Bush targets Saddam leadership as war begins

President George Bush launched war on Iraq today with an attempt to take out Saddam Hussein and his henchmen.

But is was not the major "shock and awe" air assault that had been expected to launch the war. Instead the comparatively limited attacks, involving stealth fighters and cruise missiles, were focussed on a "target of opportunity".

Hours after the attacks, British and US forces in northern Kuwait scrambled to put on their gas masks after reports that Iraq had launched a missile attack at them. The official Kuwait News Agency said two Iraqi missiles had struck the area but they were not believed to be carrying non-conventional warheads.

The Washington Post reported that the CIA informed President Bush that it believed it had a fix on Saddam Hussein, which led to the attacks at a time when the onset of daylight led most to believe that the assault was not yet imminent.

A British military source at US Central Command in the Qatar desert said later that the missiles were targeted at a meeting of five senior Iraqi leaders: "There were intelligence-based reports that there were five high-ranking people in one place and a decision was taken to launch the missiles."

The UK Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said that the first wave of air strikes on Iraq was targeted on the country's top leadership and were only the "preliminary stages" of military operations.

A senior White House official said the "decapitation exercise" was based on "very recent intelligence". There was no RAF involvement and no major ground force movements were observed, although there were reports of some explosions near the demilitarised zone between Iraq and Kuwait.

As dawn rose on Baghdad, more than 40 cruise missiles began raining down, heralding the start of a conflict the President said would result in the end of the Iraqi dictatorship.

Air raid sirens followed by a series of explosions were heard in Baghdad just after 5.30am (2.30am UK time).

The action began 90 minutes after President Bush's deadline for Saddam to leave Iraq passed.

An official Iraqi spokesman said that one civilian had died and that TV facilities, a customs building and civilian suburbs had been hit.

Downing Street revealed that the launch of the attacks had been brought forward.

A spokesman said: "The Prime Minister was informed shortly after midnight (London time) that attacks on a limited number of command and control targets was being brought forward."

British military commanders in the Gulf said there had been no order to begin general ground attacks.

Forty-five minutes after the attack began, President Bush went on television to tell the American people: "I assure you this will not be a campaign of half measures and we will accept no outcome but victory."

But he warned: "A campaign on the harsh terrain of the nation as large as California could be longer and more difficult than some predict and helping Iraqis achieve a united, stable and free country will require our sustained commitment."

US officials said the initial attack, involving cruise missiles and F–117 stealth fighter bombers armed with precision bombs, was a "decapitation exercise" aimed directly at the Iraqi leadership and based on specific intelligence about their location.

There was no immediate indication as to whether the attack had succeeded in hitting Saddam, who has dodged US attempts to end his life for more than a decade.