WASHINGTON, Feb 26: US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Tuesday the United States prefers not to wage a summer war in Iraq and acknowledged the stress of maintaining a large force in the region for an extended period.

The US military leaders have insisted that the US forces assembled in the region can fight even in the searing heat of the Iraqi summer.

But Mr Rumsfeld’s remarks in a question and answer session at the Hoover Institution was a rare acknowledgement by a senior administration official that weather conditions and stress on the forces as well as political considerations will be factors in a decision on whether to go to war.

“It is very clear that once you flow forces it is stressful to maintain them for long periods of time,” he said.

“Second,” he said, “it is clearly preferable to be engaged in Iraq in a period other than the summer.”

“There are a whole host of considerations that a political leadership would have to take into account and that’s part of it. But so too are the implications that are being discussed and debated by the United Nations,” he said.

More than 210,000 US military personnel are now in position in the Gulf region and the eastern Mediterranean for a US invasion of Iraq if President George W. Bush opts to disarm Iraq by forces.

The United States is pressing for a vote on a second UN Security Council resolution by mid March, setting in motion a countdown toward military action.

Nato deployment: Two giant Awacs early warning planes flew into Turkey on Wednesday in Nato’s first deployment of equipment to defend the country in case of a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The deployment followed a breakthrough last week after a month-long deadlock in Nato ranks over a U.S. request to prepare alliance member Turkey for any attack by Iraq. The row marked one of the stormiest chapters in Nato’s 54-year-history.

The Awacs planes, due to patrol Turkey’s border with Iraq, and two cargo planes arrived at the Konya air base, in central Turkey, from Geilenkirchen, Germany.

A German general welcomed the crew on board the first plane, with its distinctive white dish mounted on the fuselage.

Konya, a rambling, fenced complex about 200kms south of the Turkish capital Ankara, is set in a flat agricultural area known as the bread basket of Turkey.

Captain Jonathan Riley, chief public affairs officer of the Awacs team, declined to say how many Awacs planes would be sent to Turkey. Nato officials have said the alliance would not deploy all 17 Awacs planes it owns or operates.

Turkey, widely seen playing a frontline role in any attack, is preparing for a parliamentary vote on Thursday to open its air bases.

France, Belgium and Germany had blocked any Nato deployment for Turkey’s defence, saying it would be a sign the alliance implicitly accepted war and that diplomacy had failed.

But Nato’s 18-nation Defence Planning Committee, which does not include France, last week approved the deployment of Awacs planes, Patriot air defence missile systems, and anti-chemical and anti-biological warfare units to bolster Turkey’s defences.

When operating at an altitude of 9,000 metres, the Awacs planes can scan more than 312,100 sq kilometres. This means one or two could be enough for surveillance at any one time but, as they can fly for only six to eight hours, several would be needed for an around-the-clock operation.—Reuters