WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. naval and air forces in the Persian Gulf were ''in execute mode'' as President Clinton met today with his top national security advisers to consider military strikes in response to Iraq's latest defiance of international arms inspectors.
The president, just back from the Middle East, sat down with his national security team at 7:30 a.m. EST in the White House Situation Room. They met there for about 45 minutes and were expected to confer throughout the day, one adviser said.
At the Pentagon, top military officials put the finishing touches on attack plans that had been put on hold a month ago. ''All the forces are in place. Every indication is that we'll likely come today or tomorrow,'' a senior military official said.
But the official cautioned that despite all the last-minute preparations, it was up to Clinton to give the final go-ahead for a launch.
U.S. force strength in the Gulf was unusually high as Navy aircraft carriers and B-52 bombers overlapped with forces rotating out of the region.
''We're in an execute mode,'' said senior defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity. ''If somebody dials 911, we're ready to go.''
The White House huddle followed on Clinton's telephone call to British Prime Minister Tony Blair Tuesday night to review the standoff with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as it approaches yet another boiling point.
Clinton called Blair again today, after the White House meting, an administration official said.
Britain has stood alongside the United States in threatening to attack Araq and its forces were to have joined with American units in the strike that was called off in mid-November.
''This is obviously a very serious situation. All options are on the table,'' including strikes, one White House national security aide said today, speaking on condition of anonymity.
There was a high level of anxiety at the White House as word traveled that an attack against Saddam might be imminent. The Clinton administration faces the inevitable problem of being accused of ginning up an international crisis in the midst of the House impeachment debate.
Rep. Henry Hyde, emerging from a GOP leaders meeting, said today that GOP leaders were discussing recessing impeachment proceedings if the U.S. launches an attack on Iraq.
''I think it would be awkward to have an impeachment vote during a bombing in Iraq,'' he said.
Another problem is the approach of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, slated to begin this weekend.
At the Pentagon, however, defense officials downplayed these factors.
''The timing with all of these things is inconvenient, but it's not a deciding factor,'' said a second defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said if Clinton acts decisively, he will win public support.
''Obviously there will be those who will question his motives and timing,'' McCain said. But, he said, ''I think he will receive significant support because it's pretty obvious that Saddam Hussein is neither complying nor cooperating'' with international arms inspectors.
The array of air power poised to strike is even more extensive than that assembled in November. Because of the rotation schedules for U.S. Navy and air forces, there will be a period in the coming days when U.S. military strength in the Persian Gulf is even greater than the levels planned to cope with the Iraqi crisis.
There are 24,100 U.S. military men and women in the Gulf region; 22 ships, eight of those armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, and 201 military aircraft including 15 B-52 bombers also equipped with cruise missiles.
One notable exception, however, is the absence from the Gulf region of F-117 stealth fighters, which are capable of evading Iraq's formidable air defense radars.
Plans have remained in place for a strike since the aborted attacks against in Saddam in November. The United States has maintained a hefty force in the Gulf, which has been bolstered by the arrival of additional of B-52s in Diego Garcia. The USS Carl Vinson is due to arrive Dec. 20, giving the military a second aircraft carrier in the region.
Military planners said after the aborted attack that a swift and severe series of airstrikes could be launched with little advance warning, utilizing up to 300 Tomahawk cruise missiles carried aboard eight warships in the region. That could be followed by attacks from warplanes.
Defense Secretary William Cohen had plans to depart late today for a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also was slated to attend the session.
The United Nations' weapons monitors were ordered to evacuate Baghdad today, one day after chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler reported that Iraq had reneged on its promise of full cooperation with his team, called UNSCOM. In November, when the United States retreated from its last standoff with Iraq over weapons inspections, Clinton ordered U.S. forces in the region to remain on alert. He and his British allies warned that punishing air strikes could come without warning if Saddam defied the United Nations once more.
Butler's report ''clearly stated that Iraq did not provide full cooperation to UNSCOM as it promised last month,'' said P.J. Crowley, a spokesman for Clinton's National Security Council.
Despite that unequivocal conclusion, another White House adviser suggested a bit of a wait-and-see tact. ''We need to review the Butler report and make a determination about where we go from here,'' this adviser said.
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