Special forces operating in W. Iraq, unclear if they control area

The U.S. Department of Defense clarified Saturday that the U.S. and British troops operating in western Iraq have not found Scud missiles, launchers, or related equipment, such as tankers for fueling the launchers. Troops have also found no evidence of the existence of Scud missiles in the area.

Brigadier General Stanley McChrystal of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said during a press conference Saturday that the U.S. has deployed special forces in western Iraq, but refused to say whether the U.S. already controls the air fields in the area. McChrystal went on to say that at present, U.S. troops have not encountered Iraqi attempts to launch Scuds. According to reports, the U.S. also has not located weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Also Saturday, U.S. Army General Tommy Franks, commander of the allied forces operation in Iraq, said that it was not known whether Iraq still had the capability of firing Scud missiles at countries in the region.

"One doesn't know whether the regime has the ability to strike any neighboring country with missiles," Franks said in response to a reporter's question on Iraqi strikes against Israel, in his first press briefing since the start of the war on Thursday.

"We do know that more than two dozen Scud launchers remain unaccounted for since the days of the Gulf War. We also know that we want to provide the best defensive capability that we can and we know that we want to posture our force dispositions in a way that makes attacks on neighboring countries just as hard as we can make it.

American forces seized important airfields in western Iraq on Friday, the only part of the country from which Iraqi missiles are capable of reaching Israel.

Sources in the Israeli defense establishment said that it was likely that at deliberations early in the week, a decision would be made to end the high state of alert in the country.

The sources told Israel Radio that the threat of an Iraqi missile strike has gone down in light of the fact that Allied troops have seized areas in Iraq from where an attack on Israel could be launched. At the same time, these sources noted that the Iraqis' motivation to attack Israel might grow as their situation becomes more desperate.

Despite the low likelihood of an Iraqi missile attack on Israel, the defense establishment advises waiting 2-3 days before making a decision that the threat has passed and the sealed rooms can be dismantled. Meanwhile, criticism of Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon's decision to instruct the public to open their gas-mask kits continues to mount.

Haaretz has learned that in internal discussions prior to Ya'alon's decision, high-ranking Defense Ministry officials advised holding back the instruction regarding the gas masks.

Deputy defense minister: War has just begunDeputy Defense Minister Ze'ev Boim said while it was possible the alert could be lowered soon, the war had just begun and the U.S. takeover of western Iraq was not complete.

"We will wait for them to take complete control of the area before assessing that the potential threat to us has been lifted," he told Israel Radio on Saturday.

Boim added that it was not impossible that Saddam Hussein or his sons would try attack Israel as a final act of defiance. "We don't know what is going on in Baghdad," he pointed out.

The airfields known as H-2 and H-3 in far western Iraq were taken without much resistance from Iraqi troops, defense officials said on condition of anonymity. They are important partly because Saddam Hussein is believed to have Scud missiles there.

Israel welcomed the news of the capture, calling it "a significant development," CNN television said.

	Gen. Tommy Franks on Saturday briefing reporters in Kuwait on the progress of the allied forces in Iraq.
	Photo by: AP