War to begin with brief air raid - officer

The top Marine commander in the region predicted Sunday that war was "just a few days away" and suggested that it would begin with a three-or four-day bombing campaign intended to wipe out half the Iraqi defenders at the border before sending in U.S. and British land forces.

Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, who commands more than 85,000 Marines and British troops poised to attack, said his force would target Iraq's 51st Mechanised Division with 130 fighter jets and about 75 attack helicopters, then rush in on the ground to seize southern Iraq.

His eve-of-war send-off speech to thousands of Marines gathered here at their main desert headquarters offered fresh details about the opening phase of the war, estimating that bombing would go on at least 72 hours before a full-fledged invasion.

The "road-to-war brief," as it was called, complete with flyovers by fighter jets and attack helicopters, reinforced for troops in the field that war appears imminent. Some units have packed up and moved out of their camps, received live ammunition and sent off what they think could be their final letters home before hostilities begin.

Conway told the Marines that he did not know exactly when war would begin. "But I'll tell you this," he said. "I believe in my heart it's just a few days away."

The start of war this week would leave U.S. military commanders with a single major land front, as Turkey continues to balk at allowing its bases to be used to attack Iraq from the north.

Hedging against the prospect that they will be barred from using Turkish airspace as well, U.S. commanders have started to move ships from the eastern Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea so they can fire cruise missiles over Saudi territory at Iraq.

Unlike the 1991 war, when U.S. warplanes bombed Iraq for 38 days before ground troops went in, the Pentagon this time plans a shorter aerial attack. Some officials have hinted the air and ground wars could even start almost simultaneously.

But some ground commanders have pushed for as much time as possible for the air attack to deplete Iraqi defenses and demoralise their soldiers before U.S. troops go in.

Conway said, "We reach out 72 to 96 hours in advance of those ground troops and knock hell out of things with the 3rd Marine Air Wing, the biggest and most powerful in the world. We take those (Iraqi) formations down to about 50 per cent and then turn them over to the attacking troops. It's not a fair fight. We didn't intend for it to be."

At his disposal for the air assault will be 70 AV-8B Harrier ground attack planes, 60 F/A-18 Hornet fighter-bombers, 58 AH-1W Cobra attack helicopters and 15 to 20 British helicopters.

Acco-rding to military planners, such an air armada could sustain about 420 sorties, or attack missions, per day and, for a short period of time, even surge up to 672 sorties per day.

In keeping with the spirit of a pre-war pep talk, Conway talked tough for his young Marines, many of them teen-agers facing combat for the first time.

A moment or two later, with split-second timing, two Harriers roared over the makeshift coliseum where Conway addressed the troops from the bed of a seven-tonne truck, followed by four Cobras buzzing the cheering audience. Conway told his troops not to worry about peace protests at home.