TEL AVIV Ñ The U.S. military has been ordered to launch
a war against Iraq on March 18, an Israeli official said in a televised report.
Israeli government monitor, Michael Gurdus, reported on late Tuesday
that the order was relayed by U.S. Central Command to all American forces in
the Persian Gulf. Gurdus told Israel's Channel 2 television that he heard
the order being relayed to U.S. fighter-jet pilots and others over U.S.
military radio communications he intercepted.
Gurdus is regarded as the leading communications monitor in the Middle
East and works for Israel radio and television. He has broken numerous
stories because of his ability to intercept and understand foreign-language
civilian and radio broadcasts and communications. He said the U.S. military,
in its radio communications, refers to Iraq as "bad cows" and "kabab", Middle East Newsline reported.
On Monday, Israel's media reported that the United States had demanded
that senior Israeli officials stop issuing predictions of when the war would
erupt. Israeli defense officials have concluded that the United States plans
to strike Iraq after March 17, the deadline set for Iraq to answer questions
regarding its missile and weapons of mass destruction programs.
Israeli defense officials have concluded that the United States plans
to strike Iraq after March 17, the deadline set for Iraq to answer questions
regarding its missile and weapons of mass destruction programs.
Pentagon sources dismissed the Israeli report. But they said the U.S.
military in Kuwait has already been placed on high alert, and that the
preparations for war will intensify over the weekend.
U.S. officials have reported an increase in air missions in Iraq
and said President George Bush does not plan to wait weeks until any
confrontation with Baghdad. They said the United States has more than
225,000 soldiers in the Iraqi theater of operations and has focused
operations on southern Iraq.
"In order to keep the pressure on the Iraqi regime to disarm we have
stepped up Southern Watch operations," Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Tuesday. "We are now flying several hundred
sorties a day, with 200 or 300 over the southern no-fly zone."
The U.S. bombing missions included targets in western Iraq near the
Jordanian border. Meyers said F-15E fighter-jets dropped munitions against
an air defense radar in an airfield in the H-3 region, used in 1991 to
launch medium-range missiles against Israel.
The U.S. military has also ordered accelerated testing and production of
new weapons for the war in Iraq. On Tuesday, the Pentagon said it tested a
21,000-bomb that contains 18,000 pounds of high explosives and meant to
destroy Iraqi bunkers. The Pentagon has also signed new contracts
for the accelerated production and delivery of the Patriot PAC-3 missile defense
system. A PAC-3 battery has been deployed in Kuwait and U.S. Central Command
hopes to station additional facilities in areas of the Persian Gulf and
Middle East.