Air power in Iraq may be beefed up

WASHINGTON – The Air Force is preparing for an expanded role in Iraq that could include tactics designed to deter Iranian assistance to Iraqi militants, according to senior Pentagon officials.

The efforts could include more air patrols by Air Force and Navy fighter planes along the Iran-Iraq border to counter the smuggling of bomb supplies from Iran, said a senior Pentagon official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Such missions also could position the Air Force to strike suspected bomb suppliers inside Iraq to deter Iranian agents that U.S. officials maintain are assisting Iraqi militias, said outside military experts.

The heightened role of U.S. air power in the region is the latest sign of rising tensions between President Bush and Iran’s leaders. Bush warned two weeks ago that U.S. forces would take a harder line against Iranians in Iraq, vowing to “seek out and destroy” weapons supply networks that endanger U.S. troops. He expanded the warning Monday, saying in a National Public Radio interview that Iranian threats to the Iraqi people also would be considered unacceptable.

The tough stance has been backed by other military moves. Bush this month ordered a second aircraft carrier group, led by the John C. Stennis, to the Persian Gulf, a measure described as a warning to Iran. The stepped-up presence and visibility of U.S. warplanes is seen as likely to reinforce that message.

“Air power plays major roles and one of those is as a deterrent, whether it be in border control, air sovereignty or something more kinetic,” said the senior Pentagon official, using a term that refers to offensive military action.

But the White House rhetoric on Iran also is fueling concerns about administration intentions. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., has demanded the administration’s view of its authority to attack Iran, although Bush and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates have said they do not foresee any military action crossing into Iran.

Many active-duty officers are wary of an aggressive military response to Iran, arguing that there is no need to risk starting another war.

Some Pentagon officials worry that an escalation of military pressure that included strikes on Iranian territory could prompt Iran to go after soft targets easily hit by their forces – such as oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.

“We need to be very careful about getting into one-to-one trades,” said the senior Pentagon official. “That can very quickly get out of control.”

But other military officers argue there might be no need for “kinetic” strikes. It is possible that stepped-up air operations inside Iraq could provide a deterrent, they say. The Air Force already is gearing up for just such a bigger role in Iraq in connection with Bush’s planned troop increase, according to a senior service official who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

Moving additional troops to Kuwait and Iraq will require more flights of soldiers and supplies. And the increased number of ground forces will require more missions by fighter jets, bombers and intelligence-gathering planes to help protect the soldiers and Marines, particularly when they disperse from bigger bases to smaller footholds in dense Baghdad neighborhoods.

Loren Thompson, a military analyst at the Lexington Institute, said many military targets in Iran are susceptible to Air Force weaponry. “Iran is precisely the type of enemy they know how to deal with,” Thompson said. “Having the ability to attack Iranian military targets and political targets is not just a deterrent. It may actually be used if we feel the Iranians are trying to subvert democracy in Iraq.”