Saddam’s days numbered

IN THE KUWAITI DESERT (AP) — US and British ground troops crossed into southern Iraq from Kuwait on Thursday in a gradual escalation of the war to drive Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from power.

Iraqi missiles fell harmlessly in Kuwait. Half a world away from the war theatre, US intelligence officials sought to determine whether the Iraqi leader had been  killed hours earlier in a pre-dawn attack by cruise missiles and  precision-guided bombs. Iraq’s state-run television denied it and said Saddam had met with aides during the day.  Either way, said US Defense Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld,  “The days of the Saddam Hussein regime are numbered.” He called on Iraqi leaders to surrender — and said the alternative was an attack “of a force and scope and scale that has been beyond what has been seen before.”

Iraq sent its missiles toward Kuwait in retaliation for the pre-dawn attack against Saddam.  In the Kuwaiti desert, officials said none of the Iraqi missiles caused injuries, and one was intercepted by a Patriot missile. Thousands of American and British troops donned  protective gear, but there was no evidence the missiles carried chemical or biological weapons. The onset of war sparked large anti-war demonstrations at US embassies around the world, and the State Department warned US citizens abroad of an increased danger of terrorism.

In Washington, protesters briefly blocked one of the Potomac River bridges carrying traffic into the capital. Outside the White House, demonstrators shouted “no blood for oil.” Despite continued opposition overseas, including criticism from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bush said 40 nations backed the American-led effort to topple Saddam. Turkey, which borders Iraq to the north, approved a limited form of cooperation during the day.