US bombs may target Saddam

The issue again arose in 1989, when then-President George Bush prepared to invade Panama to oust General Manuel Noriega, an indicted drug trafficker accused of threatening American lives.

Abraham Sofaer, then the state department8217;s chief legal adviser, said a much stricter interpretation of the assassination ban had prevailed under President Jimmy Carter. quot;But we had that out during theReagan administration and the Bush administration. During their tenures, it was concluded that military actions do not constitute assassinations,quot; Sofaer said by telephone from the Hoove Institution in Palo Alto, California. He argued at that time that quot;in the course of a military action, if you kill the head of a country or anyone else in the chain of command in the military, it is perfectly appropriate, assuming that your military action is itself lawful.quot;

However, last week, President Bill Clinton stressed that the executive order barring political assassinations remained in effect even now. But only on February 5, he had wondered aloud as to whether the Iraqi people would not be better off if there was a change of leadership. Answering his own question, Clinton had said, quot;I certainly think they would be but that is not what the United Nations has authorised us to do. Besides, let8217;s not discuss hypothetically what targets might be there or what we might do.quot; Meanwhile, warplanes left US bases for theGulf yesterday as the US military put in place the final pieces of its strike force against Iraq. Six F-16 fighter jets from Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina were the first to leave of more than 40 combat aircraft ordered to the Gulf by Defence Secretary William Cohen, a base spokesman said. The special forces aircraft include two EC-130E Commando Solo aircraft of the type used in Bosnia to seize control of radio and television air waves. Also going are two MC-130E planes for special forces air drops and resupply operations and three MH-53 Pave Low Helicopters.