NewsMax.com Wires
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2001

It was the first time since December 1998 the United States has bombed Iraqi targets north of the southern no-fly zone boundary at the 33rd parallel.

Bush approved the attack at the request of Gen. Tommy Franks, commander-in-chief of U.S. Central Command.

"The United States is engaged in the Middle East, in the Persian Gulf and we will remain so," Bush said Friday in Mexico. "A routine mission was conducted to enforce the no-fly zone. It was a mission about which I was informed and which I authorized.

"We will continue to enforce the no-fly zone until the world is told otherwise."

"Saddam Hussein has got to understand that we expect him to conform to the agreement that he signed after Desert Storm," Bush said.

The agreement includes not pursuing his quest to develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

"If we catch him doing so, we will take appropriate action," Bush added

Bush is the son of former President George Bush, who declared war 10 years ago on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait. Vice President Dick Cheney was then defense secretary, and Secretary of State Colin Powell was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"This was a military opportunity emanating out of the forces that fly there on a daily basis," said the joint staff director of operations, Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, at a press conference. "The source of this recommendation was at the tactical level and that's the way it should be."

While similar attacks are often carried out without White House approval, this one was different because it was above the 33rd parallel beyond the area that is normally in the jets' cross hairs, said Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. Craig Quigley.

Iraq Increased Attacks on U.S. Aircraft

Over the last six weeks, Iraq has been stepping up its attempts to shoot down U.S. aircraft, launching 14 surface-to-air missiles and firing anti-aircraft artillery on 51 occasions since Jan. 1.

Of more concern is the fact that the Iraqi military is becoming more sophisticated in coordinating its radar and air defense system, posing a greater threat to U.S. and British military jets enforcing the southern no-fly zone, according to the official.

"They were getting closer and closer to our aircraft," Newbold said.

The aircraft bombed four locations, north, southeast, east and southwest of Baghdad. Another radar facility was just below the 33rd parallel where U.S. planes have patrolled for a decade.

The five targets were within five to 20 miles of Baghdad, surrounding Iraq's capital, according to a map of the operation.

"We think we've accomplished what we were looking for," Newbold said.

He said the aircraft at no time flew north of the 33rd parallel to make their attacks.

While the radars were not within the area covered by the no-fly zone, their sophistication allowed them to track U.S. aircraft far to the south.

Twenty-four strike aircraft took part in the operation, but they were accompanied by a much larger support package of planes with jammers, electronic countermeasures, and suppression of enemy air defense devices, according to Quigley.

The planes used long-range, air-to-ground precision munitions. Those weapons can be launched many miles from their target, keeping the aircraft out of the range of surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft batteries.

They were met with anti-aircraft artillery fire and unguided surface-to-air missiles, which makes them less effective.

U.S. and coalition fighter aircraft police the no-fly zones on an almost daily basis and are frequently targeted by Iraqi artillery and missiles, which in turn draws U.S. attacks. No aircraft have been lost in such incidents.

"The strikes are not routine, but they are part and parcel of protecting our aircraft," Newbold said.

"All of these targets were picked because of the specific separation they represented from non-military targets," said Newbold, indicating the coalition tried to make sure there would be no civilian casualties.

The sound of explosions and the wail of air raid sirens sounded in the Iraqi capital at the time of the attack Friday, and anti-aircraft fire was directed skyward.

State-run Iraqi television and radio interrupted regular programming and played martial music.

The attacking aircraft flew from points around the Persian Gulf and included planes from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman, according to the defense official. All aircraft returned to their bases safely, the official said.

The aircraft were most likely F-15Es, F-16s, F-18s and F-14s as well as support aircraft.

The last time U.S. jets ventured above the 33rd parallel was in December 1998 in a four-day blistering attack on Baghdad known as Operation Desert Fox, launched in retaliation for Saddam Hussein's refusal to submit to U.N. arms inspections.

There has not been a U.N. inspection in Iraq for more than two years. They are intended to ascertain that Iraq is not developing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

The most recent attack in the southern no-fly zone occurred Tuesday, when coalition forces bombed an Iraq surface-to-air missile site. In the north, U.S. aircraft bombed an air defense site Monday. There have been nine such attacks this year.

The southern and northern no-fly zones, which encompass most of Iraqi airspace, were imposed after the Gulf War to safeguard Iraq's neighbors and protect Iraq's dissident minorities from retaliation by Saddam.

Iraqi military planes are not allowed to fly in the zones.

U.S. Central Command, which is in charge of U.S. forces involved in Operation Southern Watch, said to date there have been more than 700 incidents of Iraq firing on patrolling aircraft with missiles and artillery since December 1998.

Iraqi aircraft violated the southern zone more than 150 times during the same period. Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights reserved.

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