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U.S. TROOPS ON THE DOORSTEP : READY TO INVADE ANY MINUTE AS JETS POUND MISSILE SITES
By JONATHAN FOREMAN and VINCE MORRIS with U.S. forces in Kuwait and ANDY GELLER in N.Y.
March 20, 2003

U.S. warplanes bombed targets in southern Iraq yesterday as ground troops advanced to the border - ready to invade at any moment.

Jets from two aircraft carriers attacked several sites in Iraq's "no-fly zone," including an airfield that may harbor Scud missiles capable to reaching Israel, U.S. officials said.

Also bombed were artillery and surface-to-air missile sites within range of U.S. and British forces in Kuwait. Ten artillery pieces were destroyed. The warplanes, from the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Kitty Hawk, were scrambled after coalition aircraft on routine patrol in the "no-fly zone" were fired upon, the officials said.

The sorties came as columns of U.S. troops, armored vehicles and trucks advanced to the Iraqi border with Kuwait through a swirling sandstorm.

One company commander led his troops in a Seminole war dance, and told them to remove U.S. flags from their tanks because "we will be entering Iraq as an army of liberation, not domination."

At sea, combat pilots on the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt were ordered to sleep through the day so they could fight at night.

But as President Bush's 8 p.m. deadline for Saddam Hussein and his two sons to leave Iraq expired, the Iraqi despot showed no sign of accepting a public offer of exile from Bahrain, and his regime appeared to be digging in.

The White House warned the American people that the war could be lengthy and they should be prepared for loss of life.

"On the brink of war with Iraq, Americans should be prepared for what we hope will be as precise, short a conflict as possible, but there are many unknowns and it could be a matter of some duration. We do not know," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

"Americans ought to be prepared for loss of life. Americans ought to be prepared for the importance of disarming Saddam Hussein to protect the peace."

Bush began his day by calling British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his staunchest ally, and meeting with his war council. Later, Bush sent Congress formal notification of the justification for war - two documents that said diplomacy has failed to protect America's security, linked Saddam to al¬Qaeda and said captured Iraqi officials could identify terrorists in the United States.

In other developments:
* Hundreds of members of Saddam's Ba'ath Party, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, deployed throughout Baghdad, taking positions behind sandbags and in foxholes.
* Russia, Germany and France attacked the war, telling the U.N. Security Council that the United States had not offered "indisputable facts" that Iraq posed a threat. France said the conflict would increase the possibility of terrorist acts.
* Turkey said the United States could use its air space to launch strikes against Iraq but could not station ground troops for a northern front against Baghdad.
* Two groups totaling 17 Iraqi soldiers surrendered at the Kuwaiti border.
* Israelis were warned to have gas masks on hand at all times although Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said there was only a 1 percent chance of getting hit by an Iraqi missile.
* Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz scotched rumors he had defected or had been shot trying to flee by appearing at a news conference in military uniform with a pistol strapped to his belt. With no sign that Saddam was leaving, the 20,000 men of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division were ordered to line up on the Iraqi border. With 10,000 tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and trucks, the 3rd would be the only U.S. armored division in the fight, and would likely meet any Iraqi defenses head on.

"We will be entering Iraq as an army of liberation, not domination," said Capt. Philip Wolford, of Marysville, Ohio, directing the men of his 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment to take down the U.S. flags on their tanks.

After a brief prayer, Wolford leaped into an impromptu war dance. Camouflaged soldiers joined him, jumping up and down in the sand, chanting and thrusting up rifles carefully emptied of their rounds. Bravo Company of the 54 Engineer Battalion had a rough day. In the 25-mile journey from camp to forward staging areas, the battalion suffered a series of breakdowns, including two of its vital command vehicles.

WAR BRIEFING
* The latest developments:
* Jets from the aircraft carriers Abraham Lincoln and Kitty Hawk bombed several targets in Iraq's 'no-fly zone," including an airfield that may harbor Scud missiles capable of reaching Israel. U.S. officials said the planes the sites were attacked after coalition aircraft on patrol in the zone were fired upon. Ten artillery pieces were destroyed.
* Columns of U.S. troops, armored vehicles and trucks advanced through a swirling sandstorm toward the Iraqi border, positioning themselves to invade on short notice. One company commander led his troops in a Seminole war dance.
* Hundreds of armed members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party and security forces deployed throughout Baghdad, taking positions behind sandbags and in foxholes. Otherwise, the city looked like a ghost town.
* White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the war could be "a matter of some duration" and warned, "Americans ought to be prepared for a loss of life."
* President Bush met with his war council and sent Congress formal notice of justification for war. He linked Saddam Hussein to Al Qaeda and said captured Iraqi officials could identify terrorists living in the United States.
* Bahrain offered Saddam a haven, the first such offer to be publicly extended to the embattled Iraqi leader. Arab officials say six non-Arab countries have also offered to take him in.
* Russia, Germany and France condemned the war, telling the U.N. Security Council that the United States had not offered "indisputable facts" that Iraq posed a threat. Egyptian President Hosni Muburak blamed Iraq for the war, but a Canadian cabinet minister said Bush had failed to act as a statesman.
* Turkey said the United States could use its air space to launch strikes against Iraq but would not allow it to station ground troops for a northern front against the Iraqis.
* Two groups of Iraqi soldiers totaling 17 men surrendered at the Kuwaiti border around nightfall and were in the custody of Kuwait authorities.
* Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz scotched rumors that he had defected or had been shot trying to fly by appearing at a news conference in military uniform with a pistol strapped to his belt.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I'm kind of excited, wanting to see if we go north. The faster we do, the faster we go home.- Spc. Servando Diaz of San Jose, Calif.