There was no report of casualties from the bombing."Neither America, nor the father of America, scares us," said one resident, Najih Latif Abbas. "Iraqi men are striking at Americans and they retaliate by terrifying our children."Fakhri Fayadh, a 60-year-old farmer, said reprisal attacks "will only increase our spite and hatred of them If they think that they will scare us, they are wrong. US forces had eased off on raids during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began in late October.Hours after Abizaid's warning, US jets dropped three 225-kilogram (500-pound) bombs in the Fallujah area after three US paratroopers were wounded in an ambush. An explosion in Basra destroyed today killed four Iraqis and wounded three others on a road frequently used by British troops.

John Abizaid, chief of the US Central Command, delivered the warning to tribal sheiks and mayors in the "Sunni Triangle" city of Ramadi west of Baghdad, said Mr Bedawi."We have the capabilities and equipment," he quoted the general as saying at Saturday's meeting.The warning was another sign of a "get tough" campaign against insurgents, who have accelerated attacks against US and coalition forces in recent weeks. The only common factor was that they had been fed Remedia milk substitute. The Israeli government ordered that the formula be recalled immediately.Israeli hospitals have been ordered to give free shots of Vitamin B1 to babies that have been fed the formula, to try to prevent further brain damage.. As well as the baby food, the illnesses may have had other causes." According to Israeli press reports, Remedia hinted it believed the product might have been sabotaged. The Israeli government had ordered the Mossad intelligence agency and the Shin Bet security service to join the investigation, the Health Ministry said yesterday.An investigation was triggered after an unusually high number of babies was admitted to hospital suffering brain damage symptoms.

The company said in a statement it "is doing everything it can to obtain information that will clarify the matter. Israelis filed two class action lawsuits against Remedia yesterday, claiming £133m in damages.The milk substitute is made for Remedia by Humana Milchunion, a German firm. If Remedia is found to have knowingly or negligently deceived parents it could prove highly damaging. The formula is retailed by Remedia, an Israeli company 51 per cent owned by the food giant Heinz. There are international concerns because some Israelis have sent packets of the formula to Jewish relatives in Europe and the US. The Israeli government has ordered its embassies to spread the alert.Urgent testing ordered by the Israeli government found that the milk substitute did not contain vitamin B1, which is vital to the development of babies' central nervous systems ­ even though it was listed among the ingredients.