IRAQI TARGETS HIT ANEW : MISSILES SEEK OUT UNSCATHED SITES; U.S. LEADERS SUPPORT ATTACK.

Byline: David Hess, Peter Slevin and Michael E. Ruane Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

U.S. forces lashed out at military targets in southern Iraq with a second cruise missile attack Tuesday evening in an effort to complete the destruction of air defense targets hit less than 24 hours before.

Seventeen missiles were fired from four ships in the Persian Gulf. The missiles were launched about 5 p.m. PDT and the raid was completed about 90 minutes later.

President Clinton authorized the second attack in a telephone conversation with senior Pentagon officials around 4 p.m. after analysis of results of the first attack by 27 cruise missiles Tuesday morning showed that several key targets remained undamaged.

Joining Tuesday night's assault was the destroyer USS Russell, which launched eight Tomahawk cruise missiles; the destroyer USS Hewitt, which fired two; the Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine USS Jefferson City, which also fired two; and the USS Laboon, a destroyer that participated in the first attack and launched five missiles in the second.

Republican and Democratic leaders quickly endorsed the second attack. James A. Baker III, secretary of state to President Bush during the Persian Gulf War, noted that America's credibility was at stake.

``When America says it is going to do something, it had better deliver,'' Baker said in an interview with Larry King on CNN.

Baker, Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia and conservative Democrat Sam Nunn of Georgia agreed that the Iraqi crisis was far from over, given Saddam Hussein's continuing defiant attitude.

Pentagon officials said earlier Tuesday that they were prepared to take additional military action if it were needed to protect American aircraft operating in southern Iraq.

American pilots will be enforcing an expanded no-fly zone in southern Iraq beginning by noon today, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon noted.

``Tonight's attack is necessary to ensure the safety of American aircraft operating in the no-fly zone,'' said a statement released Tuesday night by White House spokesman Mike McCurry.

Bacon said the attack was designed to ``complete the suppression of air defense facilities that remained in operation following the first attack.''

Earlier Tuesday, Saddam appeared on national Iraqi television to reject American demands that he keep his planes on the ground in southern Iraq and stop harassing Kurds in northern Iraq. The 30,000 Iraqi troops who have killed hundreds of Kurds in recent days still threatened Kurdish enclaves, U.S. intelligence officials said.

President Clinton told reporters earlier Tuesday that America's next steps in the crisis depend on Saddam.

``Our objectives are limited, but clear: to make Saddam pay a price for the latest act of brutality, reducing his ability to threaten his neighbors and America's interests,'' Clinton said.

One key American interest in the region is the stability of Persian Gulf governments and the vital oil they supply.

Bob Dole, the Republican presidential nominee, endorsed the attacks as a first step toward bringing Saddam to bay. But with the presidential election just nine weeks away, other Republicans criticized Clinton for indecision in dealing with Iraq and for the limited scale of Tuesday's strike.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona and House International Affairs Committee Chairman Benjamin Gilman of New York said the missile strikes would not have been necessary if Clinton had taken a tougher diplomatic stance earlier to head off Saddam's threats to intervene in a Kurdish civil war.

McCain said the administration had ``squandered'' the gains of the Gulf War victory in 1991 by permitting Saddam to partially rebuild his military power and then use it to threaten dissident and other factions in Iraq.

But Clinton's defenders said that U.S. allies had not cooperated with the president in keeping heavy pressure on the Saddam regime.

``Our European allies have not been firm enough in stopping his maneuvers,'' said Rep. Patricia Schroeder, D-Colo., a senior member of the House National Security Committee. ``By authorizing air strikes, President Clinton has shown he will not play along.''

Tuesday's first attack included a remarkable piece of coordinated military derring-do. Thirteen of the 27 cruise missiles used in the attack came from two B-52H bombers - venerable behemoths that made a 13,600-mile, 33.9-hour round-trip flight from a U.S. base at Guam, in the Pacific, to the Persian Gulf and back.

The round-trip flight required four aerial refuelings that used 17 tankers based in Guam and Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean.

Early efforts to assess the effectiveness of the strikes against four air-defense sites were impeded by heavy cloud cover. U.S. officials said the missiles were fired at an Iraqi military training area and air-defense missile sites near four Iraqi towns in the south.

There were unconfirmed preliminary reports that two of four targets were destroyed.

Still more air attacks appear likely if Saddam does not back off from his invasion of the Kurdish safe haven in the north. But a full-scale war on the ground is unlikely unless he menaces the oil states of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in the south.

Defense Secretary William Perry said Tuesday's attacks on missile sites and air defense control facilities would set the stage for enforcement of a new expanded southern Iraq no-fly zone. Clinton extended the zone north to the 33rd latitude from the 32nd latitude.

Perry and other Pentagon officials said the zone - extending from the border with Kuwait to the southern edge of Baghdad - would impede Saddam's military operations across the country.

It also clearly provides a larger buffer between Persian Gulf oil states and Saddam's aggressive intentions.

With only nine weeks remaining before the November presidential election, Clinton is certain to benefit from the normal American instinct of uniting behind their president at a time of crisis.

The Senate is expected to vote by today on a nonbinding resolution prepared by Democratic and Republican leaders supporting the American forces in the Persian Gulf.

But missteps also are certain to be spotlighted.

The crisis reflected a dilemma presented to the United States since it became the world's last superpower.

While there is continuing moral outrage and frustration here about slaughter of innocents around the world, there is little willingness to shed American blood in any but urgent national interests.

Perry was quick Tuesday to frame just where U.S. interests lay in Iraq. ``Our national interests are not tied to which party prevails in this conflict in northern Iraq,'' he said. ``But we do have vital national security interests in maintaining security and stability in the region . . . and protection of the flow of oil.''

There were reports in Washington on Tuesday that the first strike actually came a day later than it might have because of serious reservations about the military action by Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other Mideast countries.

Indeed, only Great Britain, Germany and Japan stood with the United States in the crisis. The French, Russians, Jordanians, Saudis and Turks all questioned the wisdom of intervening in Iran's internal chaos.

TIME LINE SIGNS OF TROUBLE

Two weeks ago: Intelligence reports suggested that Saddam Hussein might be involved in factional Kurdish fighting in northern Iraq.

BUILDUP OF IRAQI FORCES

Last week: Intelligence showed that armored units were within striking distance of the Kurdish city of Erbil.

DIPLOMATIC WARNING

Aug 28: President Clinton authorized a diplomatic message to Iraq warning of repercussions if Iraq violated Kurdish rights.

MILITARY RESPONSES

Aug 29: U.S. national security advisers mapped out possible military responses to an attack on Erbil; U.S. forces were put on heightened alert.

FOREIGN LEADERS

Sunday: Clinton called leaders of Britain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and France. After these consultations, the bombing mission, which had been set for early Monday, was delayed 24 hours.

MISSION UNDER WAY

Monday: Planes were already in the air at 8:11 p.m. EDT when Clinton gave mission its final go-ahead.

Tuesday: U.S. launches second attack.

SOURCE: Daily News Wire Services

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos, Map, Box

Photo: (1--color) A Tomahawk cruise missile is launched from the USS Laboon.

(2) A flight deck crew prepares to load missiles onto an F-14D fighter plane aboard the USS Carl Vinson.

(3--color) President Clinton

in nationally-televised address from the Oval Office

Associated Press

Box: TIME LINE (see text)

Map: U.S. retaliation

Associated Press