to sleep in Saddam's palaces as a "challenge to any US aggression against these symbols of the nation".
