KENNESAW (USA), Feb 21: The United States declared on Thursday it had massed a big enough force in the Gulf to attack Iraq and was ready to launch an invasion as soon as President George Bush gives the word.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Public Television’s “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” that the military buildup in the Gulf had reached the point where US and British forces were now ready to invade Iraq if the order was given.

“I would characterize it as ample,” Mr Rumsfeld said of the force of tens of thousands of US and British troops massed in the area. “We are at a point where, if the president makes that decision (to attack), the Department of Defence is prepared and has the capabilities and the strategy to do that.”

Asked if the US and British forces were ready to go to war now, Rumsfeld replied: “Yes.”

Defence officials say the United States and Britain have gathered more than 150,000 troops in the region along with dozens of warships and hundreds of aircraft. But Rumsfeld refused to discuss exact troop totals, saying “I don’t do numbers.”

Mr Bush, stumping in support of his economic policies, said Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was “throwing away” his last chance to disarm voluntarily under UN auspices.

“If military force becomes necessary to disarm Iraq, this nation, joined by others, will act decisively in a just cause, and we will prevail,” Bush said. “For the oppressed people of Iraq ... the day of freedom is drawing near.”

President Bush said Iraq had not followed through on promises of cooperation and accused President Saddam of “actively deceiving” the inspectors and “actively hiding” banned arms.

Iraq denies it has any such weapons.

Its foreign minister, Naji Sabri, addressed a point-by-point rebuttal to detailed US allegations of Iraqi deceit, presented by Powell on Feb 5, to the head of the United Nations, Iraqi UN Ambassador Mohammed Aldouri said.

UN experts inspected five Iraqi missile sites near Baghdad after the chief arms inspector was said to have decided to ask Iraq to destroy its outlawed al-Samoud 2 missiles.

POWELL: US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Thursday that he did not expect a proposed resolution, expected to be tabled next week, to contain a deadline for compliance.