11.   But American officials said they expected the strike on Udbina, and any nearby Serbian air defenses, to take place at the earliest possible opportunity.

12.   Bush touched briefly on the military campaign in Afghanistan claiming the United States has been successful in destroying Taliban camps, air defenses and communications.

13.   But Iraqi air defenses have surprised allied commanders in recent days.

14.   But the buildings were spaced unusually far apart and surrounded by barbed wire, dummy bunkers, air defenses and many guard posts.

15.   Civilian officials at NATO headquarters acknowledged that they were skittish about losing cargo planes, too, given the capabilities of Serbian air defenses that remain intact.

16.   Chinese warships, for example, have little or no effective air defense, and their targeting radars cannot reach over the horizon.

17.   Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Monday that the American and British pilots who fly patrols over Iraq are coming under increasingly dangerous fire because of improved Iraqi air defenses.

18.   Defense Secretary William J. Perry, for example, said on Tuesday that the air campaign had devastated Bosnian Serb air defenses and halted the shelling of Sarajevo.

19.   Destruction of the Bosnian Serb air defenses by NATO bombers would be a prelude to any operation, the officials said.

20.   Despite its weeks of bombardment, NATO never succeeded in demolishing the Serbian air defenses.