As U.S. and British forces pounded the rebel
nation with cruise missiles, top Clinton advisers
vehemently denied any "Wag The Dog" plot to
divert attention from Sexgate and buy time -
although Clinton opted not to bomb during a
similar showdown with Iraq last month.

A steely Clinton, in an Oval Office speech to the
nation, defended the surprise attack, claiming
the impeachment crisis won't "weaken our
resolve to face down" Iraqi strongman Saddam
Hussein.

Clinton - who spent the day juggling his own fate
with one hand and Saddam's with the other -
twice repeated that his decision to bomb had
the "unanimous" approval of his top military
advisers.

"We had to act and to act now," said Clinton,
who is under fire from Republicans claiming
he's using the crisis to stop pro-impeachment
momentum.

House GOP leaders decided last night to put
off the impeachment vote until tomorrow or over
the weekend.

Clinton said Saddam had reneged on last
month's promise to allow U.N. arms inspectors
to resume checking his suspected weapons
sites - and was even imposing brand-new
restrictions - moves that posed "a clear and
present danger" to the world.

"Saddam Hussein ... may have thought that the
serious debate currently before the House of
Representatives would distract Americans or
weaken our resolve to face him down," an
exhausted-looking Clinton said in his 15-minute
speech, a U.S. flag draped behind his right
shoulder.

"But once more, the United States has proven
... when we must act in America's vital interests
we will do so," he said.

Defense Secretary William Cohen said he
would "place 30 years of public service on the
line to say the only factor that was important in
this decision was what was in the American
people's best interests."

However, some military experts questioned the
wisdom of another "pinprick" attack on
Saddam and some key senators questioned
the timing coincidence.

And high-ranking Israeli sources claimed the
strike was planned over the Thanksgiving
weekend - including a plot to have U.N.
inspectors ask for documents and site access
that they knew would be denied, reported Post
Mideast correspondent Uri Dan.

Asked if the White House advised the head of
the U.N. inspection team to pull his men out of
Iraq, Clinton's spokesman Joe Lockhart
acknowledged that U.S. officials "made it clear
about the concerns we had about" Iraq's
behavior.

The surprise attack, tagged "Operation Desert
Fox" and targeting Saddam's military and
security bases, was expected to last up to four
days, using American and British planes and
U.S. warships - with reinforcements en route to
the region.

Clinton braced the country for Iraqi casualties.

He said he couldn't wait because to attack
during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan,
which starts this weekend, would be "profoundly
offensive" and he didn't want to give Saddam
time to hide his soldiers and his weapons.

In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair told
his nation there was "no realistic alternative to
military force ... We act because we must."

Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations, Nizar
Hamdoon called the move "very bad."

Clinton made his decision to bomb yesterday
morning, just hours after he returned from the
Mideast and huddled with his top national
security aides. He called Senate GOP Leader
Trent Lott to tell him.

Clinton also dropped by a staff meeting to give
impeachment-weary aides a boost - telling
them to focus on the jobs "we were sent here to
do; that ultimately the American people get it
right and he believes that they will here," said
Lockhart.

"You have not given up on this vote ... in the
House?" asked a reporter.

"No," Lockhart snapped.

By early afternoon, Clinton was knee deep in
his personal crisis, trying to woo fence-sitting
GOPers and meeting with New York's Amo
Houghton, who favors censure but later told
reporters that hardly anyone in his party agrees
with him.

"Sometimes a message is more effective when
it's delivered in person," Lockhart said.

Lockhart denied that Clinton was privately
'fessing up to the wavering GOPers, which
they've demanded he do publicly - that he did
indeed lie when he denied a fling with ex-intern
Monica Lewinsky.

"The president has said what he said on that
subject and he is not going to fine-tune
something to meet the particular concerns of
someone," he said.

But he said the White House didn't agree with
feminist Betty Friedan who this week dismissed
the president's hanky panky by demanding to
know: "What's the big deal?"

Lockhart insisted Clinton was coping with the
dual crises: "He does his job by focusing on his
job," he said.

Vice President Al Gore also made a public
pitch for censure-not-impeachment: "There is
still time for Democrats and Republicans to
come together and embrace a bipartisan
compromise," he said.

The attack on Iraq comes after last month's
massive military build-up and military threats by
Clinton, who ended up backing off after
Saddam backed down.

Already in the Persian Gulf region are 24,100
U.S. military personnel, 22 ships - eight armed
with Tomahawk cruise missiles - and 201
aircraft, including 15 B-52 bombers armed with
cruise missiles. The naval force includes one
aircraft carrier battle group, with another en
route.

-- Marilyn Rauber - 12/17/98