The Turkish Government, wary of public sentiment about the repeated air strikes, limits the number of days the jets can fly and prohibits night operations. The United States European Command, which oversees operations here, has put northern Iraq's most significant military targets off limits, fearing international outrage over any escalation of the fighting.

Above all, the pilots must avoid mistakes that could play into Mr. Hussein's hand. ''It's between none and minimal collateral damage that we'll accept,'' said Maj. Hugh Hanlon, an F-16CJ pilot stationed here.

The result is something of a standoff. The American and British forces have struck more than five times the number of targets attacked during four days of intensive strikes against Iraq last December and flown more than three-quarters as many combat missions as NATO pilots did during 78 days of bombing Yugoslavia.

The Iraqis say nearly 200 people, including many civilians, have been killed. American officials say that claim is exaggerated but they acknowledge people have been killed.

American military commanders say the air strikes have inflicted severe damage to Iraq's air defenses. But they have not yet hit Iraqi forces hard enough to persuade the Government to stop resisting.

Commanders here and at the Pentagon say the strikes will end as soon as Iraq stops firing on the patrols, even though they acknowledge that Iraq has the ability to resist this way for the foreseeable future.

''It's reached a stalemate,'' said Group Capt. Graham P. Dixon, commander of the 200 British troops and six aircraft involved in the operations at Incirlik. ''I'm not sure there can be a way around this as long as Saddam Hussein is in power. I personally see this as a long-term proposition, not a short-term one.''